Chain & WD40

CarleyB

gentleman across the road was chatting to me about my bike. He said not to bother lubing my chain and just to clean it after every ride with wd40..

any thoughts?

asprilla

He's an idiot.

WD40 is a water dispersant, not a lube.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Why-WD4 ... ike-Chain/

http://bicycletutor.com/no-wd40-bike-chain/

CarleyB

Ooooooo

Ben6899

Tell him he's doing it wrong.

softlad

Asprilla wrote:

He's an idiot.

WD40 is a water dispersant, not a lube.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Why-WD4 ... ike-Chain/

http://bicycletutor.com/no-wd40-bike-chain/

here we go again....

WD40 is a lube - one of the main components is a light mineral oil. It is also a water dispersant - what do you think disperses the water..??? correct - it's the oil. Try reading the label.

It's not ideal as a chain lube, but anything is better than nothing. But please get your facts right.

CiB

Regardless of how good or bad WD40 is for chain lube, why not use the right stuff for the job - light cycle oil. It's dirt cheap and does exactly what it says on the tin. All this arguing the toss about WD40 / GT85 / Domestos or whatever is bit pointless. Light Cycle Oil, 99p for a decent sized tin in your local hardware shop. Sorted.

CarleyB

We were discussing chain cleaning so actually what the gentleman was saying was that after every ride he sprays his chain lightly with wd40 and wipes it down. It keeps it relatively clean and lubed.

So which is right and wrong?

As this older gentleman was a roadie. So, before I tell him its wrong I need to get my facts straight otherwise i will look like an ass.

softlad

CarleyB wrote:

We were discussing chain cleaning so actually what the gentleman was saying was that after every ride he sprays his chain lightly with wd40 and wipes it down. It keeps it relatively clean and lubed.

So which is right and wrong?

As this older gentleman was a roadie. So, before I tell him its wrong I need to get my facts straight otherwise i will look like an ass.

The old fella is not wrong and there's nothing wrong with what he is doing. Wipe your chain with a bit of WD or GT sprayed onto a rag, then lube it with whatever oil you prefer..

CarleyB

softlad wrote:

CarleyB wrote:

We were discussing chain cleaning so actually what the gentleman was saying was that after every ride he sprays his chain lightly with wd40 and wipes it down. It keeps it relatively clean and lubed.

So which is right and wrong?

As this older gentleman was a roadie. So, before I tell him its wrong I need to get my facts straight otherwise i will look like an ass.

The old fella is not wrong and there's nothing wrong with what he is doing. Wipe your chain with a bit of WD or GT sprayed onto a rag, then lube it with whatever oil you prefer..

Thank you

CiB

<pedant mode>
That advice conflicts with the original premise though in the opening post, that there's no need to lube the chain, just wipe it with WD40 instead. That's not good advice, whereas wiping it with WD40 / GT85 then lubing it with a proper lube is good advice.
</pedant mode>

Bunneh

I oil my chain with the sweat off my brow.

RAWR!

Oh and I use cycle lube from the pound shop in town.

asprilla

CiB wrote:

<pedant mode>
That advice conflicts with the original premise though in the opening post, that there's no need to lube the chain, just wipe it with WD40 instead. That's not good advice, whereas wiping it with WD40 / GT85 then lubing it with a proper lube is good advice.
</pedant mode>

Exactly. It's very poor advice to state that spraying with WD40 is sufficient and a proper lube isn't required. Fine to say clean and then lube, but that's not the advice that was given.

Also, I appologise for being misleading in the beginning. WD40 is a lube, just not a very good one.

softlad

CiB wrote:

<pedant mode>
That advice conflicts with the original premise though in the opening post, that there's no need to lube the chain, just wipe it with WD40 instead. That's not good advice, whereas wiping it with WD40 / GT85 then lubing it with a proper lube is good advice.
</pedant mode>

true - but if he is wiping it and lubing it with WD after every ride, then the chain is still going to end up fairly well looked after...

redddraggon

I pretty much just wipe my chain with wd40 these days, and only oil it when it feels like it needs it.

rake

softlad wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

He's an idiot.

WD40 is a water dispersant, not a lube.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Why-WD4 ... ike-Chain/

http://bicycletutor.com/no-wd40-bike-chain/

here we go again....

WD40 is a lube - one of the main components is a light mineral oil. It is also a water dispersant - what do you think disperses the water..??? correct - it's the oil. Try reading the label.

It's not ideal as a chain lube, but anything is better than nothing. But please get your facts right.

your facts are wrong. what disperses the water is the 70% solvent content. light oil only makes up about 15% and is too light. just wipe the chain and oil it and wipe the excess off. or use a chainwasher if its bad.

Anonymous

softlad wrote:

CarleyB wrote:

We were discussing chain cleaning so actually what the gentleman was saying was that after every ride he sprays his chain lightly with wd40 and wipes it down. It keeps it relatively clean and lubed.

So which is right and wrong?

As this older gentleman was a roadie. So, before I tell him its wrong I need to get my facts straight otherwise i will look like an ass.

The old fella is not wrong and there's nothing wrong with what he is doing. Wipe your chain with a bit of WD or GT sprayed onto a rag, then lube it with whatever oil you prefer..

That's exactly what I do...

softlad

rake wrote:

your facts are wrong. what disperses the water is the 70% solvent content. light oil only makes up about 15% and is too light. just wipe the chain and oil it and wipe the excess off. or use a chainwasher if its bad.

what do you think the solvent is made from, sherlock...??

I'll give you a clue - it's mineral based and begins with 'o'.....

Doombrain

use this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... odelID=317

don't let WD40 drag you down man.

rake

softlad wrote:

rake wrote:

your facts are wrong. what disperses the water is the 70% solvent content. light oil only makes up about 15% and is too light. just wipe the chain and oil it and wipe the excess off. or use a chainwasher if its bad.

what do you think the solvent is made from, sherlock...??

I'll give you a clue - it's mineral based and begins with 'o'.....

well holmes, petrol is fractionated from crude mineral oil, but its no good for lubricating. it evaporates away so wont stay on the chain anyway.
http://yarchive.net/chem/wd40.html

Doombrain

that link has no pictures.

rake

professors dont need pictures.

CarleyB

worms and can spring to mind

rake

CarleyB wrote:

worms and can spring to mind

the cans empty, theyve had time to wriggle away.

MarjMJ

CarleyB
I am so glad you asked this question, as it was just the one I was going to ask [but was afraid]. :oops:

Doombrain

halfrauds do their own version of a dry teflon lube for £5. going to give that ago when my redline runs out.

antfly

They did some tests on Roadcycling UK and decided that Teflon Plus Dry Lube was the best for the chain whatever the weather. I just thought i`d add my 2p.

robbiedont

I clean my chain daily with unicorn tears and then relube with dodo oil.

beat that.

Doombrain

I new a new chain, out of the packet, every rotation of the crank. the chain is sent to me and fitted by a team of page 3 girls.

woodywmb

WD40is fine for maintaining chains on road bikes which are used in reasonably good weather. Mountain bike chains and road bike chains which are put through their paces in long downpours will need something more substantial like a Teflon coated lube. To go back to the original question, a wipe down with WD40 should keep the drivetrain running smoothly. It will also knock off all the road debris that tends to cling to chains, especially those smothered in heavier duty oil. This forum is full of oil experts but you'll find the old man's advice was pefectly valid. Try it over the summer and come back with the results.

PeeDee

We ran out of teflon dry lube a while ago, so I started using light oil instead (3 in 1).

I run a single speed with a chain tension adjuster screw. Having hardly ever had to adjust the tension with the dry lube, I went to adjusting the tension every couple of weeks using the oil. The chain was stretching (i.e. wearing) at an alarming rate.

A quick examination of the chain explains why: the wet oil picks up grit from the road and the chain was running in an oily grinding paste. You could hear the grit as the chain turned. The oily chain looked like it was better lubed, but in fact the dry chain that looked to be poorly lubed was actuallty lasting longer.

My chain rules:

1) Keep it clean
2) Keep it dry
3) Use a Teflon Lube

Of course, the problem with this advice is that Teflon dry lube costs a fortune, and its far cheaper to use a 99p oil can and buy a new chain every now and again.

SO: if you love your bike like a baby clean after every ride and use Teflon Dry Lube. OR: if you couldn't really give a f**k save yourself a load of money money and use plain oil and buy another chain every year or two.

As a halfay measure, I reckon the rag and WD40 technique might actually work out the most cost effective.