THE IMPORTANCE OF CHAIN MAINTENANCE
Maintenance depends very much on the conditions you ride in, obviously wet and muddy conditions prompt a more intensive schedule than dry and asphalt conditions.
We hope, after reading this brochure, you have become aware of many different applications, treatments and qualities in a seemingly simple product called chain.
The chain is probably the most important part of your drive train, when it functions well, you are not aware of it's existence, but when there is something wrong, you will either be annoyed with it's noise, or even worse: standing next to your bike with a broken chain.
On this topic we would like to give you some tips for maintenance and usage, of which we follow ourselves. We hope that by using this information you will be able to prolong the chain's life and improve it's performance.
Indicators to watch out for:
- reduction of shifting function;
- chain-Suck (chain sticking to your front chain wheel);
- squeaking noises from the drive-train;
- in a tunnel or passing an object reflecting sound, you can hear your chain rattle (it's too dry).
Cleaning
- Clean your chain after each trip, especially after riding in the wet.
- Always use a piece of dry cloth to clean the chain and it's component parts.
- If neccesary, use an old toothbrush to clean between the plates.
- Do not forget the sprockets, front changer and derailleur pulleys.
- To remove mud or sand, use a bristle brush, if necessary with light soapy warm water.
- Never use acidic or alkali based detergents (such as rust cleaners), these agents can
damage the chain and may cause breakage.
- NEVER EVER use a so-called'chain washing machine' in combination with solvent. This is the one and only sure way to instantly ruin your chain.
- Avoid the use of solvents, not only are these bad for the environment, they remove lubricant from the chain's bearing.
Lubrication
- lubricate the chain every time you clean it, scrub it, or wash it with any solvent (the usage of solvent is not recommended!);
- before lubricating, make sure the chain is dry;
-use a lubricant which initially penetrates the chain's bearing, and then turns'sticky' or'dry'. In this way you can reach the chain parts which are most sensitive to wear;
- make sure you are using the appropriate lubricant - you can test it by spraying some on your hand-first it feels like water (penetration), after some time it should become sticky or dry (durable lubrication);
- in order to avoid a build-up of excess grease, try to apply it on the critical places only, like the rollers. Applying grease there helps to reduce chain wear and noise;
- remove excess grease from the outside of the chain;
- in the case of derailleur bikes: do not forget to pay some attention to the derailleur pulleys, chainrings and cassette sprockets. Use the same principle as above for maintaining and lubricating them
- after lubricating, use a dry cloth to remove excess grease from the chain's outside, this prevents attracting excessive amounts of dirt and dust
Before re-connecting your chain, do not forget to clean the chain's ends inner bearings of chain ends, to make sure no dirt remains there. After cleaning, and before applying the connecting link, apply some grease inside and on the connector's pins.
Prevent unnecessary chain wear
We can give you the following tips, in order to obtain the maximum mileage from your drive-train, irrespective of the type of chain:
- follow our maintenance tips;
- when shifting, try to keep the chain in as straight a line as possible between chain wheel
and cassette (e.g. do not use the extreme positions like the smallest chainring and the smallest sprocket, or the largest chainring and the largest sprocket);
- when shifting, try to anticipate a situation (e.g. when going uphill, up shift early in order to prevent excess force on the chain when having to change gear);
- before stopping, shift to smaller chainring, this avoids having to shift from stand-still.
This information is provided with the compliments of KMC chains.
Always keep your tyres inflated to the correct pressure.
Under inflated tyres mean you have to work harder and it'ii cost you more money in the long run!!
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