How To Clean An Old Rusty Bike Chain
Rubber gloves are recommended so you don t get your hands all dirty and rusty from the bike chain.
How to clean an old rusty bike chain. Align the pin of a link removal tool against a pin within a chain link. Crank the tool until the link loosens and pops out. The good news is that a rusty chain is a relatively easy fix. It is dependent on how rusty the chain is.
The citric acid in the lime juice reacts with the rust dropping it off. To ensure the longest life and best operation of bike chains avid cyclists should clean their chain once. Evaluate the condition of the chain. You can either clean the rust off the chain or if it s really bad replace the chain all together.
With the bike still upside down you can start cleaning the whole chain using lime juice if you have not removed the chain. With a few things you ve probably already got around your house you can have rusty bike parts looking. Remove the chain from the cog and front wheel. When your bike chain is rusty the normal motion needed to transfer power from pedals to the bike chain and then the wheels aren t possible.
Regular cyclists will likely perform a chain cleaning every week or two or at least once every 200 miles or so depending on how much riding is being done and under what conditions. Should i clean my rusty bike chain or replace it. Whether you should clean your chain or chuck in the trash is dependent on how much rust we re talking about. Soak the chain in a bowl of lime or lemon juice for 60 minutes to two hours.
One that is too rusty will need a good soaking in the lime juice before embarking on cleaning. The first thing you are going to do is remove the chain from your bike so that you can remove the rust thoroughly because no matter how hard you try if your bike chain is still on the chainring you will not be able to remove all of the rust. It doesn t take much effort to fix it but is a better option than replacing it in an economical way. If you notice warping imperfections in the metal or similar deterioration you and your bike will be better off with a new chain surface rust buildup and crustiness can all be removed so your chain runs like new.
If you notice your bike chain is excessively dirty and grimy with a crust of dirt and environmental sludge it s probably time to clean your chain. You do this by slowly turning the pedals backward to move the chain a section at a time so you can clean it by either spraying on the solvent as you wipe down the chain with an old rag or by wiping down the chain with a rag that is saturated with the solvent. Few things look worse than rust on your bike but rusty parts don t need to be thrown out. Turn the bike upside down setting it on the seat and handlebars.