Gravel Cycling

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If you love crunching gravel under your tires while on the drops and you want to share this passion with a Fediverse community, this could be a place for you 🚴🏼

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Chain/overall maintenance (self.gravel_cycling)

submitted 1 week ago by ellisk to c/[email protected]

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Pulling the bike out now that the snow's mostly melted way up here and realizing I probably need a new chain based on stretch last year... what's your chain (and other bits) maintenance routine? I definitely need to get something better going than a casual clean... I guess streams/mud/insane amounts of road dust are pretty hard on the system.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I wax my chains, but I'm not in a place of giving advice as I didn't cycle much in the last two years and didn't have to maintain anything really... but curious of what other people have to say!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

You can rotate 3 chains around the year, that helps a lot to reduce the wear on the chainring, which causes chain stretching too soon.

I use a hydrocarbon-based degreaser to soak a dirty chain for a short time then clean it with brake cleaner or isopropyl alcohol using a toothbrush and a rug. Put it in a zip lock bag with some chain oil. Rinse, repeat.

I prefer Sram or KMC chains over Shimano. In my experience they are cheaper and last longer. AFAIK they are compatible except the 12spd systems