New Chain. Degrease or not

[oddman]

New bike; new chain. Looks clean but has the usual tacky lube on it.

Do I just get out and ride it until the chain and sprockets are black or

Degrease the chain and other drivetrain components and add my preferred lube.

[DE1975]

I think the factory waxy lube is normally pretty good and it seems to be pretty evenly covered over the whole of the chain. They must give the chain a bath in the stuff then remove the excess. I just put a new chain on my bike as it comes out of the packaging then do regular maintenance lubrication as it's needed.

[Crippo]

Ideally degrease the new chain and apply the correct lube.

[bobbo89]

Whilst there's nothing wrong with the lube that comes on a new chain I find it a bit too sticky and so it picks up dust and stuff which isn't good.

I don't go to town degreasing it but just get the majority off the surface with a rag covered in brake cleaner then apply my own (Peatys dry usually).

[okgo]

Remove and re lube.

Though obviously most people can’t be arsed and it makes no real odds if you don’t. But proper practice is to remove it.

[thisnameistaken]

Agree with the above. Whilst a new chain comes with very good lube applied it’s also good at attracting dirt as it’s sticky. In very little time you’ll have grinding paste on your new chain. I always remove and apply my normal lube.

[Donbot]

I'd lube it in case it is just covered in packing grease instead of proper chain lube. You'll wreck the chain pretty quickly otherwise

[z4RRSchris]

remove it
ultrasonic cleaner
white spirit
clean again
dry
wax with graphite
dust with PTFE

saves about 0.25w

[Julian Scott]

Take to a decent LBS, get them to ultrasonic clean it and wax it. ;-)

£20-30, done in a couple of hours.

[dudleybloke]

I always clean the sticky oil off and relube with something less glue like.
The oil used is chosen for its anti-rust, clinging and dewatering properties, not ideal for lubrication in a dirty environment.

[teeCup]

I’ve always seen it as the holy grail of lube and try and preserve the oem almost wax like coating for as long as possible.

I’ve never had any issue with using it for a good few rides this way before a quick spray with gt85 / wd40, a wipe down with a rag and then a liberal application of wet lube.

Paying someone to ultrasonically clean a brand new component seems a little ott to me?

[Julian Scott]

teeCup said:

I’ve always seen it as the holy grail of lube and try and preserve the oem almost wax like coating for as long as possible.

I’ve never had any issue with using it for a good few rides this way before a quick spray with gt85 / wd40, a wipe down with a rag and then a liberal application of wet lube.

Paying someone to ultrasonically clean a brand new component seems a little ott to me?

Not when it then gives 1,000s of km of 100% clean, silent, zero maintenance riding. And doubles your chain life.