Choice of lubricant

badhorsy

Hey all,

recently took my bike into the LBS for a bottom bracket repair. In addition to getting things fixed, I was scolded for not keeping my bike particularly clean. I usually do try to keep things looking shiny and new, but this winter has been a bit hard and I haven't found much time.

My chain was pretty much black with dirt, and his immediate comment was that I've over lubricated the chain (because so much dirt has been attracted to it).
So, today I spent a good hour cleaning the bike and degreasing the chain. I then applied (carefully) some Finish Line Dry lubricant along the chain, changed the gears a few times to make sure things spread, and then ran the chain through an old sock a few times to get rid of the excess (which I didn't last time...)

Just back from a 10 mile cycle though (on the roads of London, not anywhere particularly muddy) and the chain is already starting to show signs of going black (you can see a bunch of black gritty gunk coating the top of the chain). Have I done something wrong? Didn't clean off as much excess as I thought I had? Or is Finish Line Dry just not a great lubrticant... should I be using something like White Lightning (wax based) to keep the chain silver and shiny?

Thanks

bompington

To stop your chain getting dirty in winter:

1. Apply the lubricant of your choice to chain 2. Polish off excess with a clean cloth 3. Hang your bike up in the garage and leave it there till May

badhorsy

LOL.

And if you desperately want to cycle through the winter?

bompington

Seriously, I don't know if there is an effective lubricant that will actually keep your chain clean for long in winter (certainly round here where the roads tend to be wet, muddy, salty, icy more or less continuously from October to April).
If it bothers you, I guess you just need to clean it every time you go out.

woodywmb

Remove the chain, by loosening the Powerlinks, when you come back from a ride. Fold the chain into a jam jar half-filled with degreaser or petrol. Give the jar a gentle shake and pull out the chain. Run the chain through a rag then put it into a second jar of light oil. Leave until you next go out on the bike then attach the chain just before setting out. Bit of flaff at both ends but all it takes is five minutes. The jars of fluid can be used all year round with little refilling or draining. Your chain will always be clean and working efficiently. You will never need to put heavier oil on it, especially if you're using a road bike, no matter what advice you read on this site or in the mags. WD40 or Weldtite Teflon lube or GT45 are fine. The soaking keeps the chain in great nick.

marin_maniac

I use Finish line cross county all year round and my chain doesn't get that dirty. Just run chain through rag till clean, apply lube and when chain starts to get a bit dirty, just wipe it.

johnoakleyallen

Personally there's no getting away from the fact that you will have to clean the bike every ride during the winter. Lubricant questions on this forum seem to stir up some ongoing arguments.
From my perspective Finish dry line is a perfectly good lubricant for summer rides however, it can wash off easily in the rain, so its best to use a wet lubricant (finish make one of these also) throughout the winter and clean it each time. If its a short ride I'd tend to simply wipe the chain off (gt85 is good at quickly removing dirt, grime, water, and oil) then reapply a wet chain lube. If its a longer ride then I'll fully degrease the chain and re lube!

rick_chasey

KY

Headhuunter

I use Decathlon degreaser and lube. Spay the degreaser on the chain every now and then and all the dirty lube washes off with the grit and crap collected from the road. Wipe it off and then re lube. You can also use WD40 to clean the chain although in winter it's best not to rely on it as the main lube as it washes off quite quickly

JAGGY

Just use a baby wipe after the ride and it will come up clean and then re-lube.

2min job.

Cheers

vorsprung

I clean the best bike after pretty much every ride this time of year

The commuting bike gets cleaned once a week or maybe once a fortnight if I'm busy

Immediately after cleaning the drive train the chain is shiney

My method is
1) quick rinse with a hosepipe
2) scrub chain / chain rings /sprockets with citrus degreaser
3) shoot hose pipe in "jet" mode through chain while rotating pedals
4) spray chain with wd40
5) repeat step 3)
6) repeat step 4)
7) finish washing bike and then leave to dry
8) apply chain lubricant, wipe off excess. reapply the following day.

I agree about Finish Line Dry...it unfortunately washes off in the wet. I use either prolink gold, finish line long distance or 3 in 1 oil depending on which bike

KnightOfTheLongTights

so essentially, if you're cleaning your chain regularly you don't really need wet lube at all even in the winter cos you're regularly re-applying the dry lube?

(unless you're out for five-hour rides in the rain?)

MattC59

Use a wet lube, such as Finish Line Cross Country. Clean your chain well, apply to each link, wipe off excess and you're ready to go.

I do this and after each ride, I wipe the chain down with a baby wipe and reapply a small amount of Cross Country.

At risk of opening the WD40 can of worms, and I apologise if I do, DON'T use WD40. It has limited lubricating properties and doesn't have the shear loading capacity to support your chain.

When I say limited, of course it has some lubricating properties, as it's a penetrating lubricant, but this doesn't mean that it's lubricating properties are suitable for a bike chain.

Having said don't use it, you can do what you like, it really doesn't bother me Why don't you try it and you can then add to the endless WD40 debate

vorsprung

MattC59 wrote:

Use a wet lube, such as Finish Line Cross Country. Clean your chain well, apply to each link, wipe off excess and you're ready to go.

I do this and after each ride, I wipe the chain down with a baby wipe and reapply a small amount of Cross Country.

At risk of opening the WD40 can of worms, and I apologise if I do, DON'T use WD40. It has limited lubricating properties and doesn't have the shear loading capacity to support your chain.

I quite agree WD40 is not a lubricant. It is great for removing water used during the cleaning process and for making things shiney however

KnightOfTheLongTights

MattC59 wrote:

Use a wet lube, such as Finish Line Cross Country. Clean your chain well, apply to each link, wipe off excess and you're ready to go.

I do this and after each ride, I wipe the chain down with a baby wipe and reapply a small amount of Cross Country.

can I just ask, why wet lube, when it picks up more gunk than dry?

keef66

Just cos it stays on there longer. If I try using the dry lube or wax based stuff in the winter, the chain picks up less muck but it also tends to go rusty.

KnightOfTheLongTights

keef66 wrote:

Just cos it stays on there longer. If I try using the dry lube or wax based stuff in the winter, the chain picks up less muck but it also tends to go rusty.

ok, but if it's generally dry weather, or you don't go out in the rain then the dry stuff should be OK?

vorsprung

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

so essentially, if you're cleaning your chain regularly you don't really need wet lube at all even in the winter cos you're regularly re-applying the dry lube?

(unless you're out for five-hour rides in the rain?)

I'd say finish line dry lube is good for an hour or two on wet roads. After that it is washed off. This is fine as long as the chain stays wet. In this case it is water lubricated. If it dries out however you are in trouble.

In bone dry condtions this dry lube is great. But that doesn't happen much in the UK where I do 99.9% of my road bike miles

If it is very wet and you are really riding a long way then either carry extra chain oil or drench your chain in finish line long distance or similar before hand. Don't just put a spot on each link and dry it off. Finish Line used to make an aerosol of Long Distance lube that could be used for this overkill

simon_e

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

can I just ask, why wet lube, when it picks up more gunk than dry?

Because it stays on a lot longer, which is more important than looking dirty. As already stated, dry lubes don't hang around once the chain gets wet or muddy.

Degreasing a chain too often, especially prolonged contact e.g. in a jar, will dramatically shorten its lifespan.

MattC59

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

MattC59 wrote:

Use a wet lube, such as Finish Line Cross Country. Clean your chain well, apply to each link, wipe off excess and you're ready to go.

I do this and after each ride, I wipe the chain down with a baby wipe and reapply a small amount of Cross Country.

can I just ask, why wet lube, when it picks up more gunk than dry?

You're right, it does pick up more gunk, if, you apply too much. A properly applied wet lube, used along side a dry lube in the summer won't pick up a great deal more gunk than the dry lube.

A dry lube such as Finishline Krytech is will essentially dry out into a waxy finish. This waxy layer will pick up dirt, but not as readily as a wet lube, and is designed to flake away over time, thus shedding the dirt. You'll often find that dry lubes need applying more often than wet lubes. Dry lubes, designed primarily for dry conditions, don't have a great deal of water proofing, ie they'll soon wash off in the wet.

A wet lube, such as Finish Line Cross Country, is designed to stay in place on the chain in the rain, as well as to lubricate. They're thicker and stickier than dry lubes and this is what helps them to resist washing off. But it's this stickyness that will attract excessive gunk if you apply too much.

jairaj

I find little and often cleaning and lubing helps keep it clean. Don't be too generous with the lube and give the chain a quick clean after a ride. This will stop it getting too gritty. Also using a dry lube rather than wet lube helps, although it gets easily washed away so make sure to re-apply often.

But even if it does get crazy dirty. Stick the chain in a jam jar with white spirt / meths / pertrol etc.. and shake. the muck usually just falls off. I'd never go back to the days of scrubbing away with a brush while the chain was still on the bike.

KnightOfTheLongTights

thanks all

lot to take on board with this cycling lark, eh?

wiffachip

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

thanks all

lot to take on board with this cycling lark, eh?

not really, use a light cycle oil, 99p, thats it

if you prefer cleaning your bike rather than riding it, follow the above advice, your chain wiil look lovely, if that matters

emperors new clothes

MattC59

wiffachip wrote:

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

thanks all

lot to take on board with this cycling lark, eh?

not really, use a light cycle oil, 99p, thats it

if you prefer cleaning your bike rather than riding it, follow the above advice, your chain wiil look lovely, if that matters

emperors new clothes

Or, if you prefer black chain marks on your leg, slow shifting and having to replace your chain more often thn necessary, follow the advice in the last post...........

clx1

bompington wrote:

Seriously, I don't know if there is an effective lubricant that will actually keep your chain clean for long in winter (certainly round here where the roads tend to be wet, muddy, salty, icy more or less continuously from October to April).
If it bothers you, I guess you just need to clean it every time you go out.

There is, http://www.wiggle.co.uk/rock-n-roll-gol ... e=googleps
This is the best chain lubricant ever and I've tried most of them, it cleans and lubricates your chain.

MattC59

CLX1 wrote:

bompington wrote:

Seriously, I don't know if there is an effective lubricant that will actually keep your chain clean for long in winter (certainly round here where the roads tend to be wet, muddy, salty, icy more or less continuously from October to April).
If it bothers you, I guess you just need to clean it every time you go out.

There is, http://www.wiggle.co.uk/rock-n-roll-gol ... e=googleps
This is the best chain lubricant ever and I've tried most of them, it cleans and lubricates your chain.

+1
I used to use Rock-n-Roll lubes on my mtb. Don't know why I stopped............

dennisn

bompington wrote:

To stop your chain getting dirty in winter:

1. Apply the lubricant of your choice to chain 2. Polish off excess with a clean cloth 3. Hang your bike up in the garage and leave it there till May

Ya got that right. Although I suppose you could also just leave the chain off.