Your bicycle chain will wear for various reasons, but the key accelerant is grit within that grinds away the metal. But while reducing wear through chain cleaning is certainly the factor that will save you money, you should also consider the efficiency that's lost through all that abrasive friction.
Jason Smith, of independent testing facility Friction Facts, confirms that there's a measureable amount of efficiency lost from a dirty chain.
"The numbers can vary based on the ‘dirtiness’ of the chain, but on average, testing shows a dirty road chain can decrease efficiency by about 3-5W (at 250W rider output) – about 1-2% of power loss," he says. "For example, say a properly cleaned and lubed chain consumes about 7W. The light road grit kicked up from a couple of 'clean' road rides can cost an additional 3W of frictional losses."
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Wear and lost speed, damn you dirty dirt
Smith explains that number increases with the grit. “Riding on several road rides without cleaning or relubing can cost about 5W of losses. In extreme cases (MTB or cycloross for example), we’ve seen a muddy chain add 12W of losses over baseline.”
On or off the bike?
So mine has to stay on, now what?
What if you can remove the chain safely?
The lazy way
Can a chain be too clean?
Alright, so it’s clean. Now what?
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