Chain questions

[Steve Marsh]

I have a couple of questions about chains on the pino. How often do you change your chains? I am finding that the captain's chain seems to wear out really fast - relative to a one person bike. So far I have replaced the captain's chain three times and the stokers chain twice. The captains chain seems to be good for only about 3000km even while keeping it well lubed (every 3-4 days). I made the mistake of not thoroughly cleaning the captains chain for 1 month on tour, but still keeping it well lubed. The result was that the captains chain was so worn that I ended up having to replace the front chain ring and the cassette to stop a new chain from slipping going up hill. I have since learned my lesson so clean the chain more often. The next question, is it ok to use an 8 (or less) speed chain for the stoker's chain replacement? I assume it is because it doesn't go through a derailleur. 8 (or less) speed chains are much cheaper and 3 regular chains are needed to replace the stoker's chain as it is so long. Lastly, how do you go about cleaning the stoker's chain and chainguides? The method I am using for a thorough clean is to remove the chain from the bike, soak it in degreaser and scrub with a toothbrush. When I remove it I uncouple the powerlink connection and attach a string to one end and pull this through the chain guide tubes when unthreading the chain. This makes the process of re-threading the chain much easier. I am cleaning the chain guides by using a stiff wire to force small pieces of rag to wipe the interiors. Are there any tips to make the chain cleaning process easier?

[Bob Bending]

We've had our Pino since 2012 and I have only replaced the drive chain once, along with middle and outer chainrings and cassette. I'm not very disciplined at maintenance but will give the chains and good lube and wipe down, but seldom remove them for a thorough cleaning. Do you live in a sandy/dusty area where wear is likely to be higher?

[Steve Marsh]

Most of the distance we put on the bike is from loaded touring.  The terrain varies though usually involves some time on a gravel surfaced road or bike path. The last trip we made was From San Diego to La Paz which was using all new chains front and back.  It only rained one day of the trip and there was only one section of about 30km on an unpaved surface.  The total distance was about 3000km.  The stokers chain was OK after this trip but the captains was declared worn out by the chain measuring tool.

Steve

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[Bob Bending]

I tend to ignore chain tools and go on performance – if the chain starts jumping etc. I realise that this means replacing the cassette and at least the middle ring too, but in the long run I think it's less of a hassle than replacing and circulating chains. I recently put a Rohloff onto the Pino and have retained the 28/38/48 chainrings on the front. The 28T is outside Rohloff's permitted ratio but it's just hauled us and our luggage and camping gear up some steep climbs on a mini-tour. This should reduce chain wear moreso, but like I said, it's not really been an issue with us. We've done over 6,000 miles on the Pino since I started using Strava about 3 years ago.

[Steve Marsh]

So far I'm not sure which method is better :)

Steve

[Iain Mackay]

For cleaning all chain tubes,on the Pino or on a recumbent trike, I use the "pull=through" method adapted from what I learned on the school rifle team:  tear a piece of clean cotton cloth (e.g. an old bedsheet) about 2cm wide and 10cm long and thread it through one link of the chain.  Wind it through, remove and repeat until the rag comes out pretty clean.  You can also soak it in an appropriate degreaser to hasten the cleaning.  For the final part, when the chain has been removed (I too use the piece of string method), you can send a blast of disk brake cleaner down the tube.   

[head honcho]

How are your front chainrings holding up?  I recently replaced the captain's chain, along with the rear cassette and the very worn middle 38t chainring.  We had probably ~2500m/~4000km on them with inconsistent lubrication.  

[Steve Marsh]

I had to replace the same parts in approx the same distance. I am approaching the same distance on these new parts so it'll be interesting to see if they need replacing again soon.

Steve

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