Dust, dust, and more dust

[Catrin]

The trails I rode this weekend were just pure dust! I only fell a couple of times (a great improvement) but looked like I had a dust bath at the end of my rides :)

My question is about the care of my drivetrain in such conditions. Should I have a little brush to brush off the chain ring and cassette between rides when it is like this? I use Finish Line lube which is supposed to be really good for dusty conditions.

I got caught in a horrible storm on the way home yesterday. It was so bad that I pulled over because I couldn't see the hood of my car let alone the road and stuff was being blown around...That did wash a good amount of the dust off the Jamis, but the cassette and RD is still pretty dirty so I think I need to at least lube the chain, and take a rag to the RD to get some of the cr*p out of it. Would that be sufficient?

[OakLeaf]

Rag is fine for getting the big chunks off, and that's plenty for day-to-day cleaning. You can use a heavy-duty shop-rag-type paper towel, fold it double, and pull it tight between your hands to wipe tight spaces.

Once in a while you really need solvent to remove caked-up old chain lube and grit. Either WD-40 (you can buy it in gallon jugs or non-aerosol pump sprayers) or a citrus solvent will work. Solvents are nasty for the environment so I try to minimize it (and filter and re-use what I put in a solvent bath/chain cleaning machine). Be sure and wipe or wash off any solvents after a deep cleaning, and dry off any water, before re-lubing.

The Park Tool brush (http://www.parktool.com/product/gearclean-r-brush-gsc-1) is totally worth the price. I'm not much on specialized cleaning tools and mostly use old toothbrushes and shop rags for everything, but that narrow array of long, stiff bristles is really primo for in between chainrings and cogs, brake arms, etc.

Once you're done cleaning, re-lube. Lots of people overdo lubrication, and that just winds up attracting more grit. With liquid lube, just a drop in brake and derailleur pivots, work the part back and forth, then wipe any excess off the outside; a drop every couple-three links of your chain, turn the pedals backwards and wipe to distribute. Depending on your cable system, sometimes a drop of lube is helpful in the last section of RD cable housing, between the chainstay and RD, but if you're not sure, check with your LBS.

I'm not a fan of waxes on my road vehicles, but off-road is different and I know a lot of MTBers/dirt bikers swear by chain waxing.

Be sure to wear nitrile gloves while you're working with lubricants and solvents. :)

[Aggie_Ama]

With our seemingly neverending drought in Texas all I have been riding is dust this summer. I use Rock n' Roll gold which cleans and lubes. It is ridiculously easy to use so I do this before every ride and seems to keep my drivetrains performing well. If it gets too cakey in the cassette I will pull out the Pedro's Toothbrush and clean it. I also use a cheapy toothbrush (human kind) to get some of the hard to reach places. I do try to every other ride give my bike a half-a$$ed wash. I use the mist setting on my hose, get as much dust off as possible, wipe down the frame and run the chain through a rag to dry it. Then I let the chain completely air dry and lube it. I do wipe down the fork and shocks with a shop rag as soon as possible after each ride to remove any possible contaminates.

I admittedly don't do a full drivetrain clean as often as I should. This would involve taking off the rear wheel, scrubbing the cassette, degreasing the chain.

[Catrin]

Thanks for the tips! I have used Rock and Roll in the past, but had a problem with it and have since tried White Lightening Clean Ride and also Finish Line. I DID like the Rock and Roll though, and am considering returning to the mountain bike version.

Thanks for the brush suggestion, I figured out last night after returning home that I need something like that for the cassette. I wiped the chain off well, but after driving through that storm I don't think much is left...

[tzvia]

The main thing to remember, the oil that does the job is inside the pins- not all over the outside- anything on the outside of the chain will only attract dirt. It should be almost dry on the outside-only enough lube to keep it from rusting and that is not much.

I use White Lightning lube as a cleaner- it sucks as a lube, but it does a good job displacing dirt so I can just wipe it off with a rag. Then I lube with T9 (I've tried a lot of lubes, but keep coming back to T9), making sure to wipe off any excess. Then I hit the cassette with a shop rag, between the cogs like flossing, and the chainrings get a wipe. Done. I only hit the chain with chain cleaner every 5 rides or so, or if I got it wet while riding.

Park makes a cassette brush that I sometimes use to scrub the cassette and chain if it is really bad- it's thin enough to get between the cogs and I can jam it into the chain if needed.

[ridebikeme]

Another lube that you could consider is Squirt. I've used it extensively since 2009 on both my mountain bike and road bikes. It seems to handle all conditions pretty well, and was first used by professional cyclocross racers. It's a lube that needs to dry on the chain before riding, so I recommend to customers to add lube after your ride so it's ready for your next one. It's also a lube that you don't need to add frequently, otherwise it gets gummed up. To check, all you need to do is rub a rag or your finger across the chain to see if there is any left on it...if there is lube on it, don't add any more.

When I started using this is was late fall here, so I went an entire fall and winter here without cleaning my drivetrain... just to see what it was like.And yes, that means through a really wet fall and winter snow and believe it or not, the drivetrain was incredibly clean.:cool:


http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[Catrin]

Another lube that you could consider is Squirt. I've used it extensively since 2009 on both my mountain bike and road bikes. It seems to handle all conditions pretty well, and was first used by professional cyclocross racers. It's a lube that needs to dry on the chain before riding, so I recommend to customers to add lube after your ride so it's ready for your next one. It's also a lube that you don't need to add frequently, otherwise it gets gummed up. To check, all you need to do is rub a rag or your finger across the chain to see if there is any left on it...if there is lube on it, don't add any more.

When I started using this is was late fall here, so I went an entire fall and winter here without cleaning my drivetrain... just to see what it was like.And yes, that means through a really wet fall and winter snow and believe it or not, the drivetrain was incredibly clean.:cool:


http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

Interesting! The reason I did like Rock and Roll was it was so hard to over-lube since it had to be added so often. I like Finish Line, but I am learning that it is very easy to over-do it and the only way to really clean it properly is to take the chain off. At least for me it has worked out this way. I will find out more about both Squirt & T9.

My LBS loves White Lightening, but I am less enamored.

[OakLeaf]

As long as we're doing the Favorite Chain Lube thread, I use Pedro's Go! which is based on soybean oil. It's very lightweight, and I get good life out of my chains and cassettes. For wet or muddy conditions they make a heavier soy-based lube called Chainj - as a fair-weather rider that stuff attracts too much dust for me, but might be an option for the off-road crowd.

[Hi Ho Silver]

My turn to suggest a good chain lube - ProLink. It doesn't attract dirt, is easy to apply, penetrates deeply into the chain, cleans out gunk inside the chain rollers, and seems to do a very good job. I religiously used it on my recently retired road bike and the chain has 2400 miles on it with absolutely no measureable "chain stretch".

[Sardine]

I used this today http://road.cc/content/review/24923-fenwicks-fs-foaming-degreaser. It's a foaming degreaser I spotted in my bike shop. I'd also seen the review (previous link) and the tourer needed a wash as I took it out on a road + light off road jaunt yesterday. Sprayed it on, left it for 5+ mins followed by a little scrub with an old toothbrush, rinse and my cassette and chain were shiny again. I didn't have to remove the rear wheel or use a specific brush or a chain bath. I'm impressed. Lubricated (thanks for the helpful tips above) after wiping down and letting it dry a bit more. It was so quick and easy I decided to do another bike. Fenwicks is also supposed to be biodegradable and isn't particularly expensive. I'm wondering what the catch is.