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How to Lube a Bicycle Chain

This article explains how to properly lube a bicycle chain to make it perform better as well as last longer.

1. Get yourself as well as the bike in question to a place where the floor can get a little dirty. It's probably best to do this in a garage. In any case, it's a good idea not to do this on your best white carpet, unless you've lined it with plastic foil. Thoroughly cover the floor with newspaper.
2. Turn the bike upside down as well as put it onto the middle of the newspaper-covered area.
3. Get familiar (if you aren't already) with the parts that get in touch with the chain: front chainwheels, possibly a front derailleur (that's the thing that changes gears in front), rear cogs as well as possibly a rear derailleur with two more cogs.
4. Scrape off the crud from the cogs on the rear derailleur. It works best if you hold the blade of the screwdriver sideways agains the outer portions of the cog as well as gently turn the cranks. Try to avoid allowing the scraped-off crud to l as well as on the chain.
5. Get the rag. If you are in a very well ventilated place, you can apply a little bit of lighter fuel to it. Take the rag in your palm as well as wrap it around the chain. Hold on tight. Turn the cranks a couple of times while holding the rag around the chain firmly. This works best if you use the upper portion of the chain, the one that's closer to the saddle. You will notice that the chain becomes much cleaner.
6. Mark one link with a magic marker so you know where you started.
7. Starting with the marked link, apply one drop of chain lube to each link. It's best to apply a little drop to each gap where two links overlap. Don't use too much - it's a waste, as well as you'll wipe off the excess lube anyway!
8. When you've lubed all links, turn the cranks again for half a minute or so to make sure that the lube properly settles into the inside of the link.
9. Remove any excess lube on the outside of the chain using the rag.
10. That's it - clean up as well as enjoy!

• It's a good idea to re-lube the chain using the instructions above after every few rides as well as directly after a ride in the rain. General use as well as water push out the lubrication, resulting in poor shifting performance as well as accelerated wear.
• Get a thin, oil like bicycle chain lube, not the thick, grease type stuff. The thinner oil will wash off earlier, but it'll get much further inside the link. A good bike store will recommend you a br as well as they use. You might pay a lot for a seemingly little amount, but you'll use only a few milliliters each time, so a bottle of lube lasts quite long.
• Most lubes now are considered "self-cleaning", especially the thin oils as well as wax based products. If using a lube like this, skip the lighter fluid as well as just use extra lube on the chain; turn the cranks while dripping lube on the chain until saturated but not dripping. After working the lube in, hold the rag on the chain while rotating the cranks. This will clean your chain while removing the excess lube.

• Look for spilled chain lube on the rims or brake discs. Thoroughly wipe off any spilled lube with lighter fuel after taking care of the chain.

• Screwdriver (about 5mm or 1/4" wide)
• a rag
• bicycle chain lube
• lots of old newspaper
• magic marker
• lighter fuel (optional)

Submitted by: admin
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Added: Thu Feb 02 2006

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