I have 2 bikes, with different length chains, 3 chains for the road bike, 2 for the CX
Thanks guys.
Another question. I wanted to buy some missing links in bulk. Saw these on aliexpress. KMC ones, but, they say KMC and Shimano only. I have a few SRAM chains. Brand new. Anyone used KMC links with SRAM? Any idea why they say it’s for Shimano/KMC only?
Amazon US says that cl555r is ok with all 3 brands, but aliexpress says that they have cl555 and not ok with sram
EDIT: R refers to reusable, and KMC site says that both 555 and 555R are OK with all 3 brands.
Just get the connex links: 10s and 11s
Any link. I see them for 25 dollars on Amazon. Also, I live in India, so most of these sites dont ship to India, and if the do, shipping is exorbitant.
Check Merlin:
So… we all know that if a little of something is good, then a lot of it must be awesome. Right?
Yeah… I made that mistake on the last chain cleaning. I got interrupted mid process and forgot a chain in a jar of Simple Green. Later I remembered it was soaking, but figured it would be OK for a day or so. That turned into a week (or was it 2?). Eventually I got around to finishing the process: clean off the degreaser, soak chain a bit in mineral spirits, clean, then final rinse in denatured alcohol, etc… wax. Install. Ride.
I was 30 miles into a planned 70+ mile ride when my chain broke. I assumed it was the quick link, but upon reinstalling a quick link I noticed it was a chain link that broke. That should have been the moment I stopped to reassess and examine the chain and my situation more closely, especially since the break came under low effort. But, I missed that opportunity and set back on my way. Less than 2 miles later, snap. There goes another link. This time I pulled over, sat on a nearby picnic table and gave my chain a closer look. It was a disaster, loaded with cracks that were all ready to fail at any moment.
I’d never seen anything like it. Then again, I’d never before gave my chain a 2-week bath in Simple Green. Lesson learned!!!
This was a black Connex chain and my wax mix contains molybdenum, hence it doesn’t look so clean.
In the third photo, there’s a very visible crack in a link in the upper right side. A smaller cracks can also be seen, but not as well.
That is crazy - I can’t imagine that simple green would damage a chain that badly. Have you contacted Connex? How many miles did you have on this chain?
This was a very new chain. Prior to this “cleaning,” it had only been on my bike for about a month, so between trainer and road rides it had 40 hours or so on it at most. And this just happened on Saturday, so No, I haven’t been in touch w Wipperman / Connex yet, but I will.
Simple Green is pretty potent stuff. I’ve used it for years in a spray bottle and with a chain scrubber, but I’ve alway’s diluted it by at least 1:1, if not more, with water.
agreed that its strong, but its not that strong to crack metal in 40 hours of use. I would expect corrosion, maybe I am wrong but that appears to be more of a metal failure than soaking in simple green. I would be curious what Wipperman/Connex says if possible for follow up.
Mike
This is actually very typical of what Simple Green does to metal over long exposure periods.
After spending hours getting two chains spotless and ready for wax I’m convinced that if I every do this again, I have to get an ultrasonic cleaner.
How fast does ultrasonic work? Is it like 5 or 10 minutes and the chain is done and ready for wax?
I see, yes it appears I was wrong, longer exposure to SG can cause metal to become brittle, causing chain links to snap. Sorry that happend @JimA - thanks for sharing your experience!
Mike
Not sure why it took you hours. They don’t have to be spotless. Just shake them around in some mineral spirits for a few minutes and repeat until the solution is clear or don’t, I doubt it matters that it’s that clear. If you have waxed the chain before, a few minutes in a pot of boiling water prior to the spirits should be enough. No scrubbing or cleaning required.
Are you talking about the time to do the initial cleaning of the factory lube being hours? As you do more chains I think you will find it gets easier IMO. An ultrasonic is not going to be very good for the initial stripping of a new chain.
I usually put my chains in the US cleaner for 10-20 minutes with the heat turned on. As @russell.r.sage mentioned I now generally clean with hot water only. A few minutes in boiling water seems to get the chain almost as good as the US cleaner and then it goes into the wax and I can dump the hot water down the drain.
I just cleaned three chains - the first was a brand new Campagnolo chain and the second was my old chain which I never got clean enough the first time around I put Smoove on it. My understanding is that for wax, the chain needs to be grease free and basically clean enough to eat off.
By hours I mean, spray the chain, scrub it, let it sit, repeat, boil it, repeat, scrub again, boil, final alcohol rinse. Maybe each step takes 5 or 10 minutes and then there is a lot of waiting in between. It was still very time consuming and adds up. The second chain contaminated with both factory grease and Smoove was the hardest.
Also, these Campagnolo chains seem to have extra thick factory grease. The third chain I cleaned was an Sram chain and it came with much much less factory grease installed. It cleaned up much more easily with citrus de-greaser and a scrub.
@MikeMckinney
No worries. Clearly I had no idea myself.
Spray what? All the cleaning steps should be submersion in various liquids. Spraying is only ever going to be superficial.
Spraying it with citrus degreaser and then scrubbing it with a brush.
Maybe it’s easier with mineral spirits but in the first post at the top I see that Jonathan is doing 6-8 baths in mineral spirits. That doesn’t sound much easier than what I’m doing. And honestly, I’m not that keen on tossing out that much solvent into the environment just to clean a chain.
I’m going to give waxing a try and I’ll probably buy an ultrasonic cleaner.
All this does leave me wondering if the cleaner/lube method (like Rock n Roll Gold) isn’t the superior method or at least the easier method. I never even took the factory lube off. Just clean it with Rock N Roll Gold once a week for six months and then toss it in favor of a new chain.
My general approach (I have a cheaper ultrasonic cleaner without a heating element): heat water in an electric kettle to 65C (which is just a couple of minutes) then pour it into the ultrasonic cleaner with Simple Green HD. Turn on the cleaner and let it degas for 6 minutes, then put in the chain for 6 minutes, then flip the chain and let it run for another 6 minutes. If you do a second round in the ultrasonic cleaner, that adds another full 20 minutes at least.
With a larger ultrasonic cleaner doing multiple chains and only one pass, that can be pretty fast. With a smaller ultrasonic cleaner doing multiple chains multiple passes, it can still take a long time. On the other hand, you don’t have to be laser focused on the process the whole time.