How do you know if your chain o-rings are dried out? I cleaned the crap out of my chain on Sunday (I didn't know it was silver, not black!) and then lubed the crap out of it, but I'm worried because I forgot about the whole o-ring thing... Any suggestions of what I should check to make sure they're okay? I have no idea what the things even look like :)
TKS!!!!
I will take a picture of mine when I get home tonight.
As long as the links rotate freely and the tension is set properly then you should be good to go. Unless you see little chunks of rubber o-ring coming off don't worry about them. Keep it clean and lubed and it'll last.
-M
(http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/2672/bike14iy.jpg)
In between each link you will see two o-rings. And, yes my chain is dirty.
Those are actually X-rings on scratch's picture. If yours are standard O-rings you won't see the groove that's visible in that picture, just one bulge.
My chain makes quite a bit of noise when I rotate the back tire. Enough that I can hear it even while riding. Could it need more lube, or maybe it's too tight? O-Rings might be shot? Not sure...
You are rotating it in the right direction?
the gearing will make a clicking noise if you rotate the wheel in reverse.
And yes, a too-tight chain will make ... ah ... unpleasant noises.
Yep, was rotating in the right direction. I will check the chain again tonight. It kinda makes a grinding, scratchy type noise. I will check if it's too tight tonight... Thanks for the info.