After couple of rides on “salted” roads my chain, chainring and cassette got rust. Chain is worst and its now clicking and almost not smooth at all. Do i have to use some specific lube or just vigorously wash my bike after each ride? I dont want to change all parts at the beginning of the spring. Any hacks how to effectively protect my drivetrain?
A KMC EPT chain may help, they’re more rust and corrosion resistant than a normal chain.
Wash and lube the bike after every ride on salty roads. Especially the drivetrain, but brakes and cables often corrode too, and are harder to see.
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Nothing will seal the metal chain links from the outside corrosive salt . You could try waxing your chain if you are not doing that already.
What worked best for me when I was riding in salt and road grit was a good oily “wet” lube. Most of these are advertised as being for wet conditions. I’d keep the chain well “oiled”. It does get messy, but not much to be done about that. I couldn’t clean the bike outside when below freezing so would bring it in and clean it in the tub!
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If you think it is destroying your chain you don’t want to know what it is doing to your rims if they are alloy.
Rinsing after riding in salty conditions is important, you don’t need soap. After that the next most important thing is drying, which is hard when its below freezing.
As others have said expensive chains usually have more corrosion resistant coatings.
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I have used two products that I have had pretty good luck with on the chain. WD40 Bike Wet lube which is good when there is heavy slop. The oil is thick and hangs on in the rain. When there is a drier salted road I use Monkey Loob which has a rust inhibitor in it, but it is pretty light so if there is a lot of road wash I don’t use it (I am not sure if it would hang on against a heavy road wash so I have not tried it).
You definitely need to rinse the whole bike though. Spoke nipples can corrode, wheel bearings can get ruined, bottom brackets too.
Thanks all I will consider your advices, I will wash my bike after each use and lube it for now and see how it’s going. I did not expect this problem. I wil check all other pars for corrosion, thanks for mentioning that.
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Thank you for posting! I’m in the process of moving from a hot and sunny place to a place with snow and this had never occurred to me either. I’m sorry for the damage you may have incurred, but appreciate you sharing so I can try to be proactive.
No hacks but I’ve got a tip. Wipe the chain with an oily rag after such rides. A light spray of WD40 or similar if chain is particularly bad. Takes a few mins at most and will stop that surface rust firming.
Another tip (but unhelpful)
Take the chain off and ride without it.
- salt doesnt get on it so it doesnt get rusty
- pedalling feels really easy
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Corrosion mostly happens when the surfaces slowly dry with salt on them. So rinsing the salt off before it dries is critical. But it takes a lot of rinsing to get all the salt away. So you can either have a surface coating of something water repellant or you can dry it off quickly.
I bike commute year round. I live in a place with very wet winters, combination of snow and rain. The roads are pretty gross. I used to be pretty obsessive about keeping the bike clean and running well. It was honestly just really annoying and I would only get a few days commuting before I could clean it again.
This year I’ve decided to be way less fastidious. Wet lube and cleaning only when it’s running really bad. I’m just going to thrash this drive train and replace in the spring when conditions aren’t so bad. I’m running old 105, so not a huge cost to replace. Calculus changes pretty dramatically on a nice drivetrain though.
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I agreee with the advice to rinse often and use a good wet lube. In my experience wax lubes aren’t great for salty winter riding unless you’re really fastidious about keeping the drivetrain clean and dry.
One thing I’ll add is that hot/warm water is much more effective at shifting salt. Depending on your set up it might be more hassle than just skooshing with a hose, but the occasional bucket of warm suds is a good idea if you can
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This, but….
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Replace with chain you’ve previously waxed
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Immerse removed chain in boiling water
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Dry
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Re-wax ready for swapping after next ride
Another option would be to spend a lot of money on a bike with a belt drivetrain.
I will wash drive train after each ride and spray with whet ever works. I will start with lube and then wd40 and also some other sprays. I will not let salt to stay long in the chain which will be the main problem. As other mentioned wash it after ride is the best to save it
I ride all winter outdoors and haven’t experienced this issue at all. I do wax my chain, rinse and dry the bike off after most rides, and store it indoors.
I have had this happen. It also rusted the clutch of my XTR rear derailleur in place. That was a very expensive oversight.
One big factor was my use of a wax-based lubricant (via bottle). I should have used wet lube instead that coated the entire chain.
Do your roads get salted?
Salt on roads has been banned in some places, so maybe it just doesn’t happen around where you live?