How to clean and lube a bike chain, how often to do it and which lube to use

How often to clean and lube a chain

None of the sources we read gives an interval that suits everyone. SRAM says it depends on conditions and how often you ride, and asks you to clean often and lube afterwards. Park Tool gives none, and Shimano asks for a brush and degreaser when the chain is dirty, then fresh lube. Terrain plays a part too, as the guide on why 100 km is not always 100 km explains. What can be said:

• After rain, mud or salt, clean and lube. Zero Friction Cycling explains that water carries abrasive dirt inside the chain, and that it stays there even if you add more lube.
• In dust, wipe the outside with a cloth before you lube, so you do not drag that dust inside. This is Zero Friction Cycling's advice.
• It depends on the lube: Zero Friction Cycling cites one race lube that needs reapplying every 100 km at most, and others that last much longer.
• As a rough guide, the lube maker Muc-Off talks about a clean and lube at least every 150 km.

How to clean a bike chain at home, step by step

These steps are Park Tool's, and it starts by checking wear: if the chain is past its limit, replacing it makes more sense than cleaning it.

1. Set up: cardboard on the floor if you are indoors, gloves, rags and a bucket of soapy water. With no repair stand, lean the bike on something stable that still lets you backpedal.
2. Scrub the chain with a stiff brush and bike degreaser. With a chain scrubber, fill it to the line and turn the cranks backwards at least 30 times.
3. Clean the chainrings, cogs and pulley wheels too.
4. Rinse by scrubbing with soapy water. If you use a hose, keep it on low pressure with a wide spray.
5. Dry the chain by running it through a clean, dry rag, then let it air-dry. It has to be dry before you lube it.
6. Put a small drop of chain lube on each rivet.
7. Wipe off the excess with a clean, dry rag, so that less dirt collects on it.

Park Tool asks you to check with your local authorities on how to dispose of used solvent.

Without degreaser, and what about WD-40

Without degreaser, the closest thing we read is SRAM's AXS routine: damp cloth, soap and water, rinse, dry, lube and wipe off the excess. Zero Friction Cycling argues that spray cleaners and scrubbers help somewhat, and that a deep clean means taking the chain off and agitating it in several solvent baths. That is its opinion; we have not read a test that compares them on a real bike.

WD-40 means two separate products here, the general spray (Multi-Use Product) and the bike degreaser:

• As a regular lube: Park Tool says household penetrating oil such as WD-40 can get you out of a jam, is not an ideal chain lube, and should not be relied on.
• The maker does not agree with itself. Its UK site says the general spray should not be used to lube a bike chain, and an article on wd40.com advises against it for bike maintenance. Another wd40.com page calls that idea a myth and says it works if you wipe off the excess before riding, though for the long term it points to its bike line.
• For cleaning, WD-40 sells a bike degreaser. Its page says to spray the chain where it meets the cassette while you backpedal, wait 1 to 2 minutes, scrub if it is very dirty, rinse if you have water and wipe it with a rag.
• Our own judgement, with those sources at odds: use a chain lube on the chain and keep the general spray for other jobs.

Drip, wet or wax: what the test measured

Park Tool describes the types like this: wet lubes are more viscous and work well in humid or rainy conditions; dry lubes attract less dirt and help in dust. Zero Friction Cycling measured wear over more than 300,000 km of controlled machine testing. Its percentages are the share used of a chain's 0.5% allowance, so 110.2% means the allowance has been passed.

In actual wear, the sums are: 12.7% of 0.5% is 0.06%; 53.6% is 0.27%; 110.2% is 0.55%. The 4,000 km include 1,000 km of dust, 1,000 km of water and 2,000 km clean. Wax and the 5 drip lubes with the least wear are 4.2 times apart (53.6 ÷ 12.7). Zero Friction Cycling says wax usually gets you 3 to 5 times the chain life of a mid-level drip lube, and that is its own estimate.

• Wet lube off-road: Zero Friction Cycling advises against it because dust sticks and stays, and it gets worse the longer you ride without a deep clean. SRAM, on its Eagle page, talks about applying wet lube after cleaning. They do not agree.
• Wet lube in the rain: Park Tool suggests it for rainy climates, but in the wet block the 5 wet lubes with the least wear reached 48.9% and the 5 drip lubes 31.2%. They do not agree here either, and the chain was not cleaned during that test.
• Dry lube: the test does not use that category. It compares wet lubes with drip lubes as a whole, so it does not settle wet against dry as Park Tool frames it.

Waxing against drip lube, and what to do with factory grease

Immersion wax goes on with the chain off the bike, in a bath of hot wax. Zero Friction Cycling puts its result down to the fact that each re-wax clears out the dirt that got in. It also lists the costs: the chain has to come off, a waxed chain rusts if you leave it wet after a ride, not every wax it tried did well, and it advises against home-made blends. As an alternative, it suggests a compatible drip lube with a re-wax about every 5 applications.

Factory grease is where the sources clash. Zero Friction Cycling says to strip it before using the chain: in its clean block, Shimano's gave almost 5 times the wear of the average of the 5 drip lubes with the least wear. SRAM says its factory lube is applied with heat and warns that harsh cleaners can strip it, which points the other way. We have not read an independent test that settles this.

In Pedalytics

Pedalytics is not out yet: it is listed as «Coming soon». Its chain reminder asks you to clean and lube after a ride in rain, mud or salt, or at 150 km since the last logged care. That 150 km is Muc-Off's guidance, as a rough guide only. Chain wear is estimated separately; that is what the guide on when to replace it covers, and the one on when to replace the cassette explains what happens to the rest of the drivetrain.