Chain maintenance / lubricant for gravel riding

[thprice]

There are lots of articles regarding chain maintenance for riding on roads, but not a great deal for gravel riding.
One article with a good overview is: https://www.cyclingabout.com/best-chain ... ing-bikes/

1. What are good practices for chain maintenance when gravel riding?
2. What chain lubricant do you use when gravel riding?
3. How often do you replace your chain?

Could you please describe your ride conditions that align with the maintence practice, e.g. dry, wet, desert, tropical, snow, 1/2 day ride, multi-day ride, etc

thanks

[Miller]

What I've noticed that getting a chain splashed in mud (UK rider) is a remarkably effective way of degreasing it. I just relube with whatever i have available.

Can't really answer your exact questions though.

[Marin]

I use all my bikes on a mix of road and gravel, so I don't lube my chain differently. I use Dynamic dry lube and reapply every 2 or 3 rides. I replace the chain when it's worn, which happens after about 4500km for me.

[FIJIGabe]

I pretty much clean my chain after every ride, since the chain will either be covered in dust or mud. I usually just hose down the bike, but I will use a chain scrubber to get the dirt out of it. I figure the cost of cleaning the chain is nothing compared with the cost of replacing chains, cassettes, rings, etc.

Personally, I use Finish Line Dry lube on all my bikes. I can usually go a couple of rides on my road bike without having to reapply, but given the conditions in gravel, I reapply after every ride, there.

[mogwaiboi]

I use Squirt on my gravel bike, it works well especially in dry conditions as it doesn't attract crap onto the chain. It also lasts surprisingly well if it gets wet. I used to use Morgan Race Oil on all my bikes but I've started to use Squirt on the road bikes as well. You need to reapply after a downpour but I needed to with Morgan Blue anyway. If it rained heavy on a commute to work with Morgan Blue I would sometimes have a pretty dry chain on the way home, but with Squirt it seems to be OK to get me home as well. I end up using more Squirt, but it runs cleaner overall and it's easier to clean the chain before reapplying so it's worth the extra cost

[mattr]

I pretty much clean my chain after every ride, since the chain will either be covered in dust or mud. I usually just hose down the bike, but I will use a chain scrubber to get the dirt out of it. I figure the cost of cleaning the chain is nothing compared with the cost of replacing chains, cassettes, rings, etc.

Personally, I use Finish Line Dry lube on all my bikes. I can usually go a couple of rides on my road bike without having to reapply, but given the conditions in gravel, I reapply after every ride, there.

Basically the same as i do, i live at the end of a dirt track and most of my rides will include dirt tracks or gravel roads (We even have a localish TT course that includes a km or two of hardpacked gravel road!)
So the bikes need cleaning after pretty much every ride. So a quick hose, sponge and 2 minutes with a chain cleaner and any halfway decent oil will do the trick. Currently going through a couple of bottle of finishline (red and green), some morgan syn lube, a wax/ceramic and some muc-off C3.

I even have what could be called a cleaning station outside the workshop door. So all my cleaning kit is ready to go. Just need to turn the hose on and fill a bucket.

[dang3rtown]

I live in Northern California and we have two seasons here; dry and dusty (9 months) and wet, peanut butter mud.

For regular use during the dry and dusty, I use Dumonde ProX regular formula and really wipe down the outside of my links after lubrication. It has great staying power and as long as you don't overdo it, your cahin will stay relatively clean. I clean and relube every 3-4 rides. If I'm doing a big day or a race I'll go with a dry lube, right now I use Finish Line Dry. The Dumonde stuff is great, it's a binding polymer so you need very little of it and it doesn't get very dirty.

For wet season, I use the Dumonde ProX Lite formula. I find it works better in lower temps.

The biggest overall key for me is really making sure I don't overdo it with lube. Riding dirty is definitely a less is more game when it comes to drive train maintnence.

[TobinHatesYou]

I use Squirt on my gravel bike, it works well especially in dry conditions as it doesn't attract crap onto the chain. It also lasts surprisingly well if it gets wet. I used to use Morgan Race Oil on all my bikes but I've started to use Squirt on the road bikes as well. You need to reapply after a downpour but I needed to with Morgan Blue anyway. If it rained heavy on a commute to work with Morgan Blue I would sometimes have a pretty dry chain on the way home, but with Squirt it seems to be OK to get me home as well. I end up using more Squirt, but it runs cleaner overall and it's easier to clean the chain before reapplying so it's worth the extra cost

Squirt really doesn’t last long in wet conditions. Damp/foggy sure, but anything more and the emulsified wax dissolves quickly. I found that even with very careful application (one small drop per link, smushed into the rollers between my fingers,) eventually there is gunky wax build-up nestled deep inside my cassette block. Dunking the cogs in a plastic basin of very hot water after removing the biggest chunks gets it sparkling again. Or you can just floss most of it out without removing the cassette.

IMO Smoove is slightly better for wet weather, but I would still stick to a heavier oil if I did ride in the wet often.

[bmCube]

I use brunox top kett. Really good lube, doesn't dissapear in wet conditions. I use it on my road bike also. So I use it for all conditions, from dry to wet. I put just one thin layer on my chain and let it rest for at least 2 hours if possible. Lasts very long!

[frogtape777]

I used to use Squirt and reapply every few rides, it would dry incredibly quick and result in a noisy drive chain, but it was the best i'd found at the time.

I now use Smooove, white spirit chain, hang to dry, apply smooove, and its been getting me 500-600 miles before I swap to my second chain. Stays super quiet, great on rainy rides, shifting crisp, and then repeat the white spirit process as required.

[mogwaiboi]

I used to use Squirt and reapply every few rides, it would dry incredibly quick and result in a noisy drive chain, but it was the best i'd found at the time.

I now use Smooove, white spirit chain, hang to dry, apply smooove, and its been getting me 500-600 miles before I swap to my second chain. Stays super quiet, great on rainy rides, shifting crisp, and then repeat the white spirit process as required.

I'll have to give Smoove a try as I've read lost of good things about it

[73Bronco]

Subscribing. I have my chain oiling figured out for my road bike, but don't have my technique nailed down for the gravel bike yet.

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[froze]

In America I use Rock N Roll Gold if there is a chance of rain, or Rock N Roll Absolute Dry. I usually ride on gravel when it's dry out, and since gravel does kick up more dirt than the road will the Absolute Dry will keep the chain cleaner and lubed longer. But the real secret to long chain life is making sure the chain stays clean, and on gravel this is extremely important. After every ride where I had to be on gravel I clean my chain with a dampened (not dripping wet) synthetic sponge and a bit of non citrus Dawn for Dishes. What I do is clean the bike all over then hit the chain last, rinse and wipe the bike and chain dry the best I can, let it air dry for about 12 hours; apply the lube per it's instructions and let it dry for at least 8 hours. Normally if I'm not riding on gravel I simply wipe the chain with a microfiber cloth after every ride.

The Rock N Roll Gold is an interesting product, while the Absolute Dry may not hold up to rain real well, though I haven't had any issues as long as I relube when I get home, the Gold stuff holds up really well like the Extreme which is a wet lube, the Gold is sort of like a combination of wet and dry but I like it better than the Extreme because the Gold doesn't turn the chain black in short order, and the Gold holds up to rain real well, as well as the Extreme in my opinion.

On a side note, I don't really think there is much of a difference between lubes, I use Rock N Roll because it seems to be a tad better than others I've tried, but is it really that much better than those others? maybe a couple of percentage points better. Like I said earlier, the key to long chain life is keeping it clean, and I clean mine a lot, and I average around 8 to 10,000 miles on a chain (more on the older friction type of chains), so I'm more of a huge advocate for clean chains then I am for this or that lube.

[frogtape777]

Subscribing. I have my chain oiling figured out for my road bike, but don't have my technique nailed down for the gravel bike yet.

Sent from my Lenovo YT3-X50F using Tapatalk

Smoove got me through the last summer in the UK which was a complete dust bowl for 4 months, heatwave after heatwave breaking all the records, so should be good for a gravel bike.

[F45]

Rock n roll Gold because it lasts well enough and the application process is easy and it keeps my chain clean looking.