Have you ever been riding your bike and listening to the squeak squeak of you chain? If your chain could talk to you it would probably tell you exactly what Pete Zlatnik wrote below. Pete is the service manager of our Hollywood store and has worked at Bike Gallery for 15 years. Pete wants to help you understand you bike better, and had this to say about chain maintenance:

A common interaction between mechanic and customer in our service department is this:

Pete is the service manager of the Hollywood Bike gallery

Mechanic: “How often do you oil your chain?”
Customer: “It needs oil?”

This brief exchange summarizes the lack of awareness or unrealistic expectations that many people have about their bike and the maintenance required to keep it pedaling smoothly. Many people base their maintenance expectations on what their car requires. Unlike your car which has a transmission sealed from the elements, bathed in oil, your bike’s transmission is exposed to the world. The benefit to this is that it is light, elegantly simple, and very efficient. The downside is that it requires a little more regular attention from yourself.

Here’s another common question:

Customer: “What maintenance should I be doing myself?”

Besides keeping your tires topped off, adding oil to your chain is the most important thing you can do to allow your bike to stay quiet and pedal with maximum efficiency. The one restriction is that if you apply unlimited quantities or types of oil to your chain, with no consideration for cleaning, all that oil will attract dirt and grit from the road. This can gritty build up can be abrasive, accelerating wear on your chain and gears. It can also affect efficiency (causing more fatigue over a given distance, or make it tougher to keep up with fast riding friends).

Customer: “How often should I clean the chain? How clean does it have to be?”

It’s like the teeth in your head. Sure, eating contaminates your teeth and increases the need for brushing or professional dental services. You could not eat, ever, and your teeth would remain perfect. (Please don’t try this). By that same logic, you can park your bike in your house and never ride it and it would stay new forever. A less extreme regimen would involve, riding, but then cleaning the chain and gears to a spotless shine after every ride. This may be ideal of paper, but It is not realistic for most of us.

Applying chain lube on the inside links of the chain while back pedaling

Use a rag to wipe the excess lube off the chain. Watch those fingers!

Applying oil at least once a week (possibly after every ride if you rides last longer than an hour or was in the rain) is a good idea. Your goal is to get one drop of oil into each pivot of the chain. You can spend and hour with an eyedropper doing just that, or you can lean your bike against a wall and backpedal while applying a thin stream of oil onto the top of the chain. Try resting your hand on the bike frame above the rear cassette while doing this to help steady your hand. Once the chain has gone around once (approximately 3-4 full crank revolutions) stop applying oil. The next important step is to take a shop rag or old cotton sock/scrap of sheet, etc. and wipe off the excess oil. Most chain lube is made up of some kind of heavier oil/wax/teflon mixed with a lighter solvent carrier. The carrier thins out the lube allowing it to penetrate into the chain pivot and then it evaporates leaving the thicker, longer lasting lube. While the solvent is still present, right after lubing your chain, you can often remove much of the dirt and grime from your chain along with the excess lube. Now your chain is oiled and clean!

Bicycle specific chain lubes are generally “cleaner” and will attract less dirt than something thicker like motor oil or household 3 in 1 oil. In a pinch, anything is better than nothing. The only downside to a thicker oil is that it will require more cleaning later on.

Customer: “I ignored all your advice and never cleaned my chain and I commute daily. It’s been 2 years and 4000 miles. My shifting is not very smooth. The chain jumps.”

The worst case scenario is probably not as bad as you think. I don’t think they throw you in jail for wearing out your chain or gears. I’m more likely to congratulate you on putting in a ton of miles. That’s really what it’s all about right?

Here’s what happens: A new chain fits very precisely on the rear cassette and chainrings (gears on back wheel and gears up front). This is even more critical the more expensive the parts and the more gears you have in back (9, 10, or even 11). As you put in miles on your chain, each pivot wears a little and develops a tiny bit of “slop”. When new, the distance from the center of one pivot to the next is exactly .5 inches. Since the chain has approximately 110 pivots, it is possible for the chain to become dramatically longer. This is what people mean when they say a chain “stretches”. The reason mechanics get so obsessed with this is that a worn chain can wear your gears to the point that they lack the precision to hold a new chain under hard pedal load (climbing a hill or starting up from a stop light). The reason mechanics are so obsessed with replacing your chain every 1500 to 2000 miles (as the manufacturer recommends) is that chain pivot wear also allows the chain to “flex” sideways much more than is ideal. This flex prevents the chain from shifting in a “crisp” manner and as it gets worse can require more finesse from the rider and more tolerance of delayed shifting.

If you’re not sure how your chain is doing, there are two ways to decide if you need a new chain. If it’s seen 2000 miles or more, treat yourself to a new chain. If you don’t track your mileage, just stop in to the shop and we can measure your chain for stretch. Keep in mind that the further you are past 2000miles or if you ride in one or two cogs all the time, you may need a new cassette or new chainrings. The benefit to staying on top of this maintenance, is that you can keep the smooth new bike quality to your shifting indefinitely. If you have any questions, feel free to contact any Bike Gallery service department for answers. Thanks!