My chain and cassette almost sounds "dry' as I'm riding. Should I just try some lube on it first or should I spend the time to degrease it etc?
I was going to give it a good clean tomorrow anyway so I'll have to go out if I need degreaser. Otherwise I've got the lube and some soap etc.
Full degrease and re-lube should do the trick. Make sure you get all the crap out of the cassette - I find an old toothbrush works well if you haven’t got proper brushes. Dry lube only lasts about 100 miles and washes out easily if wet.
be very careful when degreasing as it can rip out the grease within the actual links and ruin the chain, after every other ride or so get a microfibre cloth and run the chain through it and try and clean the cassette and just reapply a light coating of your preferred oil/grease, trust me the microfibre cloth routine is a winner
Fenwicks is the business, cleans chain, cassette, jockey wheels and rest of bike too really well and they do lubricants too. I¨d recommend without any hesitation. Bit more expensive than your average degreaser but road-bike -specific and worth the extra few quid IMHO.Cheers both, I have been looking at this WD-40 Bike, Bicycle Chains & Gears Degreaser on Amazon, looks straight forward to spray on, clean off and then just relube. Ill give the rest of the bike a clean as well.
Ive got some microfibres so will run the chain through that after ive sprayed on and washed off the degreaser, Then just relube once its all dry and clean?
Cheers both, I have been looking at this WD-40 Bike, Bicycle Chains & Gears Degreaser on Amazon, looks straight forward to spray on, clean off and then just relube. Ill give the rest of the bike a clean as well.
Ive got some microfibres so will run the chain through that after ive sprayed on and washed off the degreaser, Then just relube once its all dry and clean?
I've not cycled for about 10 years then got back in the saddle a month or so ago.Interesting to know off all the new cyclists on here: Has your attitude to cycling/cyclists changed as road users? Generally speaking the car driver has a very low tolerance of cyclists. 99% of them have never been on a bike since they were about ten. Cheers.
Cheers mate, will take a look. In honesty looking at my chain and cassette they aren't actually dirty so I think im going to just put some fresh lube on. It just seems to be a dry scratching sound more than anything.Fenwicks is the business, cleans chain, cassette, jockey wheels and rest of bike too really well and they do lubricants too. I¨d recommend without any hesitation. Bit more expensive than your average degreaser but road-bike -specific and worth the extra few quid IMHO.
https://fenwicksbike.com/products/
Will take a look at that mate, my plan is to give the bike a good soapy wash today all over the frame, apply some fresh lube and see if that helps the sound I am hearing. If not then, i will degrease the cassette etc fully and go from there.I use WD40 specialist silicone in a grey can. It's silicone based unlike the blue tin which is a magnet for dirt. I cleaned my chain once with the blue stuff. NEVER again!! In the end I bought a new chain as it was never the same after using it.
I also use Zefal extra dry chain wax which is the best chain wax I've used. Wipes off really easy and doesn't gunk the chain up. And the microfiber cloth method is a top top tip. After every ride I rinse my bike down with a hose (not jet) dry it off with a cloth then just run a microfiber cloth over the chain whilst back pedalling. Leave it overnight then lubricate and wax it all up the next day. So when the bike is completely dry I use a normal silicone spray to polish it up. Comes up like new. Just be careful around the brake discs/pads and rims.
Cheers mate, will take a look. In honesty looking at my chain and cassette they aren't actually dirty so I think im going to just put some fresh lube on. It just seems to be a dry scratching sound more than anything.
Will take a look at that mate, my plan is to give the bike a good soapy wash today all over the frame, apply some fresh lube and see if that helps the sound I am hearing. If not then, i will degrease the cassette etc fully and go from there.
Cheers for that mate, will take a look at that. To be fair, the bike has been sat in the garage for 6 years and not moved till last month when I just took it straight out on the road. I am hoping this government scheme comes in for the free voucher so my local shop can give it a once over and tune up haha.It could be that your gear indexing is slightly out of adjustment.
Have you tried applying light pressure to your shifter (up and down) whilst peddling?
If your indexing is out, then applying light pressure will alter the noise coming from your rear cassette. If applying light pressure makes the noise go away then you will need to make an adjustment to your gear indexing by turning the barrel adjuster on your outer cable (either at the derailleur end or the the shifter end depending on you bike) a quarter of a turn at a time either way until the noise is gone.
Essentially, what you are trying to do is ensure that the derailleur jockey wheels are sitting directly over the gear on the rear cassette for the selected gear to ensure the gear is running through the centre of the chain and not rubbing on either edge of the selected gear or worse the adjacent gear. As cables and components stretch and wear over time the indexing will shift gradually, to the point where it needs adjusting.
I would start in the middle of the cassette, and once you have that dialled in, check up and down the cassette to make sure everything is in line. Top and bottom gear might be very slightly out, so a quarter of a turn either way at the extremes might be required, but if you can live with a little bit of noise in those gears I wouldn't bother.
Hope this helps.