Repair guides › Drivetrain
Clean and lube chain
Transfers your pedaling to the rear wheel. It wears out first and takes the cassette and chainring with it if you wait too long. Pins and rollers wear, so the chain gets longer ("stretch"). A worn chain skips and grinds the cog teeth into hooks. Width depends on speed count: buy the one that matches your cassette. Replace at 0.75% wear for 8/9/10-speed, 0.5% for 11-speed and up.
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Tools
- Chain lube (dry + wet): Finish Line Ceramic Wax + Ceramic Wet lube ($$)
- Degreaser: Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner ($)
- Shop rags + nitrile gloves: shop towels and nitrile gloves ($)
- Chain keeper (dummy hub): Park Tool DH-1 dummy hub ($)
- Chain scrubber: Finish Line Shop Quality Chain Cleaner ($$)
- Cleaning brushes: bike cleaning brush set ($)
Compare Good, Better and Best for each tool
Steps
- Hold a rag around the lower chain run and backpedal 20 turns to wipe off grime.
- If it is caked, scrub with degreaser and a brush, rinse, and dry fully.
- Backpedal slowly while dripping one drop of lube on each roller (top of the lower run).
- Spin 30 seconds, wait 5 minutes, then wipe the outside of the chain hard. Lube belongs inside the rollers; outside it only collects dirt.
- Dry lube for dusty/dry rides; wet lube for rain.
Signs it needs doing
- Chain skips under hard pedaling
- Noisy, gritty drivetrain
- Stiff link that clicks once per crank turn
- Rust