Lubing Chains

One long term review on BikeRumor I had been following with interest is the 9 vs 10 speed system... and I wanted to ask if all the test riders started out on the same footing...thinking that those who had not degreased their new chain prior to putting it on would be seeing more wear. Now I'm beginning to have doubts. No, not about the 9 or 10 speed chains but my whole possibly wrong ideas for the last few years.

When knowledge accumulates and we think we know better, it gets really hard to put off what we have "learned" as something that has been wrong. But on reading THIS, I concur with on many of the things said, after being able to shake off a lot of my preconceived "learned" ideas. Gonna go back and do what I used to do with the next new chain. Leave it with the factory grease intact and see how long it will last.

What happened
Something about bicycle chains has been bugging me for the last 2.5 years.. They seemed to be stretched way before their lifespan is due on my 9 spd drivetrains. I was averaging 6-9 months on one chain that while not religiously cleaned but are subjected to at least a total degreasing with solvent 2 months on average. Mileage are mostly weekend ridings... something is very wrong somewhere

I attribute that to

• Change of brand (previously only use XT and XTR and KMC chains) to SRAM 971 chains which I find shifts better than Shimano or KMC thinking that it was due to the slightly thinner SRAM width and hence it stretch faster
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• Pulling a heavy bike AM bike, hence chains stretch faster, previously most of my bikes were relatively light XC rigs
• 
  
• Repeated chain growth from rear suspension (in earlier days, all my XC bikes were hardtails)

In the past a new chain was never degreased before putting on. Then I somehow found out about the great debate on whether to leave or remove the factory grease from a new chain. Decided to follow the "removal" camp which coincided with the switch to SRAM chains. That's where my woes began....

This was coupled to the fact that with a factory grease-removed chain... the initial usage leave it much cleaner, leading to the perception of being "better". Other than the reduced lifespan, another problem that crop up was rust... especially after repeated washing after every ride during the rainy season. That was hardly ever a problem in the past even if I don't relube the chain after hosing down. The only downside of chains back then is that it sure leaves a lot more gunk really fast around the jockey wheels and cogs. Ok that is probably one of the reason why I religiously degrease new chains....

Like in the article link, I realized that chains felt a lot looser after degreasing and repeated degreasing and there were a couple of chains taken off when bikes were dismantled which i wanted to re-use. Within a year 2 of them which had the factory grease removed were so seriously seized and kinked up in a rigor mortis state that they just had to be thrown out.. There are some old chains that were left in my storage which did not have the factory grease removed and much dirtier when taken off but still perfectly alright.


With the mindset deeply entrenched that a degrease new chain is better, it just never occurred to think  back to the past experiences  like the XTR chain on my old Cannondale F3000 that lasted 3000km and it was not even worn to the point that a new chain was needed. Just that I sold the bike and never got to find out how long more it lasted the new owner....

It became a vicious circle of cleaning and not questioning when chains lasted a mere fraction of what they used to. Rather I keep finding "reasons" like those attributed to above.... and blame it on everything else.

If I had chanced upon the late Sheldon Brown's article poking fun at religious chain cleaning fanatics, that might have given me a clue not to embark on my "new" found way of maintenance then. On a more serious note there is a separate article from him as well as one of the biggest chain manufacturer in the world, KMC, that explicitly said not to remove the factory grease on new chains in this article here

One of the chief argument that got me to remove the grease from a new chain is that the thick grease will trap all sorts of sand and grit which is what will wear out the chain fast! No doubt with the thicker grease in there.. this buildup is fast but now thinking back to each time I degrease a chain, new or used, it doesn't take very long before it is also trapping all the nitty gritty trail stuff, but just that now there is a lot less grease on the pins and rollers which means its actually wearing down a lot faster!!!

This is like enlightenment all of a sudden! I just snap out of it and while its probably too late to save the existing chain... let's see how the next will hold up. If it lasts at least a year or cover 2-3 times over my present mileage on chains used in the last couple of years...I'll be cussing at all the $$$ wasted during these time for no good reason on chains that need not be changed and solvents that need not been bought.

Bike Shop Horrors Blog Articles..

Was just catching up looking through some blogs I follow and two article in a row has something in common. Horror stories of bike parts mauling and slop jobs done on bike. The first with switching brake for cable housing would be like walking into a 7-11 for a pack of condom and only realize later back home it actually contains sausage skins instead of latex. When you walk back the cashier can actually tell you "Same same can use one...just a casing only mah!" I really hope the mech that did that came from some old school "experience" where such swapping (not advised but) can sort of work back in the days of 5-6 speed cassettes and friction shifters and not out of convenience because the shop was out of shifter cables.

Yes, having been around long enough, I do remember there was a time where so long as a bike can move, its good enough. Singapore has come a long way in the last 30 years but there are still some that are left behind doing things the same way they did years ago. Wouldn't say its a waste of time, there's a whole pool of tips and tricks especially when it comes to doing up older bikes that can be learned. But with newer bikes, its better to wave a hello and move on to some other places for fixing things up.

The second horrror story on the Cannondale lefty, even just reading made me go "WTF!"
Had actually witness something similar years ago in a local bike shop seeing how some Chris King headset was being knocked out with a screwdriver and mallet. The bloody thing fell out off with a loud ping on the ground. The repair stand actually toppled and I was near enough to stretch out and catch the whole stand + bike contraption....wonder where the owner was then! 

The owner/mech nonchalantly remarked to me as if nothing has happened as I put the stand back upright, "Oh CK headsets are frigging tough". The look I gave him was one of disbelief at his attitude but he must have mistaken it for not believing what he just said and dropped the lower cups and bearings onto the ground to prove his point. Well to keep it short, paid for what I went to the shop for and was out in 45 secs.. Never ever went back there again, even if their inner tubes were a couple of bucks cheaper than anywhere else.

Glad I took the plunge to venture into bike maintenance and on those occasions where special tools or simply tools I dont have are needed, I only go back to trusted bike shops.

To Clear or Not to Clear II

"Is it me or my imagination", was what came to mind when i saw how baby ass-smooth the trails have gotten in the last couple of months. It wasn't all that long ago when I first wrote about all the indiscriminate clearing taking place on the limited trails we have on this less than ideal mountainless island for riding.

Now even the few remaining sections that requires a little more skills during approach are being flattened out. I don't even have to warn newbies "Don't get your wheel caught between the protruding roots after the first root drop..." anymore. No there is nothing to warn anyone about.. Zero, zilch.... go home and ride down the bloody staircase of HDB flats... there is more challenge in that than all our local trails put together.

The familiar nail it or be be nailed by the narrow 6inch gap after the root drop towards 2nd Stream is GONE! No need to master going down left, right or center. Just shoot straight through and I bet in another month of two-- some clueless blip will find that even the root drop is too much and fashion a dirt ramp to roll down! So much for riding.

Can't be more pissed when looking at all of these and more when I stumbled on a "new trail" later in another part on another trail... seems like a pretty long one too as I did not get to finish "bashing" through. Lots of fallen trees but distinctly a trail for sure, one that has not seen much human activities too! Just some work needed to go back on quieter days and clear out the fallen logs. But no, for now I guess its better not to divulge where this is. Would really love to share but given this is also in some 'no go zone" and all the dumber than dumb forest elves smoothing everything in their path, such finds are better left to those in the know for now...

To Clear or Not To Clear

Dear Pussy Off-Roaders

SHIFT your body weight to clear an obstacle. Not SHIFT the obstacles and sit your ass on the saddle to breeze through. 

Otherwise please stick to these. You are free to run through any plethora of dare devil off road riding skills in the mind while pedaling in these smooth tarmac haven.

Kindly leave whatever little rooty, rock strewn trails left with fallen trees to those of us who actually choose to ride some real offroad terrain.

I recently witnessed a group of your pussy brothers shifting away what some of us would consider no more than pebbles. To avoid putting a foot down in this picnic-like atmosphere smacked in the middle of the trail, I lofted off an adjacent root in a stupid move on my overweight bike. In the process have totally missed the said pebbles.

The wind must be blowing in the right direction cos I caught a line "those rocks are too slippery, its unrideable..." with an accompanying foul stench of pussiness in the air as I passed this little "safety council" doing trail work without a bloody clue.


I pedaled as fast as I could to get away from this overpowering stench and glittering array of ultra bling bikes. All with 6" of travel or more front and back, rocking titanium coils on RC4s with uber expensive frames no less, only to roll my eyes in aghast just moments later.

My little sacred saga sapling, one so rare nowadays that I spotted growing, was HACKED away. I always stopped by this spot to take a look at its growth and marvel at the thoughts that one day it would be a big fine tree, dropping all its ruby red seeds that will beautify the forest floor.

Why Why Why
...and then I spotted the reason behind such inconceivable inconsiderateness. Just below the part before it was hacked off...it was chipped. Putting my bar to it, no doubt that it was a victim before its beheading to our savage marauding ever longer handlebars. I can imagine after getting caught and thrown over the bar, one of your pussy brothers, feeling indignant,  must have pulled out his weeny Swiss knife and hack poor little Saga down in his broiling fury.


We chose to ride
We chose to use ridiculously proportioned components but without the needed Lambada skills to negotiate our way through.
We will hurt these silent forest guardians but they will survive. Not if u behead and deny them a fighting chance though.
Our Trails exist because of these guradians. Otherwise any man made trail is just another Teletubbie Hill


Yes we all want uninteerupted flow in the trails but please don't watch too much MTB vids. Let's get real.

Just Riding...

I would profess to be just as much a bike junkie as any other proud ones out there. My quiver might not spot a 20K rig or choked full with the fastest and baddest arrows but I waste no moment living and breathing everything biking.

For some of us, its nothing more than exercise. Some mixed it in with the passion of building aesthetically pleasing bikes and those like me that uses it as a form of "healthy" escape, de-stressing or whatchawannacallit.

Some simply ride.

For me mountain biking has become more than just a matter of riding. Solo rides prepares me for what lies ahead...everything. Not just the immediate hundred meter of trails or nailing the jump and whip into a turn. Learning and absorbing as the scenary whizzes by. Pedal powered motion, gulping down lungfuls of fresh air to clear the mind. It is a way to compose myself for the day's path ahead. Reflecting on what just gone by, trying to take in a lesson or two and trying to make light of one's own follies along the way.

Staying off the negative path. 
Ever rode with people that are perpetually on an ego trip. The "must win" in whatever they think they are exceling in? If they can't ride something...then that section or trail must be "stupid" or not "worthwhile". Well sometimes things are. When trails arent built with a clear focus, it may lack flow but more often than not, it's a rider's lack that impedes what could otherwise be an enjoyable session.

Does it mean u just give up and curse under your breath. NO. Why would you want to spoil your ride with a train of negative thoughts. If a trail that was never designated but was ridden out over time by countless other riders...what makes that a "stupid" trail other than one not having the proper equipments and skills?

People come and go in our lives. I rather let them go if they start effusing such negativities all the time when riding around me while only bragging about their bravado on things they are capable off.

There are certain sections in the local trails I ride regularly that is really bad due to a variety of reasons, even though they are purpose built but looking at erosion and other factors surrounding the area, I can't really fault the people that did it up that way....an uphill rock garden filled with shaky pieces of rock.

To curse and swear under the breath each time I'm there trying to climb especially in the slippery wet of the monsoon season on my long travel bike? NO. Rather, countless hours were spent trying different setups to try and nail it. 

Sometimes no matter what you do, nothing really works but still there will be lessons to be gleaned from the experience. If you fail a 100 times, each time trying something a little different means discovering a 100 ways why it doesn't work.

If I had sat on the fence whining away refusing to believe that it can be ridden with a 160mm front travel bike or get duped into believing that gnarly rooty trails is simply too "worthless" to ride.... then those riding pictures to form a picture book for the grandkids wouldn't be materializing.

Pushing the limits. Within reasons of course. From personal experience, I do feel that what is difficult today may seem like child's play....after riding something bigger, harder say on a biking trip to some place new.

Breakout--- Ass off the saddle, feet to the pedals. Crank on!

It sucks having to work on Sundays and last Sunday was one of them. Getting your ass numb on a 3 hour speedboat ride wasn't exactly my idea of a fun filled weekend to reach some isolated factory in the middle of nowhere. Time that could have been spent biking instead. But well..sometimes just have to make the best out of things.

My mind just wasn't on work when at the site looking through the progress of some construction...
Caught sight of a really cool dragonfly...erm or is it a damselfly? Anyway it gives me an idea for the next bike build color theme

Mountain Biking Rants

I was watching alot of people at the trailhead this morning at BT. It led me to think what has become of the sports coupled to all the marketing ploys out there.

Over time I have heard a lot of people saying things like "Oh, the kind of bike I ride is just not conducive for climbs or flying down etc. True, different bikes have their pros and cons but its getting to the point of limiting what one can do and constantly narrowing down that range!

It used to be " I have a mountain bike" and that one rig is where you ride everything. If its "unrideable", be it technically impossible relative to the bike of the day or a rider's lack of skill, we all just haul it over, across or under.

But today, on the same trails, well maybe a little more eroded than a decade ago, there are bikes that spans a multitude of categories from the familiar XC, to the rather amibguous AM (some will prefer to call trailbikes) and some bad ass looking FR bikes. Even some DH rigs are seen from time to time. No doubt helped by the latest suspension and bike geom in riding a roller coaster type of trail. The techno babbles for each is endless. As one gets familiar with his/her own bikes, adjustments and buying in to technology is quite normal. But should that become the main focus. Isnt the main focus out on the trail suppose to be pedaling and catching one's breath?

Most importantly, its still about the rider.

I mean there are swanky multicolored jerseyed riders on souped up 8k XC rigs that don't even make it past the first little slope without dismounting. Next thing some grouchy singlespeeder that will simply blast their way up with a loud "bike, on the right".

So who is to say what can or cannot be done with a bike. A lot of time it really lies with the rider.

You may not get it the first time but then its a learning curve. Most having a bike and fail to clear rutty rocky climbs has one problem. They freeze when they see the first obstacle on their way up and stopped pedaling. More often than not they have not chosen a line beforehand to follow. Losing momentum is like ten times faster on the up than flat or coming down. Natural progression of things becomes putting a foot down on the ground and push push push.

Just pedal on and learn to shift the body weight around. Yes, its that easy. Close your eyes and visualize then haul that bike out and try.

and try again and again.


Quit the hype, get some rest away from forums and go do some real riding for the best way to improve. Nothing beats feeling that "sticking point", discovering for the first time how a proper weght shift from body english actually gets u up and over that seemingly impossible slope.

Ok, next, one needs to figure how best to clear that forked root that meets u on the way down right after the climb.

Tip: its not jamming the brakes

Second week into the new year, boring boring..... planner is already filling up
and I am cussing at all the burnt weekends ahead which means no riding.
Ok I hope crude will shoot past 300 a barrel and people might contemplate canceling flights because its too expensive to fly. Driving to work? Oh well it just means better excuse to cycle to work instead.

The more I keep my mind on biking, the more unconventional ideas comes to mind. Was taking a smoke break yesterday and saw a motobike with a red anodised riser. except for length, sweep, rise and angles all look to be what i am looking for but couldnt find it in traditional mtb brands. Check with the rider and found it only cost 15 bucks a piece. Bingo! Compare that to 80 bucks.

the other thing I was googling today? suspension oil. Well like I suspected, basically major brand like Fox and Rockshox simply get theirs from some companies and its just a matter of relabeling . Hell even the black plastic PE bottles are the same. Change a sticker and up the price by 300%.

The more I dig , more alternatives are surfacing for many of the things used in mountain biking compared to sourcing from just traditional avenues.

Knowledge is indeed Power...... yea ONE for El Cheapo

Weight Watching

If I want a guard dog, I'll buy a Dober, certainly not a poodle. Form follows function. Period.

Feeding, proper training and exercising the Dober will get get you one lean mean sonafabitch watching your front gates. No, it wont be bitchingly heavy as a St Bernard that you can hardly carry which by the way you shouldn't be doing with a Dober. But if you want something to cuddle and hug, of course the poodle or that pudgy face Pekinese is a better bet.

Likewise if you buy a mountain bike to huck and bash, why would you want to pursue a sub 5kg holy grail? Trimming down unnecessary weight and using high strength to weight ratio component is common sense, akin to exercising your Dober to keep it from being overweight and sluggish. But if at the onset, it is already about building something that looks like a mtb from far but fails in performance relative to the intended purpose...that's utter stupidity. Oh yeah, and dont go ride in the backyard to justify "Hey, its light and off road worthy"

Just had to get this off today after reading a number of "how do I save weight on my already acutely anemic bike" postings elsewhere.

P.S. Regarding whether you will shave of 0.0001 microgram by sanding your spokes by a half nanometer isn't gonna get you far. Try some hack squats with free weight,  Besides 2 finger spoke sanding is sooooooooo ghey...

Prices Up Up Up

Is it just me still living in a cave and shuttling between home-work-and LBS. I havent done any shopping or even gone out to the malls for coffee in like err what? a gazillion years.

Prices of everything has just shot up. Coffee at Starbuck was over 5 bucks a cuppa. Hotel price checking for customer says all rooms up by at least 10-15%. Just what cost 290+++ a nite is gonna be 470+++ next year at Shang.

Wow! Ok lets just grab a loaf of bread cos wifey ain't cooking. WHAT! no change...yup handed out 2 bucks and normally there is change. I dont know how much, never bother to check but when nothing came back and I took a look at the tag....mmm reality sinks in, another price increase. Small and insignificant but transactions these last few days brought me up to date with the cost of living in Singapore.

Dang. Good thing apart from bikes, I don't really cue in on many other things anymore. Lets hope year end pay rise and bonus is in line with the cost of living.

Maybe its time to really sit back and enjoy the little things in life. Havent been out alone with a bike and camera. Tomorrow looks good, if only the weather holds out.