Drivetrain

Any idea how many km's you've done?

I lubed mine after the circuit we did on the weekend where we met you at the start of your training ride - and immediately pulled it off an washed it in kerosene.

The reason was that despite the lube it still felt gritty from the sand/clay mix - the lube process hadn't cleaned the chain at all. The blurb on the back of the lube bottle that says you can do this is just spin IMO.

So I stuck it in a 1L bottle half filled with kerosene, gave it a really good thorough shake for a few minutes, let teh grit settle and pulled it out and repeated in a second bottle of (cleaner) kero, looked it over and ran it through my fingers to make sure it felt smooth and clean (not gritty) - which it did - then put it back on the bike to dry overnight. Gave it a lube tonight and it felt like a bought one.

I've repeated the process with Josh's bike, it's just waiting for the lube to be done tomorrow - a job for Josh.

Soem guys use chain cleaning machines, and these do work - I have one myself. I'm going to continue with the method above for abit longer as it's a lot less messy and time consuming than the other methods I've tried.

You should spend a few bucks and get a chain wear indicator. Get the better quality Park one (there are two). If you get your chain off just as it reaches 0.5% elongation you'll have saved your cassette and chainrings, but if you let it go past 1% the rings and cassette are toast I'm afraid - a new chain will slip when you apply the power.

If you miss changing the chain in time you might as well let it run until they're all completely clapped - just don't borrow your mate's back wheel or they might not be your mate for very long!

To much water can prematurely degrade your drive train, there are some seals on bikes that withstand a lot of water hitting them. But high pressure cleaning was not in their design form (even a garden hose can be to high pressured) Don't automatically lube your chain moments after you've completed washing allow it to dry completely. Try using a thicker chain lube generally the dirtier the ride the more wax you need retained on the chain eg. road bikes don't become 'mud larks' therefore the lubricant is a fine grade (thinner). Kerosene is very good for cleaning by dissolving this is alas also why your re-lubricating might not be penetrating deeply in to the links (almost sounds like a commercial for cleansing lotion) due to residual oil film in the kerosene stopping the wax becoming part of the lubrication process. When ever I use kerosene to clean my chain it will be DAYS before I apply the wax coat on the chain, I want to be sure 100% that there is no residual kerosene in the links. Then I start to build up a large wax content on my drive train and when I wash I try not to direct water stream onto the chain. Cleaning with kerosene only when the build up is unmanageable - I mostly use the wax to wash off the outer grit. A dusty trail ride might require a quick re-application and wipe down there are small bottles of your favourite lube...take one with?

......http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=3762;group=115;page=1;pid=191;menuid1=185;menuid2=0;mid=118 will tell you when to change your cassette rather than asking the shop. Together with a chain wear indicator this leaves you in a pretty good position to suss out the replace ment.

Chitts bike24 link