Technical > Transmission

Chainglider feedback

<< < (9/9)

Andre Jute:
The photos are indeed of riveting interest, Matt. Thanks. I must say your Chainglider looks better than any of my Dutch plastic chain cases looked at 3200km, which is the longest any of them lasted*. But what Dan calls "weather-check[ing] inside" and the worn-out fitting systems of the slots and tongues do indicate retirement: a chain guard which can't keep the weather out any longer has finished serving.

I think you're smart to skip the trial of putting Phil's green goo on a Chainglidered chain, even if only on grounds of the likely cost to conduct the experiment thoroughly, several hundred pounds minimum for enough Phil. Why? Phil's lube works by going squishy where there is movement between parts, which describes a chain's many components in dynamic relationship to each other, and also the chain's dynamic relationship to the toothed metal wheelies. The Phil's remaining green and thick holds in the thinned goo. Some of that thin stuff, no matter how well it lubricates, is likely to come out of the Chainglider, which after all has a drain hole, and get on braking surfaces, and on your clothes, and require frequent cleaning -- and by then the purpose of the Chainglider is long obviated. Perhaps you could avoid action-thinned Phil's goo dripping out by packing the whole of the Chainglider with the Phil's, as Dan and I do with various much less capacious spaces inside the Rohloff's EXT box (or boxes, to be inclusive of all faiths and heresies and kibitzers), in which application the unliquified Phil's makes a barrier to the thinner stuff created by the motion between close-fitting parts. I just don't see that the expense of a whole Chainglider full of Phil's is warranted.

*My original article about chain guards, "A Fully Enclosed Chaincase That Works" at
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2233.msg10717#msg10717
can in retrospect be seen as a valedictory for the Dutch style of metal or plastic fully enclosing chain cover, and an announcement of the successful challenger, the Chainglider via Utopia's Country chain case (something similar to the Hebie Chainglider in appearance but in design and construction more akin to a hybrid).

Andre Jute:
I'm starting to wonder whether Hebie designed the Chainglider in-house, or whether Hebie, a bicycle-component distributor, merely branded a product designed and manufactured by someone else. Over the years there has been so much ignorance and contradiction about their own product coming out of Hebie, far more than one would expect from a firm where the proud engineer who fathered a successful product still sits at his drawing board just down the hall from publicity and customer support (you can probably bet that the product manager in charge is now a marketing manager somewhere bigger). What strikes one forcefully, again, in the sources Dan cites is that they're contradictory beyond belief for an engineering firm, and even more so for a German engineering firm.


--- Quote from: Danneaux on July 20, 2022, 10:08:17 am ---*Of particular note from the English translation of the German at the Service FAQ above...

--- Quote --- Sufficient chain care should take place at the latest during the first inspection, since the initial lubrication of the chain by the chain manufacturer mainly has preservation properties and is not designed for long running times.
--- End quote ---

contradicts Andre's experience running the chain on its original factory lube within the Chainglider for as long as possible.
--- End quote ---

Hmm. I think I'll stick to my proven ways, thanks all the same.

However, just a reminder: I designed and developed my bike as an exercise towards a zero-routine-maintenance, minimum-service, rare-component-replacement bike. I specifically don't care about the mickey mouse cost of unoptimised chain by running solely on the factory lube or even throwing it off at only two-thirds worn (0.5 rather than 0.75) when that coincides with the annual oil change on the Rohloff. I get a thrill from getting three times and change the best chain mileage I got under previous arrangements, even without optimising the potential distance obtainable from running the chain to death, but that's a fringe benefit to riding a permanently clean, silent, comfortable, undemanding bike.

It is quite possible, and supported by my own previous experience, that adding Oil of Rohloff (the best lube I know) to a chain inside a chain guard will potentiate an even bigger gain in chain life than running it for life on the factory lube, as I've being doing instead, but again, I can't be bothered if the chain won't go a full additional year so that replacement can coincide with the next gearbox oil change. I'd rather ride than fiddle with my bike.

Also, for those who can't resist the habit of lubing the chain, even inside a Chainglider, Oil of Rolloff applied sparingly (it comes in a small bottle with a dropper spout as a pretty strong hint) would make the least mess inside the Chainglider of all the lubes I know, including white cold wax (which drops grey balls of dirty wax from the chain but is otherwise pretty clean).

***
Something else developing with additional mileage on my bike under the present regime is a dawning realisation that replacing chains earlier rather than later must be at least partially, possibly largely, responsible for the virtually unmarked condition of the sprocket at c11,000km, with the plain steel (and not the best quality either as the centre motor necessitates fitting the component that comes with the motor) chainring also unmarked at 7500km, not numbers I ever thought I'd see when I fit Shimano's Nexus groups (if I saw anything over 1600km on them, never mind 2000, I opened champagne and wondered if I were on my way to becoming a spinner...). The balance of this benefit, however much it is, of course arises from the Chainglider keeping out dirt.

JohnR:
I think this is a good a place as any to note that I've just fitted a Bikepunx stainless steel chainring. I had a Surly chainring on the wishlist but this is a less expensive alternative. The website is here https://bikepunx.com/ but the shop is broken so they are currently selling on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/bikepunxuk. The chainrings are either 2mm (for 3/32" chain) or 3mm (for 1/8" chain). I bought a 42T 2mm (last one in stock) to put inside my Chainglider. Previously I've been using a Jet steel chainring https://www.sourcebmx.com/products/jet-bmx-5-bolt-race-chainring?currency=gbp which was starting to look tatty and it's also 2.4mm thick so is a tighter fit inside the Chainglider. There is also a significant difference in weight  (Bikepunx = 125g, Jet = 210g) which is a combination of difference in thickness and the Bikepunx ring having more metal machined away.

While I was fiddling with the bike (my Elan Ti) I also tried to fit a KMC 3/32" half link on the KMC Z1 narrow chain to see if I could do away with the chain tensioner. The length of the chain with the half link looked as if it might work but I couldn't get the missing link to close when connected to the half link which seems to have slightly thicker links and the missing link, when open, was catching on the half link. I'm now wondering if a solution would be to insert the half link somewhere else on the chain.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page