Drive train wore out in 6 months, here's what did it

Put a new chain and cassette on my commuter in March, by September it was skipping under load. Thought it was cheap parts. Turns out I was spraying degreaser on the chain then letting it sit overnight before wiping it off. That stripped all the factory lube and left it bone dry for the morning ride. Now I degrease, dry, then immediately relube within the same hour. Has anyone else wrecked parts by leaving degreaser on too long?

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1 Comment

wadefoster15d ago

Hold up, did you notice the skipping right away or did it slowly get worse over those months? I'm curious if the chain stretched out from riding dry or if the cassette just wore down super fast from the grit that stuck to the leftover degreaser. Also, what kind of degreaser were you using, the citrus stuff or the strong solvent type? That might matter for how bad the damage was.