mountain Bike Lube

Tri Flow...Use a hack saw or something thin to clean out chainring and or cassette. Hose works

losse said:

What do you guys use?!?!

Frequency of washing and lubing is more important than what you use for washing and lubing.

I hose it down after every muddy run, allow it to dry, then lube with with ordinary engine oil. Every 5th run or so I bring out a brush, a cloth and some mild detergent to get rid of lube build up on other surfaces than the moving parts. It's low cost, fast work and I'm still getting good component life.

losse said:

... I heard that WD-40 is a bad choice because it still attracts dirt...

WD-40 as well as CRC 5-56 is oil diluted with something more volatile. As the volatile part evaporates the rest settles down into a sticky gunk. It's better than nothing, can be OK if frequently renewed but not as good as a real lube.

Not only does WD40 attract dirt, but it's hydroscopic. It actually absorbs/attracts moisture, and will do little to prevent rust. It's about the last lubricant I would use on my bike. Something silicon, wax or Teflon based would be much better for your ride.

Tom

Simple Green, a bristle brush, garden hose and if you have it an air compressor will clean up a driveline really well.

WD-40 is a bad choice because it's too light of a lubricant for a bike chain. I use Tri-Flow and GT-85. This week I'm going to try used Mobile One motor oil out of my car and see how that works. If it works it'll be nice. I'm tired of buying a couple of cans of Tri-Flow a month and I have gallons of used motor oil.

losse said:

Hi gang
I have a question about lubing my bike.. I took it through serious mud recently and I was told that instead of trying to clean it right out of the mud, that you can take a hose to it and get rid of as much as you can...

I want to know what's a good lube I can use after to touch up all the parts, components etc... I head that WD-40 is a bad choice because it still attracts dirt...

What do you guys use?!?!

Thanks😕

I'm with you on the wash every ride. My driveline is full of sweat (salt) and silica (sand) when I'm done riding. Probably the worst combination for moving parts.

How is the motor oil working out? I'm going to try some of the used oil I drained out of my car. Tri-Flo at $14 a can is getting really old.

dabac said:

Frequency of washing and lubing is more important than what you use for washing and lubing.

I hose it down after every muddy run, allow it to dry, then lube with with ordinary engine oil. Every 5th run or so I bring out a brush, a cloth and some mild detergent to get rid of lube build up on other surfaces than the moving parts. It's low cost, fast work and I'm still getting good component life.

IronDonut said:

I'm with you on the wash every ride. My driveline is full of sweat (salt) and silica (sand) when I'm done riding. Probably the worst combination for moving parts.

How is the motor oil working out? I'm going to try some of the used oil I drained out of my car. Tri-Flo at $14 a can is getting really old.

I'd like to offer a low cost alternative to engine oil. LSA medium weight weapons oil was developed by the military for use in the M16 rifle. It is inexpensive, and loaded with Teflon (you have to shake it before you use it). It's all that I ever use on my drive train for lube. It can be found at you local military surplus (as in Army and Navy) stores, and at gun shows.

IronDonut said:

How is the motor oil working out?

Engine oil seems to work out just fine as far as lubing goes. It's not as clingy as a dedicated chain lube, so chainstay and derailleurs tends to pick up some surface dirt. It comes off easily with a rag though, or one can reduce the problem by wiping off the excess after lubing. I tend to let it build up between washes, there's no bling value in my stuff anyhow.

IronDonut said:

I'm going to try some of the used oil I drained out of my car. Tri-Flo at $14 a can is getting really old.

I wouldn't do that. The key issue is that that it's used oil. Ever thought about why the oil coming out of the engine is much darker than the oil going in? Engine oil serves several different purposes, it lubes, cools and washes. All that murkiness is from suspended combustion particles and from other changes in the oil's properties, they can be rather unhealthy.
Buy an new can of, say 10-W30, or another low grade oil, won't cost you much. Then send the used oil away for destruction. Engine oil is such an overkill for a bike application anyhow, so there's no need for high-grade ones.

dabac said:

Engine oil seems to work out just fine as far as lubing goes. It's not as clingy as a dedicated chain lube, so chainstay and derailleurs tends to pick up some surface dirt. It comes off easily with a rag though, or one can reduce the problem by wiping off the excess after lubing. I tend to let it build up between washes, there's no bling value in my stuff anyhow.

I wouldn't do that. The key issue is that that it's used oil. Ever thought about why the oil coming out of the engine is much darker than the oil going in? Engine oil serves several different purposes, it lubes, cools and washes. All that murkiness is from suspended combustion particles and from other changes in the oil's properties, they can be rather unhealthy.
Buy an new can of, say 10-W30, or another low grade oil, won't cost you much. Then send the used oil away for destruction. Engine oil is such an overkill for a bike application anyhow, so there's no need for high-grade ones.

ahbh how aobut an actual bike chain lube, if you use the right stuff for your conditions its not sticky, not too heavy, dont wash off with water.

in most cases i see when people use engine oil, wd40, crc etc they put it on and leave it there, its too sticky, it picks up dust and sand, makes a grinding paste and makes things morse than if you did nothing - yeah thats GREAT lets all do that, good idea guys.. real mint

I do use an actual chain lube. Problem is I'm going though a couple of cans of the [censored] a month. At $14 a can it's starting to get on my nerves.

I betcha used motor oil works just as well and it's free and my car makes about 2 quarts a month of it.

moparchris said:

ahbh how aobut an actual bike chain lube, if you use the right stuff for your conditions its not sticky, not too heavy, dont wash off with water.

in most cases i see when people use engine oil, wd40, crc etc they put it on and leave it there, its too sticky, it picks up dust and sand, makes a grinding paste and makes things morse than if you did nothing - yeah thats GREAT lets all do that, good idea guys.. real mint

moparchris said:

in most cases i see when people use engine oil, wd40, crc etc they put it on and leave it there,

So why direct this reply at me? Read back and you'll see that I ALSO recommend regular clean-ups and re-lubes.
Whatever products you're using, lubing is never an once-and-for-all solution, it needs to be "constantly" maintained. I've tried various types of dedicated chain and bike lubes, IMO the only area where they excelled was the price. Being so full of promises they tricked me into extending the periods between re-lubes which didn't do the bike any good at all.
You go ahead and use the pricey high-tech products - I'll rather stick with the easily accessible cheap stuff regularly and frequently applied.

Compared to the sand and mud that gets caked into my drivetrain I don't think the microscopic dirt nuggets in engine oil are nothing.

Here is something that bugs me. Well it's good and bad. I've just about worn my big ring down to a nub in only 3 months of riding. Good because I'm riding well enough that I mostly use the big ring. Bad because a single XTR big ring is more than $100. Absurd.

dabac said:

I wouldn't do that. The key issue is that that it's used oil. Ever thought about why the oil coming out of the engine is much darker than the oil going in? Engine oil serves several different purposes, it lubes, cools and washes. All that murkiness is from suspended combustion particles and from other changes in the oil's properties, they can be rather unhealthy.
Buy an new can of, say 10-W30, or another low grade oil, won't cost you much. Then send the used oil away for destruction. Engine oil is such an overkill for a bike application anyhow, so there's no need for high-grade ones.

IronDonut said:

Compared to the sand and mud that gets caked into my drivetrain I don't think the microscopic dirt nuggets in engine oil are nothing.

You're missing the point, the stuff is TOXIC! No matter if it still retains most of its lubing qualities, it's a health and environmental hazard. Not a nice thing to have spattering your legs and spraying the area you're riding through.

dabac said:

So why direct this reply at me? Read back and you'll see that I ALSO recommend regular clean-ups and re-lubes.
Whatever products you're using, lubing is never an once-and-for-all solution, it needs to be "constantly" maintained. I've tried various types of dedicated chain and bike lubes, IMO the only area where they excelled was the price. Being so full of promises they tricked me into extending the periods between re-lubes which didn't do the bike any good at all.
You go ahead and use the pricey high-tech products - I'll rather stick with the easily accessible cheap stuff regularly and frequently applied.

sorry, just clicked the quick reply and quote message was ticked and forgot to un-tick it.

yeah used engine oil, why dont you just keep it in your engine since its still good lol

and "...because I'm riding well enough that I mostly use the big ring..." if your always using your big ring (in general.. depending what gearing you have) your probably pedaling too slow (Mmm.. i'd like knee replacements please) you should most likely use a higher cadence or your using a bad selection of gears (chainline should be straight).

oh yes and its so shocking that you have to pay for quality, why dont they just make the good stuff cheap as, engineers dont need to be payed, shops dont need markup, theyre a charity.. sure

moparchris said:

yeah used engine oil, why dont you just keep it in your engine since its still good lol

That's Irondonut's habit, not mine.

Quoted post said:

and "...because I'm riding well enough that I mostly use the big ring..."

Not my text either.

Quoted post said:

oh yes and its so shocking that you have to pay for quality...

Once again, not my text.

Do try to aim the replies to whom it concerns please.

Hi people,

I´m using an industrial chain lube based on molybdenum disulfide, it is a dry film that works excellent (for me). You can find this product in brands like Loctite or Molykote.

Regards.

Marcelo

Tmax said:

Not only does WD40 attract dirt, but it's hydroscopic. It actually absorbs/attracts moisture, and will do little to prevent rust. It's about the last lubricant I would use on my bike. Something silicon, wax or Teflon based would be much better for your ride.

Tom

I wash my chain with the park chain tool and isopropyl alcohol. If it's VERY muddy, I use the hose first.

The key is that you have to get the water out of the chain, otherwise it rusts.

The alcohol displaces the water out of the chain and it dries rapidly. Then I hit it with Extreme Purple in prep for the next outing.

This season has been nothing but dust. But it's important to get that out too.

On the first point... you change engine oil because as the engine runs the oil picks up carbon from combustion. If you don't change it the carbon will start to gunk up the insides of your engine and if left long enough will bring it to a halt. The oil never loses it's ability to lubricate. So in an application where tiny carbon nuggets don't matter because sand particles that are 100,000 times larger are scraping them off (with hunks of metal) faster than they can depost ... it's not a bad application.

I'm in the big ring for two reasons, I'm pretty fast and I live in an area that is basically flat. I don't know if this is just my imagination but for some reason the bike just feels like it rolls better in the big ring. And I generally spin at 90-105 rpm.

Lastly, the XTR chainrings are high quality aluminum alloy and it's forged in a machine that stamps about 10 of them out every second. Probably cost after every cost is factored in about $3.00 to make. Let me put this into perspective for you; whats an XTR big ring weigh? 2 ounces? At the going rate for silver the XTR chainring would require about $40.00 in silver. Thats about a nickles worth of aluminum. If you think there is any quality difference different between an XTR big ring and an XT big ring aside from an 'R' and a bolt pattern that makes the two incompatible you're the biggest sucker I've talked with today.

moparchris said:

sorry, just clicked the quick reply and quote message was ticked and forgot to un-tick it.

yeah used engine oil, why dont you just keep it in your engine since its still good lol

and "...because I'm riding well enough that I mostly use the big ring..." if your always using your big ring (in general.. depending what gearing you have) your probably pedaling too slow (Mmm.. i'd like knee replacements please) you should most likely use a higher cadence or your using a bad selection of gears (chainline should be straight).

oh yes and its so shocking that you have to pay for quality, why dont they just make the good stuff cheap as, engineers dont need to be payed, shops dont need markup, theyre a charity.. sure

That is a great tip. I appriciate that. I think I'll grab some of that and try it out.

p38lightning said:

I'd like to offer a low cost alternative to engine oil. LSA medium weight weapons oil was developed by the military for use in the M16 rifle. It is inexpensive, and loaded with Teflon (you have to shake it before you use it). It's all that I ever use on my drive train for lube. It can be found at you local military surplus (as in Army and Navy) stores, and at gun shows.