all around lubricant?

Ken asks-<< I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this? Or is it better to
use
diferent / specialized lubricants on different parts of a bike? I was
thinking of something along the lines of a spray like wd-40 or something
similar. >><BR><BR>

I answer-WD-40 is more water displacement and solvent than lube. I use two, a
drip bottle of Mobil One for pivots, small threads like brake barrel adjusters,
etc and Prolink for the chain.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

:
: I answer-WD-40 is more water displacement and solvent than lube. I use
two, a
: drip bottle of Mobil One for pivots, small threads like brake barrel
adjusters,
: etc and Prolink for the chain.
:
: Peter Chisholm

Ah, Mobil One! I never thought of that. I use that in my Accord and when I
change the oil, it always comes out as clean as it went in. At $4+ a quart,
it's certainly not cheap, but when you compare it to bicycle lubricants, it
is. I used 5W-0 in the car.

Pat in TX

Ken' kcmarcet'@'hotpop.com said:

I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this? Or is it better to
use diferent / specialized lubricants on different parts of a bike?
I was thinking of something along the lines of a spray like wd-40 or
something similar.

WD-40 is not a lubricant. Motor oil is an excellent all-around lube
for bikes, but you should use grease in the hubs.

Ken' kcmarcet'@'hotpop.com said:

I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this? Or is it better to
use diferent / specialized lubricants on different parts of a bike?
I was thinking of something along the lines of a spray like wd-40 or
something similar.

WD-40 is not a lubricant. Motor oil is an excellent all-around lube
for bikes, but you should use grease in the hubs.

Ken' kcmarcet'@ said:

I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this? Or is it better to use
diferent / specialized lubricants on different parts of a bike? I was
thinking of something along the lines of a spray like wd-40 or
something similar.

Phil Wood oil is perfect for some specialized things, and good enough for
everything else.

Matt O.

RE/

Quoted message said:

drip bottle of Mobil One

Is there something about Mobil One that makes it better than regular engine oil
or wasit just at hand?

I've got both, but hadn't considered Mobil One for the bike.

--
PeteCresswell

On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 09:32:45 -0500, "Ken" <kcmarcet"@"hotpop.com>

Quoted message said:

I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this? Or is it better to use
diferent / specialized lubricants on different parts of a bike? I was
thinking of something along the lines of a spray like wd-40 or something
similar.

In my long experience, WD40 is a poor lubricant for high-load items; I
somesimes use it solely on low-load stuff like rear der pivots, but
even there I find that it's better avoided. (The "WD" in the name
stands for "Water Displacement", which is what it was compounded to
accomplish; while it can serve as a light lubricant in low-load
applications, I've found that it is almost never the best choice for
that.) If WD40 is used on a high-load interface, it can actually
increase the likelihood of wear and/or siezure; Autozone's stores went
through a bunch of loaner gear and bearing pullers as a result of
people using WD40 (or clones of it) as the lube on the screw threads.
Often, it took as little as three turns under load before the screw's
thread was shredded. (Yes, I've seen this happen.)

Use the lube appropriate for the item, but if you have nothing else
available, then with the exception of those bits which require grease,
ordinary $1.50-per-quart motor oil can be safely used as a lubricant
for the rest of the moving parts in *most* cases. There are still
exceptions; when lubricating a plastic item, try to adhere to the
manufacturer's recommendations, as some plastics can be degraded by
certain lubricants...and some cables are designed and intended to be
used without any fluid lubricant.

By the way, this particular topic has been hashed out countless times
in this forum, and has resulted in some heated discussions to little
or no benefit; everyone has their preferences, and some of the advice
that will be offered by some respondents may be directly at odds with
others.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

(Pete Cresswell) said:

RE/

Quoted message said:

drip bottle of Mobil One

Is there something about Mobil One that makes it better than regular engine oil
or wasit just at hand?

I've got both, but hadn't considered Mobil One for the bike.

I've found that it seems less likely to turn into a waxy, gummy goo on
exposed surfaces in damp conditions than regular motor oil. Be that
as it may, I don't spend a lot of time digging for the one squirt can
of Mobil 1 when I just need a drop of oil on something non-critical;
the "just plain motor oil" squirters are generally easier to find.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Pat said:

:
: I answer-WD-40 is more water displacement and solvent than lube. I use
two, a
: drip bottle of Mobil One for pivots, small threads like brake barrel
adjusters,
: etc and Prolink for the chain.
:
: Peter Chisholm

Ah, Mobil One! I never thought of that. I use that in my Accord and when I
change the oil, it always comes out as clean as it went in. At $4+ a quart,
it's certainly not cheap, but when you compare it to bicycle lubricants, it
is. I used 5W-0 in the car.

I too use Mobil-1, in both my cars and on my bikes. I have a Plews
oiler I've owned since I was a kid, and when I change oil in one of my
cars I let the bottles drip their last into the oiler. In years and
years of cycling I've never run it dry lubricating the bikes.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

"Ken" <kcmarcet"@"hotpop.com> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this? Or is it better to use
diferent / specialized lubricants on different parts of a bike? I was
thinking of something along the lines of a spray like wd-40 or something
similar.

Ken

*********************************************

I've come up with different theories over the years as to what is the
best lube to use, also taking price into consideration.

My latest is Synthetic motor oil (I feel that the Synthetic attracts
less road dirt than Petroleum based) to which I have added some
Moly-Dee powder.

It looks like 1 quart of the oil and 1/4 lb. of the powder will
probably last me for 25 years.

Lewis.

PS I am car-free, so I do ride quite a bit.

*****************

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

RE/

Quoted message said:

drip bottle of Mobil One

Is there something about Mobil One that makes it better than regular engine oil
or wasit just at hand?

I've got both, but hadn't considered Mobil One for the bike.

This maybe total BS, others can comment please. I read in a magazine
article that the film strength of the synthetics was a lot higher than
mineral oils. Something like 700 psi for mineral oils, 3500 psi for
Mobil One (and I think Finish Line say about 4500 psi for their green
"cross country" lube). Trouble is I don't know if:

1. this is BS

2. if film strength matters anyway

3. what other factors are more important (like dirt attraction)

I use it for auto use and general lube. (actually Shell Ultra 5W-40 now
as Mobil One got suddenly more expensive here in Oz)

Bruce Graham

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

n my long experience, WD40 is a poor lubricant for high-load items; I
somesimes use it solely on low-load stuff like rear der pivots, but
even there I find that it's better avoided. (The "WD" in the name
stands for "Water Displacement", which is what it was compounded to
accomplish; while it can serve as a light lubricant in low-load
applications, I've found that it is almost never the best choice for
that.) If WD40 is used on a high-load interface, it can actually
increase the likelihood of wear and/or siezure; Autozone's stores went
through a bunch of loaner gear and bearing pullers as a result of
people using WD40 (or clones of it) as the lube on the screw threads.
Often, it took as little as three turns under load before the screw's
thread was shredded. (Yes, I've seen this happen.)

This is true when the WD40 is just out of the can, as in the example
above because of the solvent dilution, but is it true if you let the
solvent evaporate for a few hours before use? (I recall reading that WD40
is just a light lube oil mixed with volatile solvents).

Bruce Graham

Bruce Graham said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

... If WD40 is used on a high-load interface, it can actually
increase the likelihood of wear and/or siezure; Autozone's stores went
through a bunch of loaner gear and bearing pullers as a result of
people using WD40 (or clones of it) as the lube on the screw threads.
Often, it took as little as three turns under load before the screw's
thread was shredded. (Yes, I've seen this happen.)

This is true when the WD40 is just out of the can, as in the example
above because of the solvent dilution, but is it true if you let the
solvent evaporate for a few hours before use? (I recall reading that WD40
is just a light lube oil mixed with volatile solvents).

Yes, it remains true. One of the pullers so destroyed was known to
have been spritzed with the stuff on return from loan the previous
day, and failed upon first attempt to use it at the counter a little
more than 24 hours later. The store manager, who had until then been
a big believer in the power of WD40 to loosen, lube or protect
virtually anything, finally had to come to the realization that his
store's unnaturally high failure rate for those tools was traceable to
his predilection for applying the spray whenever he was the one who
got the item back from loan. Once the problem was recognized, he had
one of the crew pull out all of the pullers from the loaner tools and
relube each of them with grease on the threads instead. After that,
their failure rate dropped to a level lower than most stores.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

"(Pete Cresswell)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

RE/

Quoted message said:

drip bottle of Mobil One

Is there something about Mobil One that makes it better than regular

engine oil

Quoted message said:

or wasit just at hand?

I've got both, but hadn't considered Mobil One for the bike.

--
PeteCresswell

A high school chemistry teacher once told me that Mobil 1 has much smaller
molecules than oil, which causes it to break down less quickly in an engine.

Pete asks-<< Is there something about Mobil One that makes it better than
regular engine oil
or wasit just at hand? >><BR><BR>

I say-It doesn't get thick when it gets cold, perfect for freehub and freewheel
bearing lube. DO NOT use grease!!!

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Frank Knox said:

"(Pete Cresswell)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

RE/

Quoted message said:

drip bottle of Mobil One

Is there something about Mobil One that makes it better than regular

engine oil

Quoted message said:

or wasit just at hand?

I've got both, but hadn't considered Mobil One for the bike.

--
PeteCresswell

A high school chemistry teacher once told me that Mobil 1 has much smaller
molecules than oil, which causes it to break down less quickly in an engine.

This, unfortunately, is one of those situations in which an irrelevant
fact is cited in support of an unrelated observation. Yes,
petroleum-based motor oils typically contain fractions that have a
larger molecular size than the major components of synthetic
lubricants; yes, synthetic lubricants typically do not degrade as fast
as petroleum-based oils in the average engine; these two facts are
largely independent of one another. There's more to it, by far, than
mere molecular size.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Bruce Graham said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

... If WD40 is used on a high-load interface, it can actually
increase the likelihood of wear and/or siezure; Autozone's stores went
through a bunch of loaner gear and bearing pullers as a result of
people using WD40 (or clones of it) as the lube on the screw threads.
Often, it took as little as three turns under load before the screw's
thread was shredded. (Yes, I've seen this happen.)

This is true when the WD40 is just out of the can, as in the example
above because of the solvent dilution, but is it true if you let the
solvent evaporate for a few hours before use? (I recall reading that WD40
is just a light lube oil mixed with volatile solvents).

Yes, it remains true. One of the pullers so destroyed was known to
have been spritzed with the stuff on return from loan the previous
day, and failed upon first attempt to use it at the counter a little
more than 24 hours later. The store manager, who had until then been
a big believer in the power of WD40 to loosen, lube or protect
virtually anything, finally had to come to the realization that his
store's unnaturally high failure rate for those tools was traceable to
his predilection for applying the spray whenever he was the one who
got the item back from loan. Once the problem was recognized, he had
one of the crew pull out all of the pullers from the loaner tools and
relube each of them with grease on the threads instead. After that,
their failure rate dropped to a level lower than most stores.

So we have proved grease (moly?) is definitely better than WD40 for
highly loaded threads. But is engine oil any better than evaporated
WD40? I would imagine that synthetic would be but I don't know. I remain
curious if WD40 really is just engine oil/volatile solvent mix and if so
why does it not lube well?

The reason is I'm curious is that my "on the road" chain clean procedure
after about 1000Km on a tour (or sooner if roads are dusty/wet) is at end
of the day to put the nozzle of a very small WD40 can against the inside
of the chain and spray bursts while rotating the pedals furiously. You
can get rid of any grittiness and "blackness" with a very small amount of
solvent. I then wipe the chain and in the morning (I thought after the
solvent had evaporated) relube with oil, wipe again and ride off happily.

Looks like a typo "feature" ;-) Obviously 5W-30 or 5W-40, but surely not 5W-0.
Or have I been under a rock lately?

Ken
Canada

Pat said:

I used 5W-0 in the car.

Pat in TX

"Ken Pisichko" <: Looks like a typo "feature" ;-) Obviously 5W-30 or 5W-40,
but surely not 5W-0.
: Or have I been under a rock lately?
:
: Ken
: Canada

Yeah, you're right: a typo. It should be 5W-30. As for the rock, problem,
THAT I wouldn't know!

Pat in TX