Bike Packing Maintenance & Rusting Gold Chains – GCN Tech Clinic

Ollie Bridgewood is joined this week by former GCN Tech presenter Jon Cannings as he makes a one-time-only special return to the studio. On the agenda this week are waxed chains, cup and cone hub maintenance and the benefits of coloured chains.

Why is it better to apply lube to a dirty chain rather than leaving it dry? Would swapping to a wax treatment work better for longer multi-day rides?

This is a great question as it is easy to think that applying lubricant to a dirty chain will just turn everything into a grinding paste that will accelerate the wear on the drivetrain components. The issue is a dry chain will cause a lot of noise as the links and rollers interface with the chainrings and sprockets. This is because of a significant increase in friction that can cause a significant increase in drivetrain losses as well as accelerated wear.

A waxed chain is easier to keep clean day-to-day as it dries on the chain. Unlike an oil-based lubricant that can attract and hold dirt, a waxed chain can be wiped clean. Using a microfibre cloth and some light pressure on the chain will remove most of the surface dirt before a drip on wax can be applied to top up the chain.

Should I wax my quick link?

When it comes to waxing a chain you will be met with the issue of how you wax your chain's quick link. Trying to wax the quick link can be more hassle than it is worth as most of the wax tends to come off when fitting it. Instead, the best solution is to fit the quick link to a waxed chain and then add a drip on wax to the link. This will give the link full wax coverage without the difficulty of trying to fit a pre-waxed link.

Is it better to rotate your front and rear tyre?

Some riders swap their front and rear tyres around from time to time to prevent uneven tyre wear however, there is little benefit to doing this. By rotating your tyres all you do is extend the interval between replacing both of your tyres at once. This means that every time it comes to fit some fresh rubber to your bike it will come at quite a cost. By not swapping your tyres you will find that your rear needs replacing more often than the front.

My cup and cone hubs are grinding and I have been recommended a wheelset with cartridge bearings, are my hubs salvageable?

This is hard to answer without seeing the hubs in question however if your hubs are grinding and a simple hub service has not solved the issue it might be that the races inside the hub themselves are pitted. This means that the surface that the bearings sit in (the cup) is no longer smooth. If this is the case the hub is no longer serviceable and you will need to find some new wheels.

It is not essential that they are cartridge bearings as a well-maintained cup and cone bearing is more than suitable. The advantage of a cartridge bearing system is that the whole bearing is removed and replaced. This means that even if the races get pitted over time, they get removed with the rest of the bearing. If the choice of rim brake wheels is proving difficult a cup and cone hub will be more than sufficient so long as regular services are carried out.

Do coloured chains help prevent rust or corrosion?

Some coatings on high end chains are there to try and prevent corrosion however the amount that these are able to help is up for debate. Ollie has heard that some of the coatings such as the gold that is commonly available are actually less efficient than a standard silver chain.

Over time even the best coatings do begin to wear off, especially on the internal surfaces of the chain. For this reason, we wouldn’t recommend getting a coloured chain purely for the reason of corrosion resistance. Instead finding a wax treatment that works for you is recommended and if you find that consistently the chain is developing surface corrosion with a wax treatment it might be worthwhile using a high-quality premium lubricant instead.

Why does the rolling resistance of an inner tube matter when it is the tyre in contact with the ground?

As a tyre comes in contact with the ground it deforms a little under the pressure of the rider. If you are using inner tubes this also needs to deform to match the shape of the tyre. The tougher the inner tube material, the more resistance it presents to the tyre.

The interaction between the tyre and the inner tube costs energy and therefore increases the rolling resistance of the system. This is why latex inner tubes are considered to be the most efficient inner tubes as they are supple and conform to the tyres surface easily.

When I ride no-handed my bike pulls to the right and I have to correct it by shifting my weight a little to the left, what could be causing this?

There is naturally a weight difference between the left and right sides of the bike, with the drivetrain sitting on the right-hand side of the bike this will ever so slightly prompt the bike to pull to the right. This typically is not a big enough issue for riders to really notice.

Something that is more common is for bikes with integrated cabling to suffer from an imbalance where the cables route through the stem and into the head tube. If these are not perfectly balanced you can find that there is more tension on one side than the other. When you let go of the bars this imbalance can cause the bars to pull you off course.

If you are riding a steel or alloy bike there is also the chance that the frame has taken a knock and the front and rear dropouts have been knocked out of alignment. Taking your bike to a good bike shop for them to investigate this further will confirm or deny this.

Do you have a tech question you want answered? You can leave it under the comments of this YouTube video or in the comments section at the bottom of this article.