clearyscorner

Hi,

I have a new chain, it was great at first. I left the factory lube on there and got caught in some rain. I rode home (~30mins), wiped off the chain and put wet lube. The next day the chain is grinding and cracking under load, ie when I'm standing or pushing off. When I'm seated and already going it's really smooth. Nothing else changed, so I think it's an issue with my lube skills.

I lubed the chain putting drops on the top of each roller on the lower run of the chain. I first thought I wiped off too much excess so I tried again and then tried a third time without wiping off any excess.

Is there anything I can do? Hoping to ride it in the morning haha. I don't currently have a way to take the chain off the bike.

Thanks!!

Iride01 

With the new chain did you also clean the front and back sprockets? When I clean my sprockets and lube my chain I can feel what might be perceived as grinding. It's just simply the rollers of the chain engaging the cogs. It's particularly noticeable in the smaller sprockets. When they get crudded up with gunky stuff, it isn't noticeable.

But if it is just rust, then just keep lubing it often. What's done is done. Chain still might last a long time. If I've been in a lot of wet, then I'll sometimes wipe down my chain and the rest of the bike, spray with WD-40, wipe it down again and then re-lube it before saying good night to it. But not always, sometimes I'm lazy and don't do anything. Chains are cheap and last long enough for me.

edit.... I don't need to add that with WD-40 you don't want to get it on your brake surfaces whether disc or rim. WD-40 does tend to displace water. It's one of the things it's made for. We used to spray it in boxes of steel parts that got caught in the rain and none of the unfinished steel parts rusted.

MudPie

That's how I lube my chain and been doing so for 40+ years, except I only apply once.
I wouldn't be too worried about the grinding. Perhaps there is some sand or small particles in the chain/chain rings/cassette cog flung there by the wet tires.

clearyscorner

Thanks for the replies!

Iride - I did clean the sprockets but didn't seem to cause any issues until after the wet/lube. I will try the WD40 solution when I get a chance, thanks for the info!

randallr

Might be good to do a chain clean if you're looking to get much life out of the drive train. I use a Park Chain Tool with their citrus solvent. After full clean, dry it and reapply chain lube.

channelz28

Try lubing the pully wheels of the rear mech, that's frequently where my source of chain noise comes from.