How To Clean and Lubricate a Chain
Frequent chain cleaning and lubrication will help keep dirt off your chain and prevent wear.
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DownloadRegular cleaning and lubrication of your chain will help prevent your drivetrain from wearing out. You should clean and lubricate the chain when it is dirty, dry or begins to sound noisy. If you ride every day, you should clean and lube the chain at least once a month.
Chain Lubricants
I don’t recommend using either motor oil or 3in1 oil to lubricate the chain. Motor oil is too heavy and won’t fully penetrate the rollers, and 3in1 oil is vegetable based and will gum up the chain. I also don’t recommend using wax lubricants because while they don’t collect as much dirt, they are a lot of hassle to apply correctly, and wax is simply not as good a lubricant as oil. I do recommend mineral based chain oils like Finish Line Cross Country or Phil Wood Tenacious Oil because they do the best job of fighting corrosion and don’t wash away when they get wet.
Chain Cleaning
For cleaning, first shift the chain into the smallest sprocket on the rear. For average dust and dirt, wipe the chain clean with a solvent soaked rag. The easiest way to do this is to hold the chain still at the rear derailleur cage while firmly wiping the lower run of the chain. Then move the chain backward and wipe again until you’ve wiped the entire length of chain. Wipe between the rear sprockets using either a rag or a sprocket cleaning tool. Then clean all of the front chainrings on both sides.
Chain Lubrication
Shift your gears into the middle sprocket both front and rear. Remember that oil does a good job of spreading itself, so try not to over-apply the lubricant. Lubricate the inner circumference of the chain, on the side that faces the sprockets along the top of the lower run of the chain. Run the chain backwards while dropping oil down both sides of the rollers.
Shift through all of the gears to spread the lubricant evenly through the drivetrain. Then use a rag to wipe off any excess oil.
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For solvent, I’ve been using turpentine. It cleans pretty well, but you have to clean the chains outside, and turpentine isn’t that environmentally friendly. Another good solvent for chain cleaning is Wurth’s Pineline, which is a pine-oil based product, and when diluted properly, can be used also for cleaning the whole bike.
@Tin: Paint thinner can damage some of your plastic parts, so you’d have to use it carefully. I’m not sure, but it may not work as well as traditional bike cleaners.
Hi Will,
Why do you not recommend dry teflon lubricant. You say it is difficult to apply. Why is that? Does the chain have to be extra clean before applying and do you have to wait a long time for it to dry? Sorry if you have answered this before. I heard this somewhere and can’t remember where. Thanks for a great series!
Alan
Wax lubes are difficult to apply because the chain has to be spotless clean first, in order for the lube to be effective. And you have to let it sit for about 1/2 hour, and I personally feel that it doesn’t lubricate as well as regular lubes. This video discusses lubricants a bit more in depth…
Alex, what would be the best solvent to use? Which solvent do you use?
Personally I use EcoTech as a cleaner… works great!
Hey Alex! I’m looking forward to the ‘drivetrain bath’ video! I hope it’s still in the works. Thanks very much for making these videos available. They’re fantastic and helped me build my own bike from parts. It wasn’t economical to do that but it was a fun project and I learned a lot.
If the ‘bath’ involves breaking the chain, I hope you include advice for those without quick release master links. I have a cheap 9sp Shimano chain that had a master pin to join the chain for installation. Thanks!
No problem Stig, glad to hear the tutorials are helpful. Here’s a video that shows how to operate some of the more common quick release types. Hope that helps!
Hi
Where did you get the sprocket cleaning tool? I can’t seem to find one anywhere.
Hi Tim,
You can get the Park gear cleaning brush here.
Hey thanks for the awesome tuts man! They are so honed it’s incredible!
I find that Tri-flow works just as you said, I used to use White Lightning, but never again! Now I just need to remember to wipe off all the excess.