Gritty chain lube???

[Eden]

Sounds pretty weird if you took it in clean and it came back gucky....
How sure are you of your LBS? could they be swapping parts on you?

[li10up]

Since you were getting a tune-up maybe the took it out to test drive it?????

[TsPoet]

I had the exact same thing on the bike I got last year. It was built up for me in Colorado, so I blamed Colorado-based wet lubes vs. what I thought I needed in my dryer environment.
I don't know what kind of lube they put on your bike, but it turned out mine had been lubed with Dumonde Tech lube. People who use this lube love it, and the guy who put my bike together new that.
What he didn't tell me was that this particular lube requires a wipe-down after every ride for several rides after it is applied and occasionally thereafter.
I have since switched back to it - now that I know it requires this extra care.
It is the best lube I've ever used, but the first few months with it, not knowing to wipe it down, were miserable - I shed horrid little black gritty particles and ruined cloths, etc.
this all could be completely irrelevant, or maybe you can try just wiping down the chain after every ride for a week and see what happens.
On the other hand, if it were me, I'd either go and ask or wash the bike thoroughly and start over with my own lubing.

[lauraelmore1033]

I had the exact same thing on the bike I got last year. It was built up for me in Colorado, so I blamed Colorado-based wet lubes vs. what I thought I needed in my dryer environment.
I don't know what kind of lube they put on your bike, but it turned out mine had been lubed with Dumonde Tech lube. People who use this lube love it, and the guy who put my bike together new that.
What he didn't tell me was that this particular lube requires a wipe-down after every ride for several rides after it is applied and occasionally thereafter.
I have since switched back to it - now that I know it requires this extra care.
It is the best lube I've ever used, but the first few months with it, not knowing to wipe it down, were miserable - I shed horrid little black gritty particles and ruined cloths, etc.
this all could be completely irrelevant, or maybe you can try just wiping down the chain after every ride for a week and see what happens.
On the other hand, if it were me, I'd either go and ask or wash the bike thoroughly and start over with my own lubing.

That does actually sound like what's on my bike. These guys seemed totally reputable and competant, so I wasn't really worried that they were up to anything shady. It just seemed counter-intuitive that there would be grit on a clean chain. I guess I could have asked, but....well, it seemed like a stupid question. Thanks for all the input. I will definitely wipe down after every ride.

[Kalidurga]

I guess I could have asked, but....well, it seemed like a stupid question.

I've learned the most important stuff through asking the stupidest questions. Never hesitate to ask, even if the LBS dude does look at you as if you're from Mars. I usually preface my stupid questions with, "OK, this is the dumbest question you'll probably get all day, but I'm gonna ask it anyway..."

[lauraelmore1033]

I've learned the most important stuff through asking the stupidest questions. Never hesitate to ask, even if the LBS dude does look at you as if you're from Mars. I usually preface my stupid questions with, "OK, this is the dumbest question you'll probably get all day, but I'm gonna ask it anyway..."

Oh, I'm usually the Queen of stupid questions. Maybe I was hesitant to ask because of the possibility of adding insult to stupidity. There is a bit of a language/cultural barrier, and my question could have seemed to insinuate either incompetance or fraud. Now I think I can actually frame the question in a way that insults no one .