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.
*Of particular note from the English translation of the German at the Service FAQ above...
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.
contradicts Andre's experience running the chain on its original factory lube within the Chainglider for as long as possible.
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.
