Partial chain case

[ren531]

Been experimenting with chain cases on my winter commute bike for a while now and this seems as affective as anything it's open on the outside but gets little or no crud inside it . Over the last three months I've tried it with a simple six speed derailleur setup a single speed and obviously would work with a hub gear too , but only any use with a single chain ring .
It keeps virtually all of the filth off the chain and chain ring/sprockets while eliminating the problem of accessing the chain if it throws it off the chain ring with a derailleur or rear wheel removal problems.
It looks ugly but very effective at reducing wear/cleaning with the single speed it's been easy to monitor chain wear and it needs little adjustment simple to make weighs very little .
I know this approach is not for everyone but if you want a simple long lasting easy to maintain setup its not bad .

 

[Dogtrousers]

I don't think it's particularly ugly. It's rather neat.

 

[ren531]

I don't think it's particularly ugly. It's rather neat.

I guess I said that because it's made of all sorts of odds and ends , alloy flat plate, bits of old greenhouse trim , gaffer tape and some roofing felt thrown in as well

 

[Chris S]

How did you attach it to the frame?

 

[ren531]

How did you attach it to the frame?

I made a hole to match the size of the bottom bracket and removed the b/b trapping it behind that's all really it could be made lighter and neater useing lighter plastic instead of the roofing felt to create a barrier between the chain and rear tyre .

 

[fossyant]

Proper bodge.

 

[ren531]

Proper bodge.

Indeed I do like a good bodge .
I have found that most of the crud comes from the front wheel spraying directly all over the chain ring and just about all the rest comes from the close proximity of the back tyre as the chain pases by it if you eliminate these 2 things it's amazing how clean the transmission remains even with the filthiest weather.

 

[Gillstay]

With you being on a single speed you could easily run the chain through a plastic ribbed tube. I have seen Dutch touring bikes fitted with this even if they have cogs on the rear and a single chainwheel.

 

[ren531]

With you being on a single speed you could easily run the chain through a plastic ribbed tube. I have seen Dutch touring bikes fitted with this even if they have cogs on the rear and a single chainwheel.

Yes I've seen this myself and did try it a good few years ago once I found I had to remove the tube to inspect the chain occasionally but otherwise seemed to work if I remember correctly.

 

[united4ever]

With you being on a single speed you could easily run the chain through a plastic ribbed tube. I have seen Dutch touring bikes fitted with this even if they have cogs on the rear and a single chainwheel.

I am intrigues but cannot picture it. Any links/pics

 

[ren531]

I am intrigues but cannot picture it. Any links/pics

I'm not sure that it was anything other than a DIY idea made from the flexible plastic conduit tubing used to protect wiring in the automotive industry that you then slit with a knife along it's length , it doesn't seem to come off and moves over the sprocket/chainring easily the tricky bit is the joint you've got to bodge it somehow.

 

[ren531]

Another thing I remember now useing this method was water got in but the chain never could dry out so I wasn't too keen on it for that reason.

 

[wafter]

Great work - I'm a big fan of mods to keep crap off the bike using recycled materials

 

[Gillstay]

The Dutch chap I met in Switzerland, so he had gone a good distance on it, just had two lengths of tube over the chain.
They were secured to the frame tube to stop the chain dragging them away and covered the main straight lengths of chain, not the sprockets.
Also I don't recall them being split. It was the same black plastic tube though which is just slightly larger than the chain.

 

[tyred]

A normal hockey stick chain guard will do a decent enough job of keeping a chain clean imo as the dirt thrown up by the front wheel will land on the top of it and not the chain.

My all-weather bike for years and many thousands of miles was an old USSR built 3 speed with a hockey stick chain guard and I was forever cleaning mud from the top of it. After the frame broke, I replaced it with a Raleigh Pioneer converted to SS and I ordered a generic plastic hockey stick guard for it.