I have put my chain through two rides of about 50 miles each that involved riding through mud and sand that completely coated the chain. Was wondering if a good off the bike cleaning is good enough or if sand can do a bad enough number on a chain in that many miles that it should be replaced. Both rides completely ruined my brake pads.
You can use a chain gauge to determine when your chain is worn to the point of needing replacement.
Mu guess is the brake pads and rotors are much more exposed to the abrasive mud and sand than the innards of the chain are. Also there are many different types of chain lube, some of the thicker ones are probably pretty good at keeping stuff out of the innards. I suppose there's not much you can do to protect the outer parts and cogs .
I guess what I'm asking is can a chain measure within the allowed specs (it does) and be damaged in some other physical way? It's just in my head how abrasive all that sand was.
I suppose a chain could be filled with grit and wear faster but as long as it's clean outside and measures OK I can't imagine how it could fail suddenly or damage other parts. But then lots of things happen that I never imagined...
...a well-worn chain which is packed with silty grit inside the rollers can fool you by measuring Good/OK (tighter) when using a two-pin or go/no-go type chain checker. —not that a chain should likely get to this point in two 50mile muddy rides.
It's has more than two 50 mile muddy rides but still should have a lot of life left. The sand form the last sloppy ride set up like mortar, hard as a rock, and I keep finding hardened sand on the inside of the chain. Think I'll replace it and save this one for next sloppy ride. Replacing brake pads and now a chain is making this gravel thing kind of expensive compared to my old school road bike riding. Thanks guys.
It sounds like you didn't clean the chain well enough. While it's generally not a great idea to leave a chain soaking for long in strong, water-based solvents (like Simple Green or citrus cleaner), soaking it in hot water for as long as it takes for the crusty stuff to break down should be fine. Then hit it with solvent to remove any oil/grease/wax before drying and re-lubing it. An ultrasonic cleaner would be helpful, but it's not a necessity.
If you do replace it, get a stainless chain or a KMC EcoProTeq chain that is specifically designed for harsh conditions. You can find them on Ebay for around 40 bucks. I've switched our gravel bikes to the EcoProTeq and will eventually put them on all of our off-road bikes.
Personally, as a former shop mechanic, I would just use a chain cleaner like this https://www.parktool.com/product/cyclone-chain-scrubber-cm-5-3 Run it, change the cleaner (Simple Green or the like) 2-3 times, dry the chain and lube. You should be good to go. As others have mentioned, a chain checker is a good investment.
I'm almost 64 and I have two of them that I picked up cheap. Check Craigslist, Ebay, and estate sales for reasonably priced options. Even a relatively small (1 liter) cleaner will work well for chains, you just change the cleaning solution more often.
Based on your ID I suspect you live in OK or somewhere else with those sticky red clay roads...
While gravel is great, there is a cost in terms of bike maintenance.
I agree with comments above, buy the chain checker and all the tools you need to clean your bike. The chain checker does not lie. If it says your chain is good, it's good. If you keep your chain clean you'll ensure the other components like cassette and chainrings don't wear out prematurely. Replace your chain when the checker says it's spent. Also, make sure to measure your chain in multiple spots.
As far as brake pads, you might consider metal pads instead of organic if those are what you're are currently using. Both are available for most brakes and while noisier, the metal pads do last longer. Of course, you could just use your brakes less... Haha
Hey Volsung, since you are taking your chain off the bike to clean it, how many times do you reuse a quick-link for your chain? Or, do you use pins and a chain tool? Thanks!
Volsung wrote:I got an ultrasonic parts cleaner when I started waxing my chains. Something like that would shake the schmutz out of the nooks and crannies.
Its a bit more time consuming than just adding more lube to a chain and wiping it down, but easier than entire drive train cleanings.
The pads wear mainly from the immediate clogging of mud or sand between the pads and the rotor. You start to hear the grinding before you even use your brakes in those conditions. The red mud I could clean out of the chain, it's the sand that truly set up like cement and no matter how long you soak it in hot water or whatever the only way I can get it completely off is by manually scraping it off. I considered the metal pads but keep thinking that surely the weather won't be absolutely terrible for every race I sign up for. I would not ride in these conditions if I hadn't already paid money for the privilege to do so.
I only use chains with quick links, KMC primarily. Most of the time, I clean and lube the chain on the bike, so I probably don't open & close the link more than 2-3 times over the life of a chain. Some links are meant to be reused and others aren't, though I haven't actually paid attention to that; I just reuse them.
I've never had a connecting link fail, but I have seen several cases where they have worn faster than the rest of the chain and needed to be replaced. To check this, measure the chain on both sides excluding the link, then measure it across the link. If the last measurement is longer, the link is worn and should be replaced.
Red wrote:The red mud I could clean out of the chain, it's the sand that truly set up like cement and no matter how long you soak it in hot water or whatever the only way I can get it completely off is by manually scraping it off.
I can't say that I've encountered anything that stubborn, but an ultrasonic cleaner will remove anything.
I would not ride in these conditions if I hadn't already paid money for the privilege to do so.
Sometimes. it's just better to call it "a donation to a good cause" and write it off. 😉
I had never encountered anything like it before either and I'm beginning to think you are right about skipping it when conditions are like that. The first race was red mud and that was not so hard to remove but the second ride with the sand was a whole other story. It's so hard on the bike. My nice new crank arms look like I've taken sand paper to them from the build up on my shoes that rubbed them and rubbed the chain stay.
DK wrote:Hey Volsung, since you are taking your chain off the bike to clean it, how many times do you reuse a quick-link for your chain? Or, do you use pins and a chain tool? Thanks!
Kmc sells reusable quick links. Wax seems to last a few hundred miles so with switching between bikes it hasn't been an issue yet
Edit- like what bnystrom said, I have no idea if I'm using reusable links or not. After 5 knee surgeries and another dozen procedures I can barely hit 800 watts, so I don't worry about it.
I'm also in the camp of reusing the quick links. Also note that Shimano is (finally) moving to these. Yay!!!
As for cleaning, I also recommend using a cleaner. Wash, rinse, check some links for the sound of grit. Repeat as necessary. For a final rinse I like to use a bit of rubbing alcohol. It's cheap and it'll flush out the water. Most of the remaining alcohol will quickly wick into a towel and what doesn't wick away will evaporate quickly (even in cold temp's). This way I can ensure the inside of the chain is dry before applying fresh lube.
As others posted, use a chain wear gauge regularly. I replace chains when they get to 70% to 80%. This protects the chainrings and cassette from excessive wear.
For a quick clean & lube I'll spray WD40 into a rag and wipe down the outside of the chain to remove grit and then generously apply the fresh lube. The new lube will flush out some of the grit which has gotten inside the chain. Wipe off excess with a paper towel. Ride a couple miles. Wipe excess. Ride a few more miles. Wipe excess. At this point most of the excess is gone, the inside is well lubed, and there's little lube on the outside to collect dirt. Life's good!
