I finally stopped lubing chains wrong after a mechanic called me out

Was in a shop in Denver last month and the guy working there saw my chain and straight up told me I was drowning it in lube. Said I should only put one drop per roller and wipe off the excess. I'd been doing the whole 'spin the pedals and coat everything' method for like 5 years. Anyone else get embarrassed by a pro pointing out basic stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

richard_mason18d ago

Man that's rough but honestly it happens to all of us at some point. I've been working on bikes for years and still had a guy at a shop show me I was doing something dumb with my brake pads last summer. The whole "just clean the chain and use one drop per roller" thing feels wrong at first because it seems like you're being stingy with the lube. But once you actually do it that way everything stays way cleaner and your drivetrain lasts longer. At least you found out now instead of ten years from now.

barnes.morgan18d ago

5PSI in my rear tire for two years because I thought the gauge was fine and the tire just looked low. That was a fun lesson. But you're right about the chain lube thing, I used to drown mine in that stuff and wondered why everything turned into a gritty black mess after one ride. Now I do the whole drip-wait-wipe thing and it's night and day, my cassette actually looks clean after a month. Still feels wrong putting so little on though, like I'm being cheap with myself or something.

wyatta3018d ago

Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been doing something the hard way for years and feel like a total idiot? I remember when I switched from squirt style lube to a drip wax and thought I was supposed to let it spin for like five minutes, ended up coating my entire frame in wax drips. Took me three cleanings to figure out you just spin it a few seconds and let the excess drip onto a rag. Still makes me laugh thinking about how much time I wasted scrubbing wax off my chainstays. But yeah, the one drop per roller thing feels like you're being cheap until you see how clean everything stays. Have you tried any of those fancy ceramic lubes or do you stick with the basic stuff?