For the past few weeks I’ve noticed that the chain on my bike has been beginning to slip on the gears. It looked like it wasn’t sitting quite right on the cogs and I diagnosed that it had stretched. Yesterday afternoon I decided to detour via the bike shop I use for repairs (Reg Taylor on Iffley Road) to see if they could replace it there and then or sell me the chain and the appropriate tool to do the job myself.

I am glad I stopped by a trustworthy place. They took a look and spotted that the chain was rather dry. Rather than replacing it, they applied some oil and, sure enough, on the journey back it behaved properly. I thought it had shown signs of wear so hadn’t got round to oiling it but I must admit that I’m a bit haphazard on that maintenance job so it must have been drier than I thought in the first place.

I guess that what was happening was the dry links weren’t releasing properly from the cogs causing stiffness and the effect that seemed like slipping. Time I think to start being more diligent in chain care.