Chain maintenance on long tours ?

[YMFB]

At home I use a park tool hand held chain cleaner with a detergent, brush the cassette and chain ring, let it soak and rinse with water, before drying and re-lubing. This system works well for me.

The last few days we rode the Hadrians wall C2C, got wet everyday and didn’t do a great job of bike cleaning/maintenance.

What do people do on longer tours away from home, such as an unsupported LEJOG ?

Thanks in advance for any constructive suggestions

 

[VinSumRox]

I take a wee bottle of chain lube and a j cloth or 2 and just run then chain through the cloth a couple of times and then put a bit of lube on the chain.
If not really mucky I just put a few drops of lube on the chain.

 

[a.twiddler]

You can get a bit carried away with chains. A squirt of GT85 from time to time and rarely a drenching and a drag through with a cloth as above. Whoever invented the chain wear tool created a lot of potential misery for the worriers out there.

 

[Ian H]

Start with a new chain, oil if required. In my experience Finish Line Wet lasts for a couple of weeks or so in all but the very wettest weather.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

At home I use a park tool hand held chain cleaner with a detergent, brush the cassette and chain ring, let it soak and rinse with water, before drying and re-lubing. This system works well for me.

The last few days we rode the Hadrians wall C2C, got wet everyday and didn’t do a great job of bike cleaning/maintenance.

What do people do on longer tours away from home, such as an unsupported LEJOG ?

Thanks in advance for any constructive suggestions

We did a very long (5 months, 5000 miles) tour last year.

To my surprise, a single chain and cassette lasted the whole distance.

Maintenance regime:
- relube and wipe clean after rain
- occasional (~1000 miles) more thorough clean, which was just more lube and more wiping, scraping gunge off jockey wheels etc.

That's it.

I think you may be overthinking this; essentially as long as a chain is lubed it'll be OK.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

For three days and C2C you shouldn’t need to do anything. For LEJOG you might need to oil your chain once. Keep it simple.

 

[mjr]

I know it's blasphemy to some but I carry a little tin of spray oil for use on tour. Not as good as my home oil but also useful for any pivots that start squeaking or sticking, just to get home without much damage or taking the big greases.

 

[T4tomo]

Whether home or away, small bottle of Squirt wax lube and a rag - simple is best.

 

[PaulSB]

Waxed chain, small cotton cloth and a very small amount of liquid wax. I'm currently using Silca but have been a big Squirt fan in the past. After a dry or damp day a quick wipe with the cloth, after a very wet day, hours and hours of rain, clean with the cloth and re-wax. I only ever re-wax after a lot of water exposure, usually only after a wet winter ride.

Don't get carried away with chain maintenance on tour. For LEJOG if you started well prepped it shouldn't be necessary.

 

[Baldy]

Clean and lub before you go, and after you get back.

 

[presta]

I service the bike before I set off, and again when I get back, and in between that I oil the chain if it looks a bit dry after heavy rain. That's it for tours up to a month and 1400 miles. The oil I use is Finish Line, not because it's anything special, but because the bottles can be trusted not to leak in the pannier.

 

[geocycle]

On multi week trips I take something like Finish Line in a 20 ml centrifuge tube. It was very useful once in northern France on some very dry off-road routes where the whole drive chain was red with dust. For short trips I usually don’t bother.

 

[PaulSB]

I service the bike before I set off, and again when I get back, and in between that I oil the chain if it looks a bit dry after heavy rain. That's it for tours up to a month and 1400 miles. The oil I use is Finish Line, not because it's anything special, but because the bottles can be trusted not to leak in the pannier.

That sounds like the best possible reason for choosing a lube. 👍