Symox

I'm wondering if the grit from casual gravel riding will wear out drivetrains much faster.

I'll shut up and ride now

HTupolev

Yes. It's only in serious gravel riding that you'll come across grit that's specially designed to minimize added drivetrain wear.

gringomojado

gravel dust is VERY abrasive!

gm

Ghazmh

IMHO New England winter road sand that penetrates into the road and wet road crud is far harder on my drivetrain than riding on unpaved surfaces.

Zaskar

Gravel riding is harder on every part of the bike... and it's worth it.

shelbyfv

mstateglfr 

Faster? Sure.
Much faster? Nah.

mihlbach

Any situation that throws more dust and dirt into your chain than would occur on clean dry roads will result in faster wear.

PeteHski

I find riding in the wet has by far the biggest impact on drivetrain wear. Especially off-road where all the dirt and grit sticks to your drivetrain.
I would say dry gravel/off-road causes less wear than wet road riding.

ofajen

I’d tend to agree. Most of my riding is on crushed stone trails that are mostly dry in summer and saturated (frozen or muddy) in winter. I still get about 3000 miles on a chain. I do ride SS, so there is a lot less stuff to deal with. I just wipe the chain with a paper towel after a ride and put on dry lube when it’s noisy.

Otto

Reflector Guy

Same here; the dust is crazy when the weather has been dry. I have one of those Park Tool chain cleaning gizmos and I clean the chain and gears several times each season. I am sure the dust is no good.

It's funny when I put the bike on the car and drive somewhere where the trail is 100% paved. My dusty bike stands out against all the gleaming shiny clean bikes that never see the limestone trails.

ofajen

A lot of us year round riders around here just don’t bother. It’s hopeless. I just do the least bothersome routine. Wipe dust off the chain with a paper towel. Occasional dry lube. Leave the bike dusty most of the time. In winter I do squirt the mud off the BB area and use fenders on the MTB.

Otto

GBK233

Safe to assume that melted wax chain lube would protect chain/drivetrain from dust etc better than conventional lubes? I don’t gravel ride, but now that I use melted wax…..I don’t even think about my chain for at least 150-200miles. Previously, I was cleaning my chain at least once a week.

PeteHski

Definitely. It was mountain biking that convinced me that wax based lubes require less drivetrain cleaning and mess.

Iride01 

There is a lot of grit, dust and sand on the paved roads I ride. So if riding in your gravel causes more wear and tear, it's probably not much. Possibly more wear and tear will come from simply the more power that is required to be handled by your drivetrain to ride on those conditions.

Now if you are rolling around on the ground with your bike trying to get the fleas off of you then I suppose there is a good chance you'll get more grit in the bearings.

big john

I don't have a gravel bike but I've done a bit of mountain biking in extremely dusty conditions. If I use a light chain lube it seems to get pretty dry after a couple hours in the dust, but when I use Finish Line wet lube, it stays lubed a lot longer. Sure, it's messy, but it stays on.

To be honest I am terrible at maintenance and definitely don't obsess over drivetrains. If I did have a gravel bike it would get the same lack of attention as the rest of my bikes.

PeteHski

Wet lube and dust makes a fantastic grinding paste. It makes the drivetrain appear quiet and well lubed, but the wear rate goes sky high. I moved away from wet lubes a very long time ago for that reason and my mtb drivetrains last a LOT longer now.

OldRailfan

It's like very course grit lapping compound and it is very messy as one will find out when for some strange reason the chain gets jammed.........as happened to me at the start of the week. Very messy.
Extra wipes and a pair of thin work gloves have now been added to the saddle baggie. If that "stuff" gets on a light coloured jersey ... oh dear.