Surface rust on 12 speed shimano chain.

[serviceguy]

I’ve decided to blame my poor performances at today’s group ride on the condition of the chain. Yes, that’s my story and I stick to it.

The chain was caked from a couple of earlier rides and let the mud stay too long on the drivetrain. While the cassette cleaned up pretty good ( pressure washed, compressor blowed and wd40 waiting to be reinstalled, in a while). Chain it’s still well within specs and has no sticky link, but there some surface black oxydation that doesn’t look too good. I’m going to ultrasonic clean it, the do a rust removal bath before reinstalling. Waste of time and should I get a new chain instead? These things have gotten pricey…

 

[MadisonDan]

New bike. Wax chain. //thread

 

[shrpshtr325]

i vote for throw some lube on it and keep riding, stop overthinking it (leave that for @Patrick)

also wd40 isnt a lube buy a real lube for that chain.

 

[Norm]

New bike
Fire
And so on.

 

[Karate Monkey]

If it's black, you're okay, Jack.

Black oxide is already (mostly) passivated, so it's not going to spread...that said, rusting chains are an aesthetic problem, not a performance problem; if it runs freely, ride it until it's gone.

How bad does it look, anyway?

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Lube the chain and ride the bike.

 

[serviceguy]

i vote for throw some lube on it and keep riding, stop overthinking it (leave that for @Patrick)

also wd40 isnt a lube buy a real lube for that chain.

I've only used WD40 to absorb moisture and prevent further rusting, I know there are better products I just could not find it in the mess called 'my garage'.

BTW, WD40 actually makes bike specific lubricants, even though I'm not sure how good they are.

If it's black, you're okay, Jack.

Black oxide is already (mostly) passivated, so it's not going to spread...that said, rusting chains are an aesthetic problem, not a performance problem; if it runs freely, ride it until it's gone.

How bad does it look, anyway?

This, not to bad, I had to remove tons of gunk before getting to the surface rust so it wouldn't have been visible anyway, not in the conditions I have been riding lately.

New bike. Wax chain. //thread

Disappointed for lack of fire reference...

New bike
Fire
And so on.

and fixed!

 

[stb222]

Another El Mariachi. Wax chain. //thread

FTFY

 

[serviceguy]

Ultrasonic cleaned, dried and flooded with Maxxima Chain Wax. Not the same as a real wax chain, will have to do for now. Rocking the the black pitted chain from now on I suppose...

 

[soundz]

my rule of thumb is

• ride it until it bothers you
• clean it until it bothers you