Partial chain case on hub geared commuter bike

[ren531]

Been testing out a modified partial chain case I made for my commuter bike at the start of this winter I am using a Sram S7 hub gear and it would only really work with a hub gear or single speed ,in the past the amount of road filth that got on to the drive chain was just a filthy mess ,so I bought I plastic hockey stick chain guard cut it down made a back for it out of 1,5mm ply ,added some builders DPC to keep spay from the back tyre away and its done a great job never cleaned the chain all winter only adjusted the chain tension twice instead of once a month ,so a lot less wear going on and it still looks quite clean .I guess its cut out about 90% of the road filth out ,it protects the chain from the front wheel spray and most from the back wheel and does not make rear wheel removal anymore difficult ,it doesn't improve the looks of the bike but its very effective .The whole thing is held in place by the bottom bracket shell and nothing else so easy to remove if I want to ,I put this in the commute section because its really only something that would be used on utility bike and I hope it may be useful to others who are fed up of all the mess on their commute bike ,I have done 1350 miles in all weathers with it this winter so far .

 

[12boy]

I've read that in the olden days fully enclosed, oil bath chain cases made for chains that lasted forever. Never seen one in real life but it makes sense in terms of chain longevity if not weight and possibly oil drips.

 

[Pale Rider]

The Sunbeam Oil Bath was fully enclosed.

There will be lots against it, weight, extra drag from pulling the chain through a puddle of oil, and I expect it leaked.

But the chain will literally never wear out.

As a modern alternative, I have a Chainglider on my Rohloff ebike.

That's a semi-enclosed, lightweight case with no oil.

More than 4,000 miles so far without any need to adjust the chain, although I do give it an occasional light lube.

http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/Transport/bicycles/Sunbeam.htm

https://www.hebie.de/en/protection/chainguard/chainglider/350/

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Alternatively, you could go the full hog and ride one of these......

The chain and gears inside my 1974-built Raleigh roadster are still like new. The full chaincase cannot be equalled for transmission protection. Oddly, the single heaviest thing compared to a "normal" bike is actually the saddle and seatpost, which is surprising. The big sprung mattress Brooks saddles weigh 2 1/4 lbs on their own, and close to 3 lbs with a steel seat post. You can cut that in half with a regular hybrid/MTB saddle.

 

[Crankarm]

Not having any chain guard to protect the chain from crud thrown onto it by an adjacent wet muddy wheel is why derailleur transmissions are so crap in anything but hot dry weather. IHG and full chain guard are the way to go for a low maintenance bike.