Chain Lube

ScottishDan said:

I feel very nerdy at asking this but what chain lube do you guys recommend.

I have been using GT80, but at this time of year, it washes off far too quickly. WD40 tends to pick up too much grit and stuff though.

Dan,

Finish Line Cross Country is my favourite:

cyclesportsuk.co.ukproduct info.phpOpen ↗

And Christmas is coming. 😉

Steve

Quoted post said:

Dont let wd touch your chain,big no no. Prolink

shokhead is right: don't use WD-40 on your chain. Ca-ca.

None of the above for me. I use "homebrew", which is about 75% mineral spirits/25% synthetic motor oil.

Put it in a squirt bottle, squirt directly into chain rollers while spinning the cranks for a few revs, then keep rotating for a dozen or so revs, shifting up and down a few times. Let the lube drain off, then wipe the chain by spinning through a rag.

The stuff will be thin like water, but that allows it to get into the rollers and flush out the gunk. After wiping down the chain, let the spirits evaporate off for 30-60 minutes, then the chain is left with a nice thin coating of oil inside the rollers where it needs to be - not all over the outside plates where it will collect dirt.

If you do this every few rides, you'll not need to clean the chain any other way and there is no 'build-up' like with wax based lubes. I just do a quick wipe of the chain & cassette after longer rides, until the next application is needed.

I've gotten several thousand miles from chains this way with little wear and great shifting. Plus, it's cheap so you can make as much as you want.

Thanks Wurm, excellent advice, I don't feel so nerdy for asking now😄

I have printed these out and made my shopping list. when you say mineral spirits, I take it that's the same as white spirits?

No prob, SD. I used to be a nerd, now I'm just a geek. 😄 Same diff, eh? Hey, some of my best friends have been propellerheads! 😉

I'm not sure what you call it there in the UK or Scotland, but I suppose it could be called "clear" or "white" since it has no color and the kind I have is odorless as well. I forgot the chemical name for it (starts with an "X" or "Z" I think), but it's made of "petroleum distillates" as read from the label. Do not mistake it for turpentine, which is derived from pine tree sap.

EDIT: BTW - I forgot to add that a good idea is to put newspapers or such under the chain area and between the wheel & chain, to keep the lube from making a mess on your rim or the floor/ground. It is quite thin, and will drip out from the chain as a black liquid. That's when you'll see just how much [censored] is hiding in your rollers.

Also, if you do the proceedure before you put the bike away for the day, the spirits will evaporate over night and you'll be ready to go the next morning. That will avoid splatters on the wheel & rear of the bike.

Another plus with using homebrew is that it's good if you're on a rain ride. An oil-based lube generally sticks to a wet chain far better than many of the bike-specific, wax-based lubes.

I use Finish Line on the chain.

One problem is keeping the damn thing clean.
I have used mineral turpentine (what is that called in the USA? same name?)
but it stinks and burns your lungs and throat.
Then tried an organic citrus-based degreaser which cleans most of the bike,
but the treacle on the chain stubbornly holds fast.
When the chain is clean (done by a bike shop, Finish Line is great stuff...

Hey Wurm...just read your message.

Mineral turps and synthetic motor oil?
they have different specific gravity and I would have thought they couldn't mix together.
Are you sure it works?
And I hate the smell of turps.
I have a small hatchback car and when I go to the bike shop to pick up my steed, I stick it on the back seats and the whole car stinks...

WHITE SPIRITS is not a good idea.
One day I cleaned my balls (hub bearings) with white spirits and it took off all the chrome coating and the balls wore away and looked like river pebbles.
It's fatal stuff.

ScottishDan said:

I feel very nerdy at asking this but what chain lube do you guys recommend.

I have been using GT80, but at this time of year, it washes off far too quickly. WD40 tends to pick up too much grit and stuff though.

Iv been yous'n multi purpose sewing machine oil for years on the MTB and road bike, easy to clean, not to light and not to heavy! and well priced .Bying lube just got to expensive from bike shops ,there lube is comparative to oil prices.
Just my 5c worth, 😎

Aussie Steve said:

WHITE SPIRITS is not a good idea.
One day I cleaned my balls (hub bearings) with white spirits and it took off all the chrome coating and the balls wore away and looked like river pebbles.
It's fatal stuff.

Steve, I got a couple of sets of balls from SKF on Gt E Hwy Belmont. Repacked them with Dow Corning MdS grease (boat trailer) realy good now! Your hubs may have been too tight.

gclark8 said:

Steve, I got a couple of sets of balls from SKF on Gt E Hwy Belmont. Repacked them with Dow Corning MdS grease (boat trailer) realy good now! Your hubs may have been too tight.

Ball bearing grease is out of the question then ... yet so quiet.

gclark8 said:

Steve, I got a couple of sets of balls from SKF on Gt E Hwy Belmont. Repacked them with Dow Corning MdS grease (boat trailer) realy good now! Your hubs may have been too tight.

Wow,your way ahead of LA. Let him know where you got them from. LMAO

Mr Clarkie...
thanks for the tip on fresh balls !!!
Will go and but a set... I use either Lithium grease or Castrol car grease (a bit heavy though)
The problem with the white spirit was that it stripped the protective chrome coating off my balls...
I didn't know until the next day (Saturday) when I did my usual group ride...35 kms with 3 mates to meet the group, then 60kms+ with the bunch, then going home- 35 with the 3 musketeers.
Only in the final home stint, my steed was groaning and rumbling...had to push hard to maintain speed...we all said "bottom bracket dry"
At home, had a look at my balls and yep...they looked like small pebbles from the bottom of a fish tank...

I am using Rock n Roll. Lasts 200-500 miles, clean and good for both the wet and dry. After each ride I wipe the chain clean. Really works great!

Yawn, time to wake up an old topic... :eek:

Anyone had problems with the protective grease on new chains and new bikes, shifting problems that went away after cleaning and re-lubeing the chain. 😉

The mineral spirits / oil mix is a good method...

I use a removable link and so take the chain off, wash it in diesel, put it back on and then put a very small amout of synthetic gear oil on the rollers only. Run it around a few times and them wipe everything off. Has the same effect as the mix easily penetrates the rollers.

Jay.

Aussie Steve said:

Hey Wurm...just read your message.

Mineral turps and synthetic motor oil?
they have different specific gravity and I would have thought they couldn't mix together.
Are you sure it works?

Yes I'm sure it works. I don't know what they call mineral spirits in Australia, but it does blend with oil over here. 😉 The idea is that the spirits evaporate off leaving only the oil. It works well.

But lately, I've found an even better, cleaner chain lube: Dumonde Tech. This stuff is BOMB!

gclark8 said:

Yawn, time to wake up an old topic... :eek:

Anyone had problems with the protective grease on new chains and new bikes, shifting problems that went away after cleaning and re-lubeing the chain. 😉

The thick, gooey [censored] they put on new chains needs to be cleaned off IMO. It's on there only to keep the chain from rusting in storage.

Wurm said:

The thick, gooey [censored] they put on new chains needs to be cleaned off IMO. It's on there only to keep the chain from rusting in storage.

All the major bike chain makers use a lubricant. This includes SRAM, Shimano, KMC, and Campy. SRAM in fact uses a excellent lube (Gleitmo 582) made by Fuchs that costs about $25 for 400 ml; you would be hard pressed to find anything better than what SRAM uses and SRAM chains should be used without cleaning. Campy recommends you wipe down their chains and then apply oil. Shimano uses a greasy lube that also needs to be wiped off. Note both of those do not need to be have all the lube cleaned off, they just need to have the excess removed so it does not attract gunk.