Yeah, my chain is a 'little' bit dirty i know ☠️
Ive just kept overlubing it for a year and riding every day, This cant be good.
Atleast better than a dry rusty chain i guess? I dont have that much wear surprisingly.
Everything works perfectly, its just filled with grime.
by kaifam
8 Comments
Varsol or some other kind of paint thinner and a brass wire brush.
Failing that, use fire /s
You’re supposed to clean the chain before you lube. You’re gonna need lots of rags and degreaser, and preferably a chain cleaner.
You can probably get a lot off with just a (not high pressure) hose.
Degreaser and/or dish soap and a scrubbing brush will probably get the rest. I like my cheap kitchen scrub brush that I got for $3.
You can then check your chain wear with a chain checker tool or ruler.
Start by giving everything a proper wash with dawn dish soap/water and a sponge, scrub brush and tooth brush. I have never seen such a dirty bike. Overlubing doesn’t cause your bike to build up that much grime. Never washing it does. Or was this some one time event that caused it to get that dirty?
What I would do.
1. Hose it off outside w strong jet. Let dry.
2. disassemble. Remove the cassette, chain rings, cranks, bearings, jockey wheels and maybe derailleur.
3. Use a toothbrush or strong nylon brush to remove remaining gunk. Use dishwasher detergent and water to degrease. If you have a sonic washer use that. Consider replacing your bottom bracket cups. Give the bottom bracket a good scrubbing as well. Make sure there is no grit in there to avoid ruining your threads.
4. Check the wear on the chain and parts. Having your drive chain that dirty prematurely wears it down.
After that reassemble w the appropriate grease and lube. For the chain use the right lube this time. For you I’d consider a dry lube and taking a paper towel to wipe off the excess. Your chain tells me that you either used bacon grease or didn’t wipe off the excess. Probably both.
‘I’ve just kept overlubing it’
With what, frying fat? 😂
As weird as at sounds an over lubed chain can be as bad as under. Over lubed attracts dirt & dust which when combined with the lube turns into what is effectively a grinding paste which can wear away the drivetrain faster than the chain would take to stretch past it’s limit & you have a very large amount of this grinding paste on your drivetrain.
I can’t believe I am saying this because I spend most of my time telling people not to do this but do you have access to a pressure washer? If you can soak the drivetrain in a decent quantity of degreaser ( making sure you do not spray any into the bearings ) then after a soak use the jetwash to clean it all off ( again making sure you don’t spray into the bearings ) You will still have a little oily residue left but nothing that a decent bucket & sponge wash with a mild detergent ( washing up liquid will do ) can deal with.
Thouroughly dry everything before applying a light lube and importantly wipe off all the excess with a rag.
If you don’t have access to a jetwash use the degreaser as before but attack it with a soapy water solution & a selection of smaller brushes, The result will be the same but it will take much longer.
Maybe switch over to wax based lube, I’ve used Squirt Chain Lube for over 5 years now and I lube it every 3-7 days (depending on the weather conditions and if I cleaned the bike). My drivetrain looks clean and it works like a charm imo.