Which chain lube?!

dodgy
dodgy Posts: 2,890
edited November 2008 in Commuting chat
Finish Line Pro Road http://www.google.co.uk/products?source ... a=N&tab=wf

Has the consistency of melted butter when you're applying it, but it's the best I've tested so far in terms of quieting the drive train. I clean my chain after every ride, too, and no problems in doing so.

Dave.
«1

Comments

  • prj45
    prj45 Posts: 2,208
    I use butter on mine, much easier to lick off than that oily stuff.
    Photos - Blog - Bike
  • davesmith3000
    davesmith3000 Posts: 6
    Pedros kicks arse
  • thrope
    thrope Posts: 69
    I use ProGold ProLink and while I must admit I haven't tried a lot I can't imagine anything better...

    Lasts for ages, good in the rain, relatively washable if it gets on clothes, makes the drivetrain very smooth, easy to apply (drop of liquid on each roller), keeps the chain clean etc.

    http://www.mtbr.com/cat/accessories/Lub ... 31crx.aspx

    http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 144c003255
  • symo
    symo Posts: 1,743
    Graphite grease. Clean the chain once a week then I put that on.
    +++++++++++++++++++++
    we are the proud, the few, Descendents.

    Panama - finally putting a nail in the economic theory of the trickle down effect.
  • prj45
    prj45 Posts: 2,208
    symo wrote:
    Graphite grease. Clean the chain once a week then I put that on.

    Oops, I just looked at cleaning mine and realised I've done 1,000 miles on it since I last "cleaned it" (which involved replacing it).

    Anyway, it was a cheapo job and it's worn to 1/8 inch over the foot mark, so I've just bought a new one (and a new cassette and chain ring).

    It's sort of like buying new pants instead of washing them.
    Photos - Blog - Bike
  • coffeecup
    coffeecup Posts: 128
    I use purple extreme. I think I actually notice a difference between it and other lubes but maybe my mind is just playing tricks

    In really rainy weeks I need to re-apply every few days. I try to clean my chain every 2 weeks but it's probably every 3 :oops:

    http://www.bikegoo.co.uk/product.php/11/0

    purpleextreme.jpg
    Time you've enjoyed wasting, hasn't been wasted

    Bianchi L'Una, Bianchi 928 C2C 105, Dahon MU SL
  • mrx
    mrx Posts: 5
    All those fancy lubes are just burning a hole in your wallets...

    Get yourself some synthetic car oil and some white spirit and a litre bottle... half fill the litre bottle with synthetic car oil and half white spirit... job done...

    To get rid of the crap on your chain just run a rag round it sprayed with some wd40... it works and it works and then relube with your home made mixture and wipe off any excess... job done and money saved !

    Purple this, Green that, Pink the other, i don't know !

    Paul
  • gtvlusso
    gtvlusso Posts: 5,112
    As with all good re-cyclers, I use old engine oil from my motorbike or the car...fully synthetic and high quality oil - especially motorbike oil. Keep a can in the shed and just dunk the chain in once a month.....
  • girv73
    girv73 Posts: 842
    @mrx how do you apply that home made lube ?

    Is it bad to use WD40 as a lube?
    Today is a good day to ride
  • pst88
    pst88 Posts: 621
    Finish Line Dry, can't say how it compares to other lubes but seems to get the job done.
    Bianchi Via Nirone Veloce/Centaur 2010
  • jstutters
    jstutters Posts: 23
    Finish Line Wet has kept everything quiet for me so far. Seems to stand up to a fortnight of wet autumn weather reasonably well.
    Jonny
  • Gilbie
    Gilbie Posts: 99
    girv73 wrote:
    Is it bad to use WD40 as a lube?

    Is WD40 not a degreasser? Many moons ago in a bike shop they swore at me for suggesting that.

    Have been using a few different types of Pedros recently.
    On road
    Or off road?
  • simple_salmon
    simple_salmon Posts: 457
    I use White Lightning. Some dripped on my driveway when I first applied it about 6 months ago and it's still there so it must be reasonably waterproof IMO.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Prolink Progold - simply the best (and I have tried the rest), does everything Thrope says, has the best properties of both dry and wet lubes, reasonably priced too.
  • girv73
    girv73 Posts: 842
    Gilbie wrote:
    Is WD40 not a degreasser? Many moons ago in a bike shop they swore at me for suggesting that.

    It's got mineral oil in it and drives away moisture to protect from corrosion. I'd heard before that it was bad to use as a chain (or other) lube but I've yet to hear why.
    Today is a good day to ride
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    girv73 wrote:
    Gilbie wrote:
    Is WD40 not a degreasser? Many moons ago in a bike shop they swore at me for suggesting that.

    It's got mineral oil in it and drives away moisture to protect from corrosion. I'd heard before that it was bad to use as a chain (or other) lube but I've yet to hear why.
    I think the solvent in it will rinse out the lube deep in the links and it washes out fast, leaves a squeaky chain pretty fast in bad weather.
  • Redmog
    Redmog Posts: 50
    I thought WD40 was a Water Dispersant - the 40th recipe they tried and was originally based on a fish oil of some type - I really must get out more :oops:
    My Pinarello Gallileo and Boardman CX.
  • girv73
    girv73 Posts: 842
    Time to look for some new lube then. I should probably start a thread to ask which one I should go for, you think?
    Today is a good day to ride
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    I'm a big fan of the fenwicks all conditions, stole some from my LBS as i'd just washed my bike and it works really really well. Properly thick but not too sticky.
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    Lubricant manufacturers prey on unsuspecting cycling technie people by plying them with greatly over hyped technobabble.

    - the links in a chain are just rods with a bit of metal around them. Where is "deep in the chain" that is not readily accessible by putting oil on the links?
    - cleaning a chain will be more effective at washing out precious lube from "deep in the chain" than WD40.
    - there are oily lubes and dry lubes. The oily lubes differ in viscocity, but they are all just oil. You can spend £15 on just oil with technobabble additives, or £5 for oily lube with non-trademarked out of patent technobabble. The basic technology is a generation old and is essentially the same as in your Castrol GTX, bar the rheology. £15 and £5 lubes will both make your chain oily, it will quickly get dirty and then you will have to clean it. Its up to you if you spend £15 or £5.
    - dry lubes are a solvent and a wax. The solvent evaporates off and leaves the wax. Even when it says "teflon" it is not coating your chain with the same stuff that your pans are coated in - the teflon molecules have to be far smaller in order for them to be soluble. The idea is that they coat the chain with wax, which subsequently picks up less dirt and grit, which is ideal for dry, gritty places. The flip side is that the wax is a soft solid placed between two metal surfaces and soon wears off. I've found them to be less effective when its wet, because the water/oil emulsion that we pick up from the roads is pretty good at sticking to the chain, waxy coating or not, thereby negating the advantage. Okay in the summer maybe.

    You pays your money and takes you choice.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Always Tyred wrote:
    Where is "deep in the chain" that is not readily accessible by putting oil on the links?
    The bushes
    You pays your money and takes you choice.
    Yep, paid mine, made my choice, have silent, long lasting, clean chains, without having to clean and relube after every ride. The rest of you can "save" your money :lol:
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    alfablue wrote:
    Always Tyred wrote:
    Where is "deep in the chain" that is not readily accessible by putting oil on the links?
    The bushes
    You pays your money and takes you choice.
    Yep, paid mine, made my choice, have silent, long lasting, clean chains, without having to clean and relube after every ride. The rest of you can "save" your money :lol:

    Yes, but you can SEE the bushes - they are those pin things with rings of metal around the outside in between those plate things. You can also see the big cracks down the side where the oil is going to go.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Okay, obviously I am a completely dumb jackass duped by the manufacturers, but in my worthless experience there is a world of difference between some of the best and worst lubes I have used, in terms of "dirtiness" (ability to gather and hold dirt on the chain), quality of lubrication (is my chain quiet?), resistance to washing off, ease of application etc. But as I say, that is just through my experience, which will no doubt prove worthless.
  • jeffhope
    jeffhope Posts: 8
    In terms of shear effectiveness - I'd vote +1 for Pro-link Gold.

    I used it for a several years and got excellent life from my chains - I think because it doesn't attract gunk, but unlike the wax-types which are also good in that direction, it doesn't wash off easily in wet weather.

    But when I finished my last bottle, I switched to Pedros' biodegradable chain lubricant, as I decided there's already more than enough mineral oils, lubricants and polymer debris being flushed down the stormwater drains :(. It's not always easy being green :? . So far, it seems to be doing an acceptable job, but I haven't really got a long history with it.
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    alfablue wrote:
    Okay, obviously I am a completely dumb jackass duped by the manufacturers, but in my worthless experience there is a world of difference between some of the best and worst lubes I have used, in terms of "dirtiness" (ability to gather and hold dirt on the chain), quality of lubrication (is my chain quiet?), resistance to washing off, ease of application etc. But as I say, that is just through my experience, which will no doubt prove worthless.
    Okay, so oils do break down a little more than "oil" and "not oil" but as far as I can tell, just like own brands cereal and Kellogg's, you are essentially buying the same ingredients.
    If you put olive oil on your chain, sure, its going to work a lot less well. I just think that when comparing cheap and Dupont lubes on the shelf at the bike shop, the differences are really down to the viscocities and not some magic ingredient that Dupont have put in theirs.

    I once got stuck in the middle of nowhere with the most annoyingly squeaky chain ever to have squeaked (I think I'd done something stupid like go out having cleaned the bike without regreasing the chain). I eneded up getting something from a petrol station in deepest Yoomnaatframroundere Shire, dubiously labelled "penetrating oil" in a square tin which I had to borrow a pair of scissors to open and which has probably been on the shelf since the war. It cost me £1 or something.

    It was a bit runny, but functioned perfectly well on my non-commuting only in dry weather bike for as long as anything else I've used.
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    edited November 2008
    [Swiss Tony]

    You know, maintaining a bicycle chain in good order is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman.

    You’ve got to keep an eye on her. Choose your moment. Wait until she’s filthy dirty. Wash her down, remembering to get your brush out and really work it into all the crevices you can find.

    Wipe her off, and stand by with the finest lube money can buy. Get the nozzle up close, then spray a generous portion deep into the bushes. Then spin her backwards, round and round and round and round until you’re sure she’s stopped dripping.

    As ever, when you’re done, wipe her down, and put her somewhere out of sight of passers by.

    [/Swiss Tony]
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • girv73
    girv73 Posts: 842
    :lol: good to see you've kept your SOH through the pain G66
    Today is a good day to ride
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    *** OFF TOPIC ALERT ***
    *** OFF TOPIC ALERT ***
    *** OFF TOPIC ALERT ***
    *** OFF TOPIC ALERT ***
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Some great off topic work going on in this thread... :lol::lol::lol:

    Best chain lube = the cheapest.

    See? I helped!
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Some great off topic work going on in this thread... :lol::lol::lol:

    Best chain lube = the cheapest.

    See? I helped!
    So much more concise than me. :cry:

Categories