Forum: bicycles.stackexchange.com
Tags: <chain><lubricant><road-bike>
Title: How often should I lube my chain?
Question: I ride less than 200 miles a week, and I'm at about the 200 mile mark on my new road bike.  Most of my riding is done on the road in an urban city, so there is a lot of odd, unnatural debris.  My LBS told me to lube my chain every 150 miles, but I've read conflicting opinions.  How often should I be lubing my chain?

Answers:
sents: text: Lubricate when needed.
text: I don't think it's possible to put a mile marker on when to lube.
text: I think most people add chain lube too often.
text: Too much can cause debris to build up on the chain.
text: Too little lube can cause unnecessary friction; but you'll know pretty quickly by the looks (and possibly sound) of it if you have too little lube.
text: Hints:
text: Wipe your chain off before you addmore lube.
text: [*] Is the color black?
text: Is it greasy?
text: Wipe all that schmutz off until it'slooking dry.
text: Add lube while rotating cranks.
text: Tips: Lube the night before you ride:
text: thisgives the lube a chance to 'spread'.
text: Wipe
text: the excess off immediatelybefore
text: you ride - but not until dryas above.
text: ^
text: [*].
text: Wiping off the chain is best done in a work stand or while the bike is in a position where you can rotate the crankarm such that you can hold a rag to the chain while the chain is moving.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/87/42-17
score: 34
sents: text: Definitely lube the bike after cleaning the drivetrain, or after riding in the rain.
text: In terms of adding lube in between cleanings, every week or two should be fine, more often if the drivetrain is getting noisy.
text: Just a few drops of lube should be enough, unless you ride on very dirty roads.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/8/Goodbye Stack Exchange
score: 7
sents: text: I would say that it is best to clean and lube your chain after every ride.
text: The better you maintain your chain the longer it will last.
text: To clean your chain you can either use a chain cleaning tool, I use this one from Park Tool which is excellent: The alternative is to put a SRAM powerlink in your chain: and remove your chain and clean it in with a solvent like paraffin (kerosene to Americans)
text: The choice of lubricant is also debatable, speak to someone at your LBS and get their recommendations for your riding conditions.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/126/Richard Tasker
score: 5
sents: text: Every 150 miles sounds like an awful lot, but then I guess I don't cycle as much as you.
text: "
text: Little & Often" is the best advice I've heard.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/73/Kevin
score: 4
sents: text: I ride 250KM a week
text: and I give it a squirt just before my long ride on the weekends.
text: You can't really damage it by over lubing the chain.
text: Sure if you store it inside too much lube can make the chain drip.
text: If you do it just before a ride then no dripping in the house.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/30/curtismchale
score: 4
sents: text: I only lube after I clean the chain.
text: I ride around 100 miles per week on average.
text: My bike has been holding up well over the years.
text: I clean and lube once every 2-3 weeks.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/32263/Mindcontrol
score: 1
sents: text: I have a couple of different lubes.
text: One is for dry weather and is prone to washing off if it gets too much rain or puddle water on it, it's easy to tell when that needs replacing because you can hear it squeak.
text: The other one is a wet lube which I tend to use from autumn to spring
text: but it's a lot stickier and even with a good wipe down after applying, it will collect dust, dirt and grime.
text: If I notice too much build-up it's time to clean and re-lube.
text: I will often clean with a rag, spray with GT-85 to displace water for a bit and then wipe down before applying lube as per the other posters' recommendations.
text: Leave for 2-5mins before wiping off the excess.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/26481/Chris
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
General consensus seems to be lubricate a bike chain when needed. However, it should be lubed after cleaning and some recommend lubing after every ride.
A good idea would be to lubricate only when necessary, as too much lube may collect rubbish and too little may increase friction. Another option is to lubricate after cleaning the drivetrain and chain, even though some argue that more than once every week or two would be excessive. On the contrary, others suggest always lubricating after riding your bike.