I confess -- even after all the riding I've done the last couple of years, I had never actually removed and cleaned my chains -- only replaced them about once a year. Consdering that the SXP requires two and 1/2 chains.... I typically lube well with RockNRoll frequently, but had never done the "degreaser in a plastic bottle" maneuver. With the rain klling my normal Sunday riding routine, I decided to try it, for once... This chain has been on the bike about three to four months / 1500+ miles, and I've been thinking about trying to do this more often to get better chain life.
I went to the auto parts store for some Simple Green degreaser and latex gloves, and found an empty plastic bottle. I put the bike up on the rack for ease of access, and at this point I discovered that there was no "master link" on this chain -- so to do it, I had to push out a pin. After hemming and hawing over this for a few minutes, I decided to go ahead -- got out my chain tool, and pressed out a pin -- However, the chain tool didn't completely press out the pin, but it was enough to separate the link.
[
At this point, I remembered a passing comment that the tech at the LBS had said last time -- something about "non-reuseable pins" on this chain... and found the packet of three extra pins in my tool kit. More to come on this subject...]
I poured the degreaser (1:1 with water) into the jug, added the chain, and alternately let it soak or shook it around, for about 15 minutes. Fished it out with a spare spoke, and rinsed it with the garden hose -- most of the gunk was gone, but there were still areas visible. So I disposed of the first batch, and mixed up a second, repeating the soak/shake/rinse. This result looked better. Wanting to make sure I got the water out, I sprayed the chain with WD-40, wiped it down, then blew it with a hair dryer for good measure.
Letting the chain dry further, I took some time to wipe down the sprockets, and de-gunk the derailleur rollers with Q-tips-- there was QUITE a buildup of stuff on them...
Rethreading the chain through everything only took three tries
to get it right, including finally positioning the derailleurs to the small/small rings for maximum slack. Then, putting the opened link back together with the partially-removed pin took some doing, but I got it in place.
Then I looked at the "replacement" pins -- they were different than I had expected, being twice as long as needed, one end pointed and one end concave, but with what appeared to be a "break line" in the center to snap off one end. What the heck, I pushed the new pin in, to the point where I could break off the excess from the other side -- when it occured to me what a strange concept this was -- here I was in my garage, with easy access to tools and pliers of various sorts, but how is one supposed to break off this pin OUT ON THE ROAD???
CAN SOMEBODY 'SPLAIN THIS TO ME??? I took vise grips and pliers, and got the excess snapped off, without damaging the link plates (somehow)... I then followed this with liberal application of RockNRoll lube, and wah-lah, finished (except for the cleanup)!!!!
Taking the bike out for a spin through the gears indicated no problems, so I must have done it right, mechanically speaking. Total time (not including pizza), about an hour and a half. And for grins, my total consumables count was:
~1 qt of degreaser;
Three pair of latex disposable gloves (exacerbated by eating pizza halfway through the process)
Seven paper towels and one page of newsprint
Eight Q-tips
One replacement chain pin
PB