How and why do they let this happen?

[bikepete]

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html#factory[/url]

Re rusty chains, I guess many people don't actually have a can of oil these days just 'around' - they'd have to go out and buy one specially for the bike. And don't.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I'll be swapping my winter bike for my summer one in a week or two...

I put away my new (to me) chunky tyred MTB this morning and used a more summery bike for the first time, during the week, this year.

I gave the bike a full service prior to riding it, in total this involved pinching the front and rear tyres and thinking they seem a bit squishy but doing nothing about it.

 

[tyred]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Do they? They must be imbeciles.[/QUOTE]

If you look at Sheldon's article on chains, you'll see he respects this opinion but doesn't always agree with it.

"One of the great controversies of chain maintenance is whether you should oil a chain or not. The downside of oiling a chain is that the oil may carry grit into the interior of the chain, and that this grit-mixed-with-oil will act as grinding compound, causing accelerated wear. Many experts whose judgement I highly respect hold this opinion, but I do not believe that this is always the case. I have no doubt that this "grinding-compound" effect can occur, but the severity of the risk depends upon the sort of dust/soil prevalent in a given area, and, particularly, the oiling technique used."

Also, I know that on some farm machinery such as potato or combine harvesters, you have huge chains, maybe 2" wide and 10 or 20 feet long which can cost hundreds to replace and work in dirty, dusty enviroments transmitting huge torque and many mechanics insist that oiling them accelerates wear by attracting dirt. From my own observations of this type of chain, I have sympathy with that opinion.

 

[swee'pea99]

Sheldon also gives a sympathetic mention to the idea that you can lube a chain by immersing it in hot wax - sheer idiocy. He may be a demi-god, but he's not infallible. I don't know about combine harvesters, but the idea that you can run a bike without lubing the chain is cretinous. It will rust, it will squeak horribly and it will wear out really quickly.

 

[gaz]

One guy left his bike in the basement for 4months and unlocked..

 

[philipbh]

More lube advice here http://www.nordicgroup.us/chain/ - which makes reference to SB and the Hot Wax method

1. Not recommended
2. If you do it - do it often (as much as every ride)
3. Its not as good as oil (and none of your fancy dan / i saw you coming type oils neither!)

There is also a divergence from the "on the bike method" preferred by SB AKA the drip method and the one here that suggests either 1. submerging the chain in non foaming oil or 2. using a foaming motorcycle type lubricant.

Where the opnion seems to be consistent is the need for some regular lubrication vs. none at all.

 

[Debian]

he wasn't infallible. I don't know about combine harvesters, but the idea that you can run a bike without lubing the chain is cretinous. It will rust, it will squeak horribly and it will wear out really quickly.

Edited for you.

 

[Brains]

I have several time stopped the squeeky bike rider and oiled their chain for them.
The change in effort is so considerable that hopfully they will do it themselves next time

 

[Davidc]

There have been some long threads on here about lubricants, but the one thing most people can agree on is the need for oil or whatever on chains to act as a water repellant.

My chains get done weekly and I've never had a rust problem on them even when there's salt around. Wiping the chain after oiling it seems to take a fair amount of dirt off each time.

 

[tyred]

For the record, I do oil my chains (with engine oil and not some ridiculously expensive version of the same thing in a nice bottle lubes) but I do understand where people who say not to oil are coming from. I think it's water washes the lube out. If you never used your bike in the rain, there probably would be no need to oil it as the lube in the important part of the chain would never get rinsed/diluted by water splashed up by the wheel.

 

[Arch]

I put away my new (to me) chunky tyred MTB this morning and used a more summery bike for the first time, during the week, this year.

I gave the bike a full service prior to riding it, in total this involved pinching the front and rear tyres and thinking they seem a bit squishy but doing nothing about it.

I've been meaning to top the winter hack's tyres up for a while. I got round to it last week at work, using the work track pump with gauge. Big Apples, max inflation 6 bar.

They were on about 1.5 bar....

Certainly felt a bit livelier going home, although I nearly shook my teeth out over the cobbles...

Still, it's a testament to the quality of Big Apples, that they still rolled, and didn't look flat.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Has anyone mentioned the mickle_method yet?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

although I nearly shook my teeth out over the cobbles...

eeee lad, by 'eck, etc.

 

[Arch]

eeee lad, by 'eck, etc.

The nature reserve has flattish cobbles at the entrance gateway*. Luckily I didn't need to ride over the ones on one of the approaches to my street - they are just pebbles set in concrete!

*fine on the Big Apples, but spaced just far enough apart for my summer tyres to potentially wedge between them.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

The nature reserve has flattish cobbles at the entrance gateway

It must be like the Paris-Roubaix every day!!