Vaughan51

I'm purchased an indoor trainer (Wahoo Kicker Snap) which my bike is mounted in and have a question regarding chain lubrication.

I cleaned and lubricated my chain at the start of the "indoor season" when I mounted my bike in the trainer but have done nothing since then. I was wondering if a person needed to lubricate the chain on some frequency even though its in a clean environment and if so what frequency are people doing this at?

Thanks

rccardr 

I lube and wipe down mine every 500 indoor miles. Even though it's a clean environment, the chain/gear interface does produce metal dust that can wear things out more quickly if left unattended.
I also lube and wipe down the chain while rotating the crankset backwards- it's just easier.

jpescatore

I do the old "lube when it gets noisy" approach for my indoor setup. That seems to be more like every 1000 miles or so indoors, which for me is about twice per year.

I only do a full chain cleaning once per year - the kinda "mid year" lubing I just do a wipe down of the chain before relubing. So far, that seems to have kept chain wear (measured with a Park tool) to a normal rate, actually a lower than normal rate compared to similar miles outside with more frequent lubing and chain cleaning before every lubing. Depends on what you are doing/how you ride indoors but for me, the chain wear seems much less per mile.

Tom L

I guess I'm different, I lube my chain before every ride with a dry teflon spray lubricant
noticeably quieter and shifts are better for me

Vaughan51

Interesting, I hadn't thought of a dry teflon spray for indoors but I like the idea. Outdoor rides I started with Lucas brand but found that to be a bit too thick and picking up dirt. Switched to Lloyd's penetrating oil (the foaming kind) and found it worked quite well but ultimately switched to Lubriplate chain oil which I really like. I did put down extra carpet for any potential oil splatter that might fly off the chain indoors. A dry teflon lubricant would solve that potential issue.

That aside I just hit 500miles so did lubricate the chain. I will have to see what I can find for dry teflon spray as I imagine I'll be lubricating again before the winter is over.

oris

Same here. I've been using Muc-Off Dry lube for this purpose, it however wears off fast when riding outdoors.

.joeri.

Why not lubing the chain? Anything different indoor riding then summer outdoor riding?

So, dry lube indeed

bblair

Outside about every 300 miles, so inside that's once every 15 rides. After application, I wipe most of it off to keep the outside as clean as possible. It's pretty quiet, but I also use Bose noise cancelling ear buds.

Viich

CLEAN & LUBE!

The biggest thing you're cleaning out is the grit generated from the chain wear on itself. Cleaning that stuff out and lubing will extend the life of your chain. Just because there's no road grit doesn't mean that the chain will last forever, and the better you keep it clean and lubed, the longer it will last.