u have to clean the chain every time it looks and feels not fresh enough!
not "every X km" not "every N days" but as soon as you hear any unhealthy whisper of a sand in it and after every serious dirty adveture.

u better install "fast removable" chain link (do not know official name) -- it is essential.

and have patience to grease the chain by using syringe: each junction individually and no more than it can hold inside.

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I use my MTB (sic) for commuting to work and the weather is unpredictable here. So the drive train is dirty most of the time, I clean and grease it once in a while. I just don't have time to clean and grease it through every time. I don't care about chain/gear/derailleur wear, because the chain is dirt cheap, and so is the cassette. I'll just replace them when its time to. When you have expensive ones, you have to take more care.

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i used to have cheap ones, i did not pay enough attention to it and they worn off terribly soon. now i have expensive ones and take care, and it is real pleasure to have nicely working bike.

but either way u better have this removable chain -- it makes thinks much simpler even if u care a little about the chain

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Well, the kit that is required for chain disassembly and cleaning is around $100 here. This is equivalent of 5x chains I currently use. When I'll get a bike for my wife and my daughter then maybe it'll be worth the investment.

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this is why i insist on detachable chain

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> the kit that is required for chain disassembly and
> cleaning is around $100 here

Where the hell do you live?
I bought this at Walmart for about $10.
It doesn't require removal og the chain, you clip it on
the chain and hook it to the chainstay, fill with household
degreaser and turn pedals. When it's done, put grease (another
$5) on.

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he meant the tool for disconnecting a chain

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Unfortunately I live in a country that just invaded Crimea, so things are not cheap and easy here. I have to go to Finland in order to get bicycle accessories cheap.

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Last time I cleaned/greased it (using a clip-on gadget with brush wheels)
was about 100 km ago, and these 100 km were mostly paved bike trails plus
maybe 15 km of dirt/cross country. Prior to that I rode nearly 1k without
ever noticing anything wrong, except maybe half a dozen occasions described
above. After I got my bike, I did some tweaking of the rear derailleur,
although not having any experience at all I perhaps didn't do it properly.

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well, you will learn.
(1) these brush wheeels devces are useless.
(2) cerosine or bensin bath is the best for any chain and u can try it AFTER "brush wheels" if u want to c for yourself the difference.
(3) and it is not possible to verbalize how to sense "anything wrong" it is between the hearing and the touching...
(4) don't hesitate to bend chain by fingers, it must bend at each link effortlessly -- opposite means: u failed to pay enough attention to it.

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There are good videos on yt about tuning the derailleurs. Just make sure not to use any Russian language guides, I found them misleading. In reality there are around 5 parameters to tune (low/high limit, coarse and fine cable tension, and f-screw which is rarely needed). Turn Hi/lo screws first, make sure the chain doesn't fall off hi/lo gears and there's minimal noise when the chain is rolling over them then iteratively adjust cable tension until swithching is smooth. Then you only have to use barrel adjuster once in a while after you remove the wheel etc. Cheap derailleurs don't hold settings tight, so they need to be finely adjusted often. But the cable will stretch anyway, so it's not just about derailleurs.

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Yep:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Cu_jneQFw

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and don't worry too much if u have to push shifter a little beyond "the click" when switching from smaller to bigger gear -- it is normal to some extent (particularly under load) (while oppesite movement must be smoother)

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