What Chain Lube?

Fujiman said:

Hi everyone,
What lube do you use? I am in N.E. Ohio and the leaves are heavy on the bike path and my chain, drive train area is really dirty after each ride, should I go to a Dry Lube?? Everything seems to be sticking to anything with lube on it.

Thanks

As Led Zeppelin said many years ago "Rock N Roll". Those boys knew what they were on about.

I'm also in N.E. Ohio, Fujiman.

You can try any of the popular dry lubricants on the market, but be advised that your chain and gear teeth wear may be accelerated. A dry-lubed chain running a bit cleaner vs a wet-lubed (oil/grease) that's a bit more cruded up with leaves might be a wash though.

If you are riding on wet leaves (such as the Towpath Trail in Massillon) the front tire is going to continue to spray them into the driveline where they'll be ground up regardless of the lubricant. Even riding our dusty, dirty paved streets I just use the Park chain cleaner every 250-300 miles or so.

No realy use a popular chain lube called Rock 'n' Roll

Or alternitivly if your realy into it get some chain wax, which you have to heat up and submerge your chain in.

I am of the firm opinion that bicycle shops only sell chain oil with the certain knowledge that it causes them to sell more chains, chain rings and cassettes.

What I do: big bowl of chain wax, get it nice and hot. Boil chain in wax for a good half hour. Take it out and leave it to hang, dripping back into the bowl. Wait for it to cool, then put it back on the bike.

Nice thing about wax is that when it gets contaminated it has difficulty hanging on to where it should be and falls off. Whereas oil when it gets contaminated turns into a grinding paste and even appears to aid rubbish to get where it shouldn't be.

Awful lot easier to clean wax off, generally you can just rub it from your hands with a cloth. Compared with oil and bathing in swarfega afterwards.

Been a lot written about this subject so do a search.
There is no consensus, but Prolink seems to get plenty of plaudits.
Halcyon1

INOX 😎

Im having luck with $1.77 bar and chain oil. I have been riding over 40 yeras and only just realizing the value of cleaning the gear train and re-lubing when it gets gritty. Could be 1 week or 2 months; you just have to know when its time to do maintanence on the gear train.

When its clean and well lubed, it shifts like quite nice.

threaded said:

I am of the firm opinion that bicycle shops only sell chain oil with the certain knowledge that it causes them to sell more chains, chain rings and cassettes.

What I do: big bowl of chain wax, get it nice and hot. Boil chain in wax for a good half hour. Take it out and leave it to hang, dripping back into the bowl. Wait for it to cool, then put it back on the bike.

Nice thing about wax is that when it gets contaminated it has difficulty hanging on to where it should be and falls off. Whereas oil when it gets contaminated turns into a grinding paste and even appears to aid rubbish to get where it shouldn't be.

Awful lot easier to clean wax off, generally you can just rub it from your hands with a cloth. Compared with oil and bathing in swarfega afterwards.

or you could just use Rock'n"Roll

threaded said:

I am of the firm opinion that bicycle shops only sell chain oil with the certain knowledge that it causes them to sell more chains, chain rings and cassettes.

Oh yes, it's most certainly a conspiracy.

Word on the street is they only sell lightweight racing tires, so they can sell more tubes. Shhhh - mums the word.

Scotty_Dog said:

Oh yes, it's most certainly a conspiracy.

Word on the street is they only sell lightweight racing tires, so they can sell more tubes. Shhhh - mums the word.

I don't think I'm the only one with conspiracy theories: Fat Cyclist on Assos
😄

Prolink works well. With regard to the wax thing, I'd rather buy a new chain than have to do that even once. DuraAce chains are only A$45 on ebay.

threaded said:

What I do: big bowl of chain wax, get it nice and hot. Boil chain in wax for a good half hour. Take it out and leave it to hang, dripping back into the bowl. Wait for it to cool, then put it back on the bike.

Is there an incantation that goes with that?

threaded said:

What I do: big bowl of chain wax, get it nice and hot. Boil chain in wax for a good half hour. Take it out and leave it to hang, dripping back into the bowl. Wait for it to cool, then put it back on the bike.

How many miles do you get out of a chain?

garage sale GT said:

How many miles do you get out of a chain?

I have read that wax is quite an inferior lubricant in comparison with clean oil.

Retro Grouch said:

Is there an incantation that goes with that?

🙂

.

artemidorus said:

I have read that wax is quite an inferior lubricant in comparison with clean oil.

Quite true, but a waxed chain stays way cleaner, far longer, than an oiled one. Also the wax is performing as a seal to prevent rubbish getting into the bushing of the chain in the first place. Wax doesn't adhere too well to metal, and once contaminents get in it, adherence becomes worse, so the wax falls off. Compare this to oil: if you don't thoroughly clean an oiled chain before reoiling you actually help to wear it out by driving dirt in. I find you do not need to be so careful with the cleaning when using wax. In fact after the wax pot is cooled I occasionally knock the wax out and scrape off the acumulated crud that has settled to the bottom of the block. I find the overall efficiency of the system favours a waxed chain over the long term.

Retro Grouch said:

Is there an incantation that goes with that?

Absolutely, generally an album by Sheryl Crow, that one from 1996. 😉

threaded said:

Compare this to oil: if you don't thoroughly clean an oiled chain before reoiling you actually help to wear it out by driving dirt in.

You have evidence for this? Am I better off leaving my chain unlubricated if I'm not going to put it through an ultrasonic cleaner, or at least a solvent bath?
How many kilometres do you get from your chains?

garage sale GT said:

How many miles do you get out of a chain?

It doesn't quite work like that. If I have a few months where I'm minded to do a much lower cadence, then the chain is worthless very quickly, even a brand new one. On the MTB if I get a sequence of muddy races, I'll have worn the whole drive train out over only, what, 5-800km in total. Also depends on the components, on my Cyclocross bike I can't even remember how many years ago the parts were replaced, well over 10, and obviously a company that made parts that long lasting is no longer in business.

On the commute I will generally swap the chains, I swap between a pair so if I get caught by the rain mid-week I can put another chain on that evening for the next day, and rewax them both over the weekend. When the drivetrain has had it's life, usually when there is no drive left in the cassette, I change the whole lot. That seems to be about once a year. So around 16000 km / 10000 miles.

Although this year the whole lot has lasted longer, which I put down to the weather people having a website where I can see the rainfall on my commute, (some sort of radar,) so can choose a time to set off to minimise getting wet, avoid going through the nature reserve before the rain has soaked away.