New chain - degrease or not?

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Scunnered
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New chain - degrease or not?

Post by Scunnered »

Does the factory grease on a new chain provide suitable lubrication for use on the bike, or is it just a preservative to protect the chain whilst in storage?
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Mick F
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by Mick F »

Many discussions about this subject on here.
My method is to clean it all off and lube with a propriety chain lubricant.

I understand that the lube they come with can be fine, but personally I don't trust it as it seems to me to be sticky.
Sticky = grit sticks to it.
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MarcusT
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by MarcusT »

I use wax, so I degrease. It's amazing how fast the chain starts to rust after degreasing.
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tim-b
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by tim-b »

Hi
My experience is that the OEM grease isn't sufficient for cycling for any length of time and it needs your normal lube adding. I clean it off externally, e.g. cloth and a bit of WD40, and re-lube using your normal regime. I leave the OEM grease on internally
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foxyrider
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by foxyrider »

Wipe the excess off the outer plates - it's not needed there anyhow. This reduces the stuff sticking to the new chain which is of course not a good thing.

Depending on time of year/weather the OEM treatment should see you through a few rides before needing to start your normal regime
Last edited by foxyrider on 1 Feb 2019, 9:52am, edited 1 time in total.
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Brucey
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by Brucey »

Scunnered wrote:Does the factory grease on a new chain provide suitable lubrication for use on the bike, or is it just a preservative to protect the chain whilst in storage?


depends on the chain. Believe it or not, not all chains are made in exactly the same way.

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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
foxyrider wrote:Wipe the excess off the outer plates - it's not needed there anyhow. Depending on time of year/weather the OEM treatment should see you through a few rides before needing to start your normal regime

+1
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althebike
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by althebike »

I did jogle on a brand new chain last year. I assumed, without really looking in to it, that the wax would provide a longer protection and so I did not degrease or take any lube with me, It was a mistake, the drivechain got really noisy on day 3 , fixed by some proper lube.
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mjr
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by mjr »

Add lube and wipe clean. I wouldn't degrease unless you must (switching to wax or similar) as I don't think many people can get all the degreaser out from inside the rollers. I add lube before first ride because there's a small possibility of it reacting badly with the factory lube and sticking and I'd prefer to discover that on the shake down ride.
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simonhill
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by simonhill »

I take (took) a certain someone's previous advice that a new chain is probably the best lubricated it will ever be.

After its fitted, I reckon I get about 300 kms before it needs lubricating. Usually in dry and clean conditions.

Then again, I'm not into much maintenance.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
althebike wrote:I did jogle on a brand new chain last year. I assumed, without really looking in to it, that the wax would provide a longer protection and so I did not degrease or take any lube with me, It was a mistake, the drivechain got really noisy on day 3 , fixed by some proper lube.

Yeh, three days riding :)
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andrew_s
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by andrew_s »

I leave the original grease in place, and add a little oil as I hear that it is required.

There was a set of posts on a thread somewhere (here, yacf, or cyclechat) from someone who'd experimented.
The measure was the mileage at which he'd had to adjust the chain tension on his fixed, and he found that he got about double the mileage to first adjustment if he didn't degrease a new chain, compared to the mileage if he did.
Last edited by andrew_s on 5 Feb 2019, 7:05pm, edited 1 time in total.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Was the best thing since sliced bread when they developed sticky chain lube for motorcycles :)
If you used a fluid lube the mess would plaster you & your pillion with chain muck :(
The sticky stuff would eventually come off on the pillion's clothes but not till after your second date :lol:

Single gears on bicycle fair better with any old gunk as there is no jockey wheels to grab the sprung chain.

So we are stuck with gear oil or wet'n dry :)
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JohnW
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by JohnW »

MarcusT wrote:................It's amazing how fast the chain starts to rust after degreasing.


Yup - that's wisdom, that is. I ride a new chain for a couple of rides (in the dry!), and then fully lube up with my flavour-of-the-month lubes. Keep them well lubed. I've never had bad reactions between factory applied chain lube and the stuff I've applied my self. I've ridden through Renolds chains, Sun-Tour, Sedis and Sedisport and now KMC, among others, down the years, and never really had any trouble with lube.

Today's edit - I'd written "any", and should have written "had" - sorry about that. :oops: :oops:
Last edited by JohnW on 2 Feb 2019, 11:15am, edited 2 times in total.
bended33
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Re: New chain - degrease or not?

Post by bended33 »

I've never had any issue leaving it on and re greasing as needed. I really doubt that you will ever notice a difference. You'll clean it after a bit anyways and add more grease, over and over again.
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