Today I cleaned my bike and not 5hrs later there is rust all over it.
I used a generic citrus based degreaser to degrease the cassette chain ring and chain then washed off with warm tap water, then whiped and flossed dry with a clean tea towel and left to dry for an hour under a fan. I then reapplied some basic all weather lube.
At this point I was very happy with myself, the chain, chain ring and the cassette were shiny and clean and lubed nicely.
5hrs later I look at the bike (that was stored inside and not ridden since the clean) and a layer of wet slimy rust is forming (looks like between the metal and the lube)
I think that this might be because the Cain was not completely dry but it is also forming on the cassette which was 100% dry before it was lubed.
Any help or suggestions as to why this is happening would be appreciated and also tips on how to completely dry the chain without removing it from the frame.
Thanks
by Huey2912
4 Comments
How rusted was it when you started?
Always dry after really wet and lubricate right after or in the morning you’ll see rust✌🏻
Hullo! To offer some explanation: a chain has many internal surfaces hidden inside it. When you added degreaser some of that worked inside the chain. Drying the chain with a cloth or fan would not remove that. When you added the lube, it mixed with the degreaser hidden inside to make an emulsified degreaser/lube sludge.
As someone else said, to fix it just wipe off the sludge with a cloth and apply more lube. You will probably need to repeat a few time until all the sludge has worked from inside the chain.
There are many schools of thought on chain maintenance, but personally I would only add degresear to a chain if it was very greasy and then only a small amount, I would never put it on a well maintained or dry chain. Just use chain lube to keep your chain clean and lubricated.
(Professional bike mechanic)
Look at your derailer and jockey wheel. You call this deep clean? Also don’t use degreaser that much. Water with just a splash of dish soap will work wonders.