Some Chain advice please...

Jeez you guys talk some crap.
If the chain is rusted, oil it. If its got crap on it, wipe it down with a rag, then oil it. I get at least a year out of cheap SRAM PC48 chains with no maintenance other than a quick squirt with WD40, then a wipe down with a rag about once a month. I use Finish Line chain lube, the stuff for wet mountain bike races, but Phil's tenacious oil would also be good.
WD40 is a dispersant, but it's also a lubricant, go google it. It's just not a good lubricant in this application.
Remember, someth ing has to wear out in any application where you have loads of friction, by all means put on a super tough titanium nitrided chain, but then don't come crying back on here when it wears out your £35 chainring and £20 sprocket. Treat the chain as disposable and swap it regularly, at £4 a pop the PC48 has to be the best deal going. I pay more for my chain lube!

I agree with all your points,

thats why I only intend to buy a cheap chain.

Like I said, Ive ran a z chain on my bmx for 8years!

I know exactly what WD40 is and what its good for, - definteley not for "oiling" chains. (I use MTB graphite oil for that)

It is however good for helping to loosen rust.

My chain was really rusted soild, I did all manner of stuff trying to clean it (wd40, teflon spray, petrol, parraffin, soft wire brush) it would work now, but its brown & lumpy!

Without the stresses of gear shifting, any chain should last a couple years of hard riding in my opinion. Not 2 weeks.

I know if id remembered to clean the standard gold z chain, it wouldve done the job.

But like I said, its a total faff doing it so often.

So I expect these chains to be at least a little better.

just want to get the right length! - preferably in a 1/8x1/2 aswell.

AFAIK -

I use a KMC Silver chain on a road frame designed for 27" wheels with 52x20 gearing and its long enough to have a couple of links to left over.

Great thats what I needed to know,

can I just make sure that you are on about a 1/8x1/2 - BMX/singlespeed type chain?

there's this internet maintenance site telling people not to use WD40 and GT85 lol. i disagree cos the oil acts like flypaper does to flies, dirt sticks to the chain. so, all in all, spraying your chain with a solid lubricant dispersed into the solvent oil, such as teflon or graphite is the best way when done frequently. dirt does not stick and your chain stays clean.

http://bicycletutor.com/no-wd40-bike-chain/

there's this internet maintenance site telling people not to use WD40 and GT85 lol. i disagree cos the oil acts like flypaper does to flies, dirt sticks to the chain. so, all in all, spraying your chain with a solid lubricant dispersed into the solvent oil, such as teflon or graphite is the best way when done frequently. dirt does not stick and your chain stays clean.

http://bicycletutor.com/no-wd40-bike-chain/

I think ive seen that site before.

Spray stuff like WD40 sort of "dissolve" and clean away "real" thicker bike oil.

I use WD40 to clean away grease, after wiping of the thing is bone dry (WD40 evaporates)

Best oil practice is to wet the whole thing, spin cranks work it round, then get a rag and wipe off all you can. this leaves the contact points lightly but adequateley oiled (too much can cause chain stretch) but the exposed part mostly dry so no crap sticks to it.

indeed

Great thats what I needed to know,

can I just make sure that you are on about a 1/8x1/2 - BMX/singlespeed type chain?

In a word - Yes.

GT85 contains PTFE aka Teflon and works well for surface rust prevention. Use in addition to a proper chain lube.

KY Jelly does the job so i heard ^^ good ol' lubrication. never fails. booya!!

In a word - Yes.

thankyou for your kind help good sir!

Sorry to piss you all off with even more mundane repetition but..

Which KMC silver chain do you have, can you link me to the same one?

as some KMC chains ive seen are very short, no where near long enough for large roadie chainrings.

After that im done, ill go buy it!

http://www.kmcchain.com/index.php?ln=en&fn=find

cant fail, choose singlespeed, and the chain options you want will come up, whether its powder coated, nano coated, plain options with the anti rust etc....

Quote:

  Originally Posted by **ChrisNW** [![](http://www.londonfgss.com/images/londonfgss/buttons_lite/viewpost.gif)](http://www.londonfgss.com/thread5519.html#post164760) 

In a word - Yes.

thankyou for your kind help good sir!

Sorry to piss you all off with even more mundane repetition but..

Which KMC silver chain do you have, can you link me to the same one?

as some KMC chains ive seen are very short, no where near long enough for large roadie chainrings.

After that im done, ill go buy it!

buy 2 packets of chain ??

This might be of interest to you if running 1/8"

http://www.bikeguide.org/guides/drive/kmc.php

and once your sorted for a chain this will show you how to look after it.

http://bicycletutor.com/chain-lubrication/

See, you can play nicely if you try :-)

See, you can play nicely if you try :-)

:)

same attitude as I offered the guy who started the other thread.

If anyone knows of a GOLD rust proof chain it would be awesome though as it would match the colour-scheme of my bike!

I know of a goldie lookin' chain, but they were singing something about your mum, so might not be too interested in linking your legs to your back wheel...

Hey, I thought Id give you all a pictorial update...

I decdided, I was being illogical wanting a 1/8 chain, as my (and all) 52 t roadie chain rings are very thin & lightweight.

Much better to get a thinner one and have it on good condition, plus it removed my headache of trying to find a 1/8 chain thats long enough.

Basically I was making a problem out of nothing.

So I dug the bike out, stuck the 52t cranks on, got 2 old bits of mtb chain and stuck together on the bike (temporary)

cleaned all the damn rust & salt residue off the whole bike(I thought I already had!) and gave the rear wheel a scrubbin ( very old track wheel)

Put my drop bars back on, and ditched the rear brake.

So great! Now I have a working bike again, and it looks a lot better than when I had micro drive setup too.

Just need to buy a new chain and chain over the rear axle to a bolt-up then Im done, and will have a nice solid ride.

Old Chain AFTER it had been cleaned:

Damn Salt it gets everywhere! And I thought I had cleaned it up.... :

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