I got back from my ride today and noticed how rusty my chain on the Tiger has become. The bike has done less than 600 miles and I don’t ride in the worst of the weather, but some days the roads have been damp and obviously there’s salt still about. I usually wash the bike after a ride, but haven’t done the chain.
I’ll give it a good clean and re-lubricate it, but I was surprised how quickly it went rusty. Is this reasonable wear and tear on a new bike, or should I moan at the dealer
Alternatively, anyone know of good after-market chains that are a bit more rust resistant? I don’t really want to have to be cleaning and re-treating it after every ride!
I’ve noticed the chains on my trophy and meteor started showing rust this year. I’ve never had that on any of my bikes. The trophy is 20 years old and I’ve had it since new. I put it down to the chain lube I started using last summer. Wurth high performance dry chain lube. I don’t like it and have moved back to a stickier thicker lube and no more rust. Perhaps it’s worth trying another stickier lube before replacing the chain? Wax lubes seem to work well in winter for me, currently wd40’s version. Although I’ve just started to use tru-tension banana slip lube (it was a mistake I meant to buy their wax version!).
That’s interesting, thanks. I’ve been riding for over 20 years and never really had problems with chain rust before, but I don’t usually ride in winter, which I’ve done this year.
I’ve ordered some WD40 chain cleaner and lube, so I’ll see how that goes. Hopefully It’s just a winter problem.
Sounds like a lube issue, although we don’t don’t have the salted roads issue here in the southern Hemisphere. I’ve never had an issue with using gear oil for my chain, trick is not to use too much. Buying a chain with anodised plates helps too.
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I’ve been using Wurth Dry Chain Lube for years but after watching a big comparison done by Bennetts I thought I’d try something stickier over this winter and use the recommended XCP Professional lube. However, the road crap now seemed to stick to the chain and I didn’t like the idea of what that may do for wear, nor the appearance.
I’ve now gone back to the Wurth stuff, with that, when I hose chain down when washing bike, most of the road crap gets jetted away. Then after drying, I apply the Wurth lube along the edges of both the inner and outer side plates and the solvent in that seems to wash away remaining dirt. I do aim the spray to catch the face of the side plates which stop most of the rust there, and any rust that does form gets rubbed away when I occasionally clear chain with paraffin.
Get one of those chain brushes that has a row of bristles on three sides, they clean the chain a treat, i use paraffin as a chain cleaner as it doesn’t attack O rings like some solvent based cleaners.i also lube with 80/90 gear oil, yes it can spray a bit but it penetrates unlike most greases which just build up in the areas of least friction.
It was the bennetts test that encouraged me to swap from WD40 chain wax to the wurth stuff. I wanted something with less fling. I looked at the XCP but they said it chucked more stuff off than my wd40 plus it seemed to retain more sand than the wurth. I wasn’t really sure why it got recommended. However as I dislike the protection the wurth is giving and was running out of wd40 wax so I went back and re-read it and decided to go for the tru-tension wax only being an inattentive idiot I picked up the tru-tension lube… I sprayed it on the chain and thought funny looking wax this, re-read the label, duh. The tru-tension wax is supposed to be low on fling and sand pickup, so that’s my next task, go buy the correct can!
I’ve got one of those brushes; they’re extremely handy. I wash the bike, wipe the chain off, use the cleaner, then apply fresh lube. I use the Wurth stuff as well.
80/90 gear oil is definitely the way to go. Little and often (ish). A one litre bottle lasts ages. All these expensive lubes are too sticky. Gear oil keeps your chain in good nick and makes it run quiet.
If you clean it weekly, depending on mileage, it never gets to the stage when you need to use too much pressure, I have used toothbrushes as well but this takes half the time.
I’ve used gear oil at times and the chain definitely runs quieter/smoother when applied but after a few miles in the rain/wet roads I find that smoothness/quietness has gone and the gear change has turned notchy. So I go back to my tried and trusted spray.
I used a scottoiler for a while in the 90’s but after it dumped the entire contents of the container onto my rear tyre and chain after a rather spirited ride with a couple of friends on fireblades I gave up using it. The roads are dangerous enough without having oil dumped over your rear tyre.
Has anyone had any experience with the Regina HPE maintenance free chain? They are expensive but if anyone finds chain maintenance an issue they might be prepared to pay the premium.
I sprayed it on the chain and thought funny looking wax this, re-read the label, duh. The tru-tension wax is supposed to be low on fling and sand pickup, so that’s my next task, go buy the correct can!