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

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.