The Secret To A Fast Drivetrain With JP Jacobs

by | May 7, 2024 | Bike Maintenance, Bike, Bike Setup, Featured, Skills & Setup, Sports

How to properly clean and lube your bicycle’s drivetrain for best results with top advice from Cannondale Factory Racing’s JP Jacobs.

We all depend on our bicycle’s drivetrain to perform efficiently and reliably day after day, often through pretty terrible conditions! The chain, chainring, cassette, and derailleur all need to work in good harmony for the magic to happen. No matter how expensive your drivetrain is, it takes a bit of attention and care from your side to make sure it keeps on getting the job done efficiently throughout its (often too short) lifespan.

If there is anyone for whom this matters more than others it is the pro riders who rely on these parts to make a living and achieve success in the sport so we reached out to JP Jacobs who looks after the bicycles of the Cannondale Factory Racing team to learn what he deems most important to keep your drivetrain delivering optimal power.

World Cup Mechanic Jp Jacobs On How To Make Your Bike Faster
JP has been working with Alan Hatherly and the Cannondale Factory Racing team for years, optimising every component for maximum speed!

Cleaning the chain

JP says that the first step in taking care of the drivetrain is a proper clean. While this may seem like a tedious part of the job, it is important to get right otherwise any lubricating that you do down the line won’t be effective.

“If you prefer to clean your chain while it is on the bike, I would recommend a good cleaning solution eg: CeramicSpeed UFO drivetrain cleaner, MucOff drivetrain cleaner, or Smoove degreaser. Stay away from non-bike related products as some of them have additives that could be harmful to bike paint, disc brakes, and greases inside of pivots.”

When it comes to scrubbing the chain, it doesn’t need to be too complicated a process.

“With the degreaser at hand, a hard bristle paint brush or floor brush works nicely to apply the degreaser (using the floor brush to scrub any stubborn old lube off). There are nice devices that you can clip over the bottom part of the chain and back pedal with a series of brushes to clean the side in between and backside of the chain. After using the degreaser I would wash the drivetrain again with the bike soap that I’ll be using for the rest of the bike.”

JP’s Pro Tip: Don’t mix lubes between rides when trying a different lube. Clean the chain first for best results.

Applying fresh chain lube

The next step is lubricating the chain. JP is thorough here to ensure the best possible application. A well lubricated chain is going to last longer (less wear) and deliver power better to the rear wheel.

“When applying fresh chain lube, I run my fingers over the chain to massage the lube into the chain roller bearings. The external side of the chain does not need to be lubricated; it won’t make the gears slide up and down the cassette any better. The roller bearings are the guys that need the lubrication.”

How To Clean And Lube Your Bicycle Drivetrain
After dripping the chain lube onto the chain, JP will massage it into the roller bearings with his fingers. (c) CeramicSpeed

Focus your energy on getting your chain lube of choice into the roller bearings of the chain. There is no need to douse the chain in big volumes of lube but rather just enough to work into the rollers.

Pro Tip: Don’t lube the chain with a waxed based lube 10 min before your next ride. The minute you hop off the curb so will your freshly applied chain lube! Wax based lubes need to dry overnight for a good few hours before you head out on the bike. 

What to do with a new chain

When you buy a fresh chain for your bike you will notice that it comes lubricated with a grease from the factory. These greases preserve the chain for storage but they don’t fare well out in the real world, gathering dirt and debris very quickly. JP recommends that you first clean and strip the factory grease from the chain (with one of the aforementioned degreasers). 

From there you can let the chain dry off before popping it onto the bike and lubricating it. Giving the new chain a second round of lube after the initial application has dried is also a smart idea to maximise the effect.

Which chain lubes are the best

You may have questions around which chain lubes, or which types, are the best to use. JP shared these notes on the different types of chain lubes:

  • Wax based lubes are cleaner but require a bit more effort with applying 
  • Oil based wet lubes are good on the road bike and run quiet but their drawback is that they will go black quite quickly.
  • Oil based dry lube dries out quite quickly leaving the chain dry and noisy.

“Wax chains stay a bit cleaner for longer as the wax doesn’t attract too much dirt. Using a wet oil based lube in dry dusty conditions will attract more dirt. Once lube and dirt are together in the same area it then becomes a cutting paste for your components which will result in quicker wearing down of the surfaces.”

Hot waxing for ultimate drivetrain performance

The hot wax method for chain lubrication has been growing in popularity recently and JP is a big advocate for this method. We have gone into the topic in depth here but JP breaks it down in brief below.

“In the last few years I have been using a hot wax application as a base for my chains. This means I have a slow cooker with a Molten Speed wax in there. A bone dry and clean chain goes into the slow cooker with the wax. As you place the chain into the hot wax, air bubbles appear and this is a sign of wax really getting into the roller bearings. A few minutes in there and then I remove it with a spoke to hang out for drying.

The chain goes hard as the wax dries. Once the chain is on the bike it needs a 20 min pedal to break the wax loose a bit and give you a free moving chain with lowest possible friction which means free watts!”

How To Clean And Lube Your Bicycle Drivetrain
Immersing the chain in a hot-wax formula, such as this one from MoltenSpeed, will deliver best results when it comes to reducing friction and wear. (c) MSpeedWax

While hot waxing is a more involved process (chain has to be removed from the bike, immersed in the hot wax, and left to dry) its benefits are hard to argue against. The lubrication lasts much longer and significantly reduces friction over and above what the normal drip-application lubes can do, therefore increasing drivetrain lifespan and efficiency. They are also easier to clean, simply use some cold water and maybe a bit of light soap to rinse the chain of debris.

JP says that “for MTB usage you may need a top up of drip application wax lube a bit sooner as there is often more debris involved. Cleaning and applying more wax is easy as you just need water and soap to wash debris off before applying some drip-lube, no heavy degreasers needed.”

To find out more about the science behind hot waxing your chain, read on here.

If you’re looking for a middle ground between hot waxing and normal drip application, JP has a hack for you:

“You can also take a small container and empty your wax based drip-lube in there (CeramicSpeed, Smoove, Squirt etc). Remove your clean chain from the bike and place in the container and leave for wax to penetrate the chain’s roller bearings. Then remove from the container, running through your hand to remove most of the excess lube on the outside and leave to air dry over the container so you can catch any excess lube that drips off.

Once dry, reinstall on the bike with correct rotation of chain and new quick link. This was one of the ways I used to lube chains at big events like Cape Epic and Tankwa Trek and resulted in a smooth lower friction ride!”

Key takeaways from JP’s drivetrain advice

Cleaning:

  • Clean chain is a happy chain.
  • Use a bike specific degreaser for degreasing your drivetrain
  • Invest in drivetrain specific brushes so that you’re not cleaning your rotors with an oil contaminated brush.
  • Air dry or towel dry chain before applying fresh lube.

Lubing:

  • Too much lube is not a good thing as it will attract too much dust and dirt and will create a cutting paste resulting in a quicker wearing drivetrain .
  • Don’t apply wax based lubes 10 min before a ride as the wax needs to dry first before it actually acts as a lube.
  • Massage wax lube into rollers for better results.
  • If doing longer rides apply one layer on a clean chain, wait to dry and then add a second.

And a final word from JP, “a well maintained and lubed chain will result in lower friction and thus gives you free watts!”
For more info and articles on bike setup and such, head over here!

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