I commute roughly 50+ miles a week in all weather. For the last 3 months that has been snow, rain, hail and mostly just very very damp, mushy conditions.
The grime turns into a paste on my chain and derailer. I don’t clean once a week as I don’t have time as I’ve been moving house so at the moment it’s been every 6 weeks more like.
I gave my frame a decent clean, lubed and protected all the moving parts and put degreaser on the casette before trying to scrub with a brush and scrape muck out of the jockey wheels. Then I lubed the chain links and then wiped the chain down. I spent around 30 mins and was freezing cold by the end. Yet it still looks absolutely filthy! I haven’t actually experienced any shifting issues at all, I just feel like I’m doing something wrong! Personally I leave my chains/cassettes on for a long time as the 8 speed casette I use is only £25 and it lasts me thousands of miles. I’ve ridden over 2,000 miles on the current casette/chain. I love riding but this part always stresses me out!
by jackSB24
6 Comments
Simple green degreaser or they even make a simple green bike degreaser that works well.
Do you use a wet lube? Those will lead to that black sticky crud that you can’t scrub off.
I use a wax based and I get my chain and drivetrain clean with minimal effort. Only downside is you have to apply it more often, but that’s a one minute process.
Degreaser, scrub, wash, repeat three times. I didn’t clean my chain for 2 months after using all weather lube and it took three cycles before I finally got all the gunk out lol
I also commute year round. I used to use tri-flow wet lube and had the exact same issue as OP.
I switched to finish line dry lube, you can buy it in a pack with degreaser and one of those chain cleaner devices for about $30. I’m sure there are better options out there but anything will be better than wet lube.
You can have a clean bike, or you can ride it every day through the muck – you can’t have both! You could take apart your drivetrain (chain, cassette, derailleur) and drop it in an ultrasonic cleaner with warm water and degreaser (some bike shops may have one), but after 2 weeks of riding you’ll be back to where you started.
I love keeping a clean drivetrain, so my solution is to only ride my nice bike in dry conditions (which here in CO is about 90% of the time) and to keep a beater on the side for riding through rain, snow, and slush.
No need to clean it. Just wipe it down with a cloth before applying new lube.
I’ve also found that which lube you use makes a big difference. For example the cheap MucOff Wet Lube is super sticky and attracts a lot of black grime (and somehow still doesn’t last long and washes off when riding in rain, despite being this thick and sticky). I’ve had some great experience with Silca Synergetic lube now which never gets this grimy and sticky but still lasts a long time even in wet conditions.