so i cleaned my chain for the first time yesterday...

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dean owens · #1 Post by **dean owens** » Sat May 16, 2009 2:57 am

... and i'm pretty sure i got taken advantage of/lied to by a local shop.

background info: i've never owned a bike with a chain and up until yesterday had never cleaned and lubed a chain.

last week i was riding in the rain and knew i'd have to clean and lube my chain before i went for my weekend trip to the mountains. at a stop light someone pointed out that my back tire was flat. i pull over and saw that it was pretty low on air. so i get to a gas station, fill it up and limp to the local bike shop. i really wasn't planning on buying a tire (that one only had 1500 miles on it

) but i ran over a stinkin' nail. i pick out my tire and they charge me like $62.00 to put it on and say,

"it's that much because you have a chain. with a chain we have to clean it, lube it and adjust it when we put the new tire on."

i thought, "great. now i don't have to do it before i head out for the weekend."

when i got my bike back my chain didn't really look any different. still black and looked like it had road grim/dirt all over it. but i thought, "well, all the chains on my bicycles growing up were black. maybe this one is too."

i discovered yesterday that my chain is very silver. not only that, but so is the rear sprocket (which i also thought was black). and i'm pretty sure they didn't do jack with my chain. now maybe there's a lube that they use that's like a thick oil that is black and they really did clean and lube the chain. but the lube i used yesterday was clear and my chain still looks silver.

it ticks me off when someone tells me they're going to do something and don't. sadly, i didn't know enough about cleaning and lubing a chain to be able to say anything that day. the other thing that stinks is i'm looking for a shop to be able to take my bike to when it needs things done that i'm incapable of doing. if i can't trust this shop to clean and lube a chain ... how can i trust them with anything on my bike?

end of my rant.

HYPERR · #2 Post by **HYPERR** » Sat May 16, 2009 3:05 am

If it makes you feel better, I don't really think $62 is too unreasonable to take the wheel off the bike, mount and balance a new tire, and re-install the wheel/tire back on the bike. They do have to adjust the chain so I'm sure that was done.

By the way, did they install a new valve stem?

jstark47 · #3 Post by **jstark47** » Sat May 16, 2009 4:07 am

I wouldn't ever expect a shop to clean and lube a chain for me. No matter what they said. As Hyperr points out, they have to adjust the chain when the remount the rear wheel - that's just part of getting the rear wheel positioned right.

My local shop's labor rate is $75 per hour. Sometimes folks cut down the price for the tire change by pulling the wheel off themselves at home and just taking in the wheel. To pull the wheel off, get the tire off, mount a new tire, balance the wheel, put the wheel back on getting the chain tension right - yeah, that's 30 minutes work for the shop. $62 is not an egregious over charge.

dean owens · #4 Post by **dean owens** » Sat May 16, 2009 4:19 am

i agree with you guys that i wouldn't have been upset with a $62.00 charge of changing the tire. but saying that they'd had to clean and lube the chain and didn't... that's another matter. for one, that means that i road in the rain... didn't put any new lube on it... then road another 500 miles... all of this with no thought that i should do anything because they said they had to as part of the deal. don't tell me you're going to do something and then don't. just say, labor is $62.00 to change the tire.

#5 Post by **blues2cruise** » Sat May 16, 2009 5:25 am

So go back to them....ask them why they said they were going to clean and lube it but did not.....

BuzZz · #6 Post by **BuzZz** » Sat May 16, 2009 5:46 am

I'll side with Dean on this, if the reason they gave for that price was cleaning the chain, they should have cleaned it. And $62 seems a bit much for what they did to me..... if they had a good reason for it, then they should have said what and why. I also have a bit of a grudge against shops in general and the way they 'work' customers, but that's just me.

When I tell my customer what a job will cost and why, I don't blame the customer for expecting exactly what he was told. I don't think Dean is out of line at all expecting his chain to come back clean. Too bad you didn't realize the real color of the parts was not black and called the shop on it at the time.

dean owens · #7 Post by **dean owens** » Sat May 16, 2009 8:05 am

first, thanks buzzz for seeing what i'm talking about.

next

blues2cruise wrote:So go back to them....ask them why they said they were going to clean and lube it but did not.....

now why would i do that? isn't it just enough to act mad and tough on an internet forum? does anyone actually confront anyone anymore?

i do plan on contacting them. it's a 45min+ drive for me so i'm not going to drop in just to let them know i'm disappointed. but i do plan on letting them know. i'll let y'all know if anything comes from it.

wish i would have known then so i could have caught it right when they brought the bike out. oh well. live and learn.

#8 Post by **blues2cruise** » Sat May 16, 2009 9:45 am

dean owens wrote:first, thanks buzzz for seeing what i'm talking about.

next
blues2cruise wrote:So go back to them....ask them why they said they were going to clean and lube it but did not.....
now why would i do that? isn't it just enough to act mad and tough on an internet forum?

Sure, complain away....but it does nothing to resolve the issue......but we're happy to listen and give our 2 cents worth....

does anyone actually confront anyone anymore?

Absolutely....we can not afford to become complacent...if something is not right I let them know...because in my mind....if someone who is the so called technician has training and is licensed, I expect them to live up to that....otherwise why pay for something you don't get?

.....or could potentially do yourself?

Now, in your case you said you did not know what colour your chain was.....next time....get down and feel the chain....take a look at it.....you should be able to see that the lube is thick and dull and gritty....just like on a mountain bike chain after you've been trail riding

But then...I am just finicky that way....

Finish Line is a good product for cleaning....

paul246 · #9 Post by **paul246** » Sat May 16, 2009 11:40 am

On the subject of cleaning and lubricating a chain... many riders feel it isn't necessary with an O-ring or X-ring chain. They could be right.

I clean and lubricate mine. Keep it cheap and simple. Easiest if you have a way to raise the rear wheel off the ground, but not necessary.

I clean with an old paint brush and kerosene. Flush all the grit and grime off. Then I use an old towel to wipe the chain down. Using another paint brush I apply a thin coat of heavy gear oil. Done in five minutes.

I also apply a small amount of moly-paste to the inside face of the chain rollers, where they meet the sprockets. This isn't necessary, but I have a jar of the stuff and figure it won't hurt.

A note on adjusting the chain. Keep the chain within specs but leave it on the loose side. Your chain will stretch with use but if you keep tightening it you will use up all your adjustment room quickly and will have to replace the chain prematurely. Also, a loose chain (within specified deflection limits, of course) will place less strain on your countershaft splines than that of a tight chain.