How do I ride my bike without getting my jeans dirty with bicycle grease?

Richard: How do I ride my bike without getting my jeans dirty with bicycle grease?
I live on a college campus and usually ride my bike from the dorm to class and to the library. I’ve noticed that everytime I ride the bike the right side of my inner jeans would have all these browinish grease stain all over it. Is there any way I could avoid this, besides not wearing jeans. I only brought jeans to school and don’t have shorts to wear to avoid this. I could get a bike chain guard, but I really don’t have the money to get one. Is there any way I could position my pants or perhaps a certain way I could ride my bike that would keep my jeans clean. It gets annoying washing the jeans. I have to wash the jeans 2 times, even when I dab the grease in detergent. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Answers and Views:

Answer by George E
Do as we did before chain guards roll up the pant leg

Answer by Shelly C
when we were kids we would either roll our pant legs up or stuff our pant legs into our socks.

tee hee thanks for the memories!!

Answer by old dirty bastahd
Clean the grease off of everything on your bike, and then carefully put a light amount of grease around the teeth of the gears. Then, using your hands, pedal the bike to distribute the new, smaller amount of grease onto the chain.
If you are getting grease on your pants, you have way too much grease on the chain.

Answer by private15ft
Richard, it’s hard to believe you made it to college, then again
the college professors are mostly liberal incompetents anyway. Suggestons:
1. Remove the grease and use a lite oil lube on the chain.
2. Use a hand towel held on to your leg with gumbands.
3. Make a chain guard out of cardboard.
4. Walk
5. buy a car
6. Ask a professor.

Answer by AL R
Of course a chain guard is the best solution but if that´s out you might consider using bicycle spring clips which go round the leg at the bottom of the pants.Just tuck the loose part of the pants to the outside.

Answer by Daryl T
When I was a kid they used to sell “pant clips” that were springy, curved metal strips that clamped around the pant leg. But I found that a large rubber band works just as well, but tend to wear out, whereas the metal clip doesn’t.

Or you could roll the one pant leg up and look goofy! (grin)

Happy riding.

Answer by PG
Roll up pants or tuck pants into socks.
I recall that many of the older bikes had chain guards, contrary to what George stated.

Answer by azliq7
Use a trash bag (the black one) as a protective layer. Cut it to fit the length of your jeans.

Or, you could use it only for the parts where the grease usually stains.

Answer by sfr1224
First, it is never a bad idea to clean your bicycle. You can use some gentle, degreasing detergent like Dawn and a toothbrush or rags to clean off the old grease and grime off the chain, chainrings and gears. Be sure to dry everything off, then oil the chain with a lubricant like “Tri-Flow”, or “Finish Line”. To keep it from becoming a nasty mess again, you should pull a rag across the freshly oiled chain to wipe off excess lubricant.

Here is a link the the Park Tools web site that gives good instuctions on cleaning and lubricating your chain, etc.

Also, grease on your pants is only one potential problem. Much worse than grease is getting your jeans caught between the chain and chainring. In fact, this is potentially quite dangerous. You should put something like a rubber band around your pant leg to keep it from flapping loose. Bicycle shops also sell a springy band that serves the same purpose. Ask about one when you get the chain oil.

Hope this helps you out.

Answer by M R
Well, I certainly can’t add anything to the answers you got. Like most said, clean your bike, roll up or cover your pant leg with a million different things, make a chain guard out of plastic, cardboard etc.

Hope your not studying rocket science…

Answer by theVisionary
Haha, MR it’s always a joy reading your responses.

Richard,

Personally I use paint clips when I’m concerned about mussing up my jeans. Cost 5$ at the store. I have a set of plastic ones with reflective strip on the back. They do the job. They work. They’re cheap.

You could do what everyone else said. I just went with clips. They work fine for me.

BTW: You COULD stuff your jeans into your sock, but I find that the stains happen 6 inches or so up the pant leg. To tell you the truth, you’ll look like a total dork if you raise your sock 6 inches up over the pant leg… but if you don’t care…

Have fun!

Answer by andrew p
i think TheVisionary is gay for M R….but anyway yea roll up yer pant leg or get a chainguard and/or chainring bashguard.

Answer by Anomaly 17
I see a lot of people riding with a reflective fabric strap that fastens with velcro wrapped around their pant legs. You can prolly buy these at a bike store for just a few bucks, or make your own.