Had a dry lube disaster yesterday

Raffles

When I was a lurker here, I noticed several threads talking about the pro`s and con`s of dry and wet lube. As its supposed to be spring here, I went to Halfords and bought some dry lube to try it out. Went out last night for a burn and didnt the skies open directly above me. To make matters worse, I was about 30 miles out from home. I wasnt aware that the rain can wash the dry lube clean off your chain and dear god the noise as I was cycling back !! It sounded like I was grinding metal against metal, more so when I applied real pressure through the crank. When I eventually nursed the bike back home, the chain was as dry as the proverbial bone and I was concerned that I had hurt my bike. I put a dab of wet lube on the chain and thank god all was fine. Im going straight back to the wet stuff, dry is ok, but if it rains its no use at all. You have to find these things out the hard way I suppose :roll:

slowlanejane

UK = wet lube. End of.

Raffles

I dont even think it makes any reference on the dry lube bottle along the lines of if it rains, you are screwed.

nickwill

slowlanejane wrote:

UK = wet lube. End of.

Without doubt!

Raffles

Online articles always say when it comes to application of wet lube that you wipe off the excess with a rag. Sorry for the greenhorn question, but wipe it off from where exactly ? When I apply lube , I dab it onto the individual rollers in the chain where it will make contact with the teeth on the front cogs and rear cassette. If you wipe there with a rag , then you are undoing your work, so where abouts do you wipe ? Again sorry for such a noob question :oops:

chilling

Don't see it as undoing your work. More, applying the final polish, making sure all areas of the chain are oiled and removing any excess.

CakeLovinBeast

slowlanejane wrote:

UK = wet lube. End of.

This

team47b

What's wet lube?

bianchimoon

You must have been doing something very wrong to have that affect, I and many others use a dry/wax lube and have no problem in the wet at all
Smeone at RCUK did a test on them both and their conclusion was:
So, for severe winter use a dry lube - and this one on particular – not only keeps the chain running more smoothly but staves off corrosion and, since it does not attract abrasive grit, should ensure a longer service life for chain and sprockets.

indysmith

team47b wrote:

What's wet lube?

:x

amaferanga

All dry lube is not equal. Was it Halfords own brand rubbish?

I use Finish Line Dry Teflon lube. If the chain gets properly wet I just reapply when I get home, but to suggest that wet lube is the only option is utter bollox.

Don't forget that water is a lubricant anyway, but running a chain dry for a few miles will do it no harm at all. What do you think people that cycle in sandy/dusty places that have no access to fancy lubes do? Run their chains dry, that's what.

richh

bianchimoon wrote:

You must have been doing something very wrong to have that affect, I and many others use a dry/wax lube and have no problem in the wet at all
Smeone at RCUK did a test on them both and their conclusion was:
So, for severe winter use a dry lube - and this one on particular – not only keeps the chain running more smoothly but staves off corrosion and, since it does not attract abrasive grit, should ensure a longer service life for chain and sprockets.

My experience precisely

desweller

bianchimoon wrote:

You must have been doing something very wrong to have that affect, I and many others use a dry/wax lube and have no problem in the wet at all
Smeone at RCUK did a test on them both and their conclusion was:
So, for severe winter use a dry lube - and this one on particular – not only keeps the chain running more smoothly but staves off corrosion and, since it does not attract abrasive grit, should ensure a longer service life for chain and sprockets.

Any hard evidence to support this conclusion?

Thought not.

Don't forget that water is a lubricant anyway, but running a chain dry for a few miles will do it no harm at all. What do you think people that cycle in sandy/dusty places that have no access to fancy lubes do? Run their chains dry, that's what.

A) For how long do those chains last?
Are they habitually using narrow 10-speed chains (give me a 7-speed any day) based on racing bike technology?
C) Since there's no performance disadvantage to using a standard oil, why would you use a wax-type system anyway (apart from vanity)?

DavidJB

Thought I had wondered on to a teenage masturbation forum for a moment.

richh

DesWeller wrote:

Any hard evidence to support this conclusion?

Thought not.

Any evidence for what exactly? that dry lube doesn't attract grit as much as wet lube?

desweller

richh wrote:

DesWeller wrote:

Any hard evidence to support this conclusion?

Thought not.

Any evidence for what exactly? that dry lube doesn't attract grit as much as wet lube?

That a dry lube leads to longer chain life as a result of not making the chain black.

sungod

richh wrote:

DesWeller wrote:

Any hard evidence to support this conclusion?

Thought not.

Any evidence for what exactly? that dry lube doesn't attract grit as much as wet lube?

presumably, evidence for rcuk's statement that dry lube

should ensure a longer service life for chain and sprockets

i use wet lube year round, i clean things every so often, my chains last a long time, does that prove wet lube is better than dry lube? no more so than the rcuk article proves the opposite

the rcuk article makes unsubstantiated statements, without a proper test, it's simply opinion, of which the internet has more than enough

bianchimoon

DesWeller wrote:

bianchimoon wrote:

You must have been doing something very wrong to have that affect, I and many others use a dry/wax lube and have no problem in the wet at all
Smeone at RCUK did a test on them both and their conclusion was:
So, for severe winter use a dry lube - and this one on particular – not only keeps the chain running more smoothly but staves off corrosion and, since it does not attract abrasive grit, should ensure a longer service life for chain and sprockets.

Any hard evidence to support this conclusion?

Thought not.

hey man, chill, wait for the response before unilaterally deciding that only you could possibly be right.
Obviously you've used both wet and dry lubes extensively to come to your very considered opinion?
I've used both for extended periods now, personally i prefer the performance of wax lube, if you prefer wet, so be it
no ones going to make you change, it's just another point of view/piece of advice which is what the forum is about

http://roadcyclinguk.com/blogs/davids-b ... s-dry.html

don't bother reading the article, but if anyone else out there wants to look at all points of view have a read

migrantwing

Raffles wrote:

Online articles always say when it comes to application of wet lube that you wipe off the excess with a rag. Sorry for the greenhorn question, but wipe it off from where exactly ? When I apply lube , I dab it onto the individual rollers in the chain where it will make contact with the teeth on the front cogs and rear cassette. If you wipe there with a rag , then you are undoing your work, so where abouts do you wipe ? Again sorry for such a noob question :oops:

Wipe the chain on the outside nearest you and nearest the wheel. This will stop dirt/dust sticking to the chain. The only real lubrication that is required is 'inside' on the rollers where the chain meets the cassette and chainring teeth. It doesn't hurt for lube to get on the faceplate of the chain, after all, it does need lubrication, it's metal. Also lube the cassette and chainring. I usually lube the chain and then drizzle some lube over the cassette and chainring whilst turning the cranks backward and then turn the pedals the proper way and run thru the gears, spreading the lube to the different sprockets and chainrings. Don't forget a little lube on derailleur pivot points, gear cables, shifters and brake cables and pivots. If it moves, it needs lubrication of some kind.

keef66

Raffles wrote:

Online articles always say when it comes to application of wet lube that you wipe off the excess with a rag. Sorry for the greenhorn question, but wipe it off from where exactly ? When I apply lube , I dab it onto the individual rollers in the chain where it will make contact with the teeth on the front cogs and rear cassette. If you wipe there with a rag , then you are undoing your work, so where abouts do you wipe ? Again sorry for such a noob question :oops:

You shouldn't be aiming to lube the surface of the rollers themselves, but trying to get the oil inside the chain, ie between the rollers and pins and where the side plates overlap. The objective is to keep the chain fully flexible and keep water out. When you wipe off the excess you are wiping the exterior surfaces which don't need the lube. Excess lube here just collects dirt.

amaferanga

DesWeller wrote:

A) For how long do those chains last?
Are they habitually using narrow 10-speed chains (give me a 7-speed any day) based on racing bike technology?
C) Since there's no performance disadvantage to using a standard oil, why would you use a wax-type system anyway (apart from vanity)?

A) Longer than if they used oil.
Of course not. But a chain is a chain.
C) Since a dry teflon lube (I don't use the wax stuff) works as well as a wet lube IME then why use a wet lube and not a dry one? No matter how carefully you apply a wet lube and how much of the 'excess' you wipe off, you will always get splatter over the back of the bike.

butcher_boy

amaferanga wrote:

Don't forget that water is a lubricant anyway, but running a chain dry for a few miles will do it no harm at all. What do you think people that cycle in sandy/dusty places that have no access to fancy lubes do? Run their chains dry, that's what.

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