re-greasing a chain?

[GrasB]

It seems I've managed to remove all grease from inside the fixies chain, or at least managed to get it completely contaminated with grit. Is there any method of getting heavy lubrication back inside the chain besides taking it apart & re-greasing?

 

[Garz]

You wouldn't grease it, as its too thick I take it you mean oil/lubricate. Once you have completely de-gunked the chain and have it shiny new looking, I let it dry overnight and then apply a very light amount to the links again leaving for as long as possible till I next ride. Before riding I give the chain a few wipes, this is usually successful at getting a crisp chain for riding with.

 

[youngoldbloke]

You could use this method:
http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

 

[GrasB]

Garz, you need some grease inside the chain. Mine at the moment feels non-existant, this is bad, though the chain is lose it's grinding & is gritty inside. Even a 6 hour soak in thick penetrating oil hasn't really done much for the chain (my usual method of lubing the chain internally).

yob (I love that shortening of your username ) in all honesty if it's that I'll just buy a new chain cause it'll cost me more in time/grease than a replacement.

 

[Mr Pig]

Penetrating oil is too thin, grease is too thick.

This is what I do:

Wash the chain in white spirit.
Wash it in detergent solution.
Rinse in water.
Stick it in the oven for a few minutes to dry.
Drop of Finish Line Cross country on each link.

I've been doing that for years and it seems to work fine.

 

[Garz]

Garz, you need some grease inside the chain.

I do similar to pig:

Wipe chain, maybe use old toothbrush with some cleaning solution.
Use a plastic chain cleaning tool (park) a few times, then rinse.
Let dry overnight.
Drop of Finish Line Cross country on each link.

 

[GrasB]

Yes that'll work to some extent but...

1) If I wash out the chain totally then oil chains last noticeably fewer miles than if I just wash the outside of the chain & soak in penetrating oil (this isn't to lube the chain it's to get life back into the grease). Also the chain is much more noisy & doesn't feel as smooth.

2) If you look at what is inside the chain when it's new you find grease.

3) Look at what Sheldon B. (RIP) does with a chain... oh yes that would be grease in there. It's an extreme take but it's technically the best way.

If the only way to get my chain feeling smooth again is the sheldon method then I'm buying a new chain.

 

[Mr Pig]

Penetrating oil will basically break up grease. If you relube after cleaning with a decent chain oil the chain will be quiet and work well.

 

[GrasB]

Depends on the penetrating oil. I'm not talking about the sort of thing you use to separate nuts & bolts that are rusted together, I'm using a relatively thick oil, somewhere between cross country wet oil & 3 in 1, which is designed to get into hard-to-reach bearings & aid existing oil & grease.

 

[Mr Pig]

I'm using a relatively thick oil, which is designed to aid existing oil & grease.

Right. I've not seen that stuff. And I guess it doesn't work, right?

 

[GrasB]

It usually works but this time it's not working. I came off the fixie off-roading & ended up dragging the chain through river bed mud for a few meters. I've tried to clean the chain up but it just feels really really gritty still.

 

[Mr Pig]

Well the chain's not worn then is it? It's just dirty. You need to clean it out properly, you have little choice. You could just bin it but why bin a perfectly good chain because it's dirty?