Greasing a Bike Chain
From time to time, I’ve found that greasing a bicycle chain can be really helpful. The biggest benefit is that it won’t get rusty which will, in turn, make biking easier. Also, a rusty chain is much more likely to break which is never good.
The first thing to do to grease your bike’s chain is lay out a bunch of newspaper. You want to do this because this job will, inevitably, become dirty. While some people don’t care about grease all over their garage, it bothers other people.
Next, you need to flip your bike over and stand it upside down. Turn the bike over on the mat of newspaper. This will make it easier to get to the chain as well as not make you bend over quite as much.
Inspecting the chain is the first crucial step. If the chain is really dirty, wiping it with a rag helps. To make sure the dirt comes off, put a little bit of bike lube or lighter fluid on the rag. This makes the job infinitely easier. Be sure to look for anything that looks broken in the chain. It’s better to know now than be out on a ride and realize that your chain just broke!
The next thing to do is to put a small amount of bike lube onto each individual link of the chain. Don’t bother contorting your wrist and arm to get to the links, turn the pedal backwards very slowly. This will move the chain along and create a sort of conveyor belt effect.
After you’ve greased all of the links, turn the pedal for 30 seconds or so. This ensures that the grease is evenly distributed along the entire chain. Following this, go ahead and wipe off any excess grease on the chain or that has fallen onto the bike.
Edit
References
Recumbent Bicycle
. General Cycling
Paper Writing
.
Oiling, Greasing and Cleaning your Bike
.