Desert dust?
Or rust?

Does it clean off?

 

No it doesnt clean off wit just a wipe. It almost acts like paint...really odd

 

I wonder if some old mud left on the chain accelerated the rust. I went riding a few weeks ago in the mud and even though I washed the bike afterwards I did nothing more then hose off the chain. It wasn't until over the weekend when I looked at the chain that I saw some of the old mud caked on. When I removed the mud I saw the rust.

I do use the dry lube and will just need to get in the habit of spraying it every time I wash the bike. At least the chain is serviceable and doesn't need to be replaced anytime soon.

 

Agree with klx^, never use a pressure washer. As for basic water (surface) "oxidation," it's no huge deal. Ever noticed your car brake rotors several hours after a good wash job? They get light surface oxidation, too. However, if you truly NEGLECT lubing your chain (or other things, too) and the oxidation actually begins to "eat" into the metal as "rust" (and it takes a Scotch-brite pad to remove it!) then shame on you.

 

A light surface rust sets in pretty quick. So it could be nothing.

My personal feeling is that people either:

Lube too much (especially if they use a wet lube) which simply means that the lube holds grit and accelerates wear.

Lube too little, they simply ride the bike and never really look after it. They wind up replacing chains twice as often, but who really cares.

People seem to either be really excited about maintenance and want to use super gas and all synthetic oils and have big arguments about which moly grease they should use (think BMW/KTM guys here) or they can't really be bothered to maintain, and think their bike should operate like a refrigerator, that is no maintenance for the life of the product except to clean a filter once in a while.

If you're looking at your chain and wondering about this the chances are you're not too far into the second camp. Lube it up and yer all set. Just lube it after wet rides or a wash.

 

Quite likely. The mud would be holding moisture against the metal. The mineral composition of said mud would also be a factor no doubt.

 

Rust on the outside surfaces of the chain plates is a non-issue (other than offending the eyes).

O-ring chains supposedly do not require lubrication, other than to stop the o-rings drying out and cracking. Using a solvent on an o-ring chain is worse than no lube at all IMO. Any contamination under the rings will mean premature failure and power washing and potent solvents is the way to achieve this.

Having tried lots of different lubes on my MTB over many years (no o-rings!) I have been using Finish Line Wet Lubricant for the last >5 years. The trick is to use just enough and absolutely no more - trickled down the sideplates. This is the only system which works in all conditions, from gloop to dust, wet, dry , hot, cold. Dry lubes last about 20 miles then need reapplication - and that's with pedal power. I get 3 years out of 4 chains and 1 set of sprockets using this technique (replace the chain at 0.75% wear).

After reading loads of conflicting advice on the web, decided to use the same on the KLX and after 3K miles the chain has needed zero adjustment and looks nice and clean, except for very a mild rust colour on the outside of the plates.