Bike Lubes for Road Bikes

turnbulg

HI Bike Radar,
Any chance of doing a guide about chain lubes for road bikes and what are some of the best lubes you guys would recommend (top 5) and under what circumstances.
I'm still not sure I understand the difference between dry and wet lubes and when to use which.
I have used a couple of different types recently. One I felt didn't last very long (e.g. chain got dry quick) and the other just seemed to pick up grime.
The shops just seem to want to sell their brand.
Any thoughts?
I'm in Australia so relative dry environment most of the time.
Cheers
Barnacle

imposter2.0

Try doing a search - there are probably more threads on the topic of chain lube on this forum than any other subject...

ugo.santalucia

hardware store general purpose lubricant oil... here in the UK comes in the form a product called 3 in 1, which does the job perfectly and better than most fancy and coloured products. In dry climate, the chain might stay lubed for a thousand miles.
If you have engine oil, just as good

cycleclinic

Road cc has good reviews of many chainlubes. They actually do a proper job of testing them. Read up. 3n1 is not something I use on my own bikes and all customers bikes including the really cheap ones get quite a pricey lube as i just don't like conventional chain oil. IT turns to gunky after a while.

dennisn

ugo.santalucia wrote:

hardware store general purpose lubricant oil... here in the UK comes in the form a product called 3 in 1, which does the job perfectly and better than most fancy and coloured products. In dry climate, the chain might stay lubed for a thousand miles.
If you have engine oil, just as good

Plus 1 on that. Waste of money buying "cycling specific lubes".

shaw8670

Buy an oil can for a fiver and put engine oil in it. 50p for a can of oil from then onwards. I have a can that has done me 25 years of topping up. A lot of dry lubes are just oil with wax in it. Wipe chain with a rage after riding. If it gets claggy, give it a wee skoosh with WD40 to soften the gunk. No fancy £9 for a wee bottle products required!

AK_jnr

1000 miles!! Jeez. I hate a dirty chain and even after one ride of the dry muc off, the chain starts gunking up in the links. Thats with a clean bike as well.
Whats the 'cleanest' lube?

drlodge

AK_jnr wrote:

Whats the 'cleanest' lube?

I'm using ProGold ProLink, cost quite a lot for a 16oz bottle but I'm not 1/2 the way through after about 3 years. Its a light oil with a bit of waxy stuff in it. The thing I like about this oil is that its very easy to clean, actually the oil itself can be used to clean the chain.

I generally clean/oil my chain the night before each ride or 2. Spray the chain with a bit of WD40/GT85 and wipe off aggressively with a rag. Apply oil using a dropper bottle, one drop per link. Wipe off excess unless its going to be wet in which case I just leave it overnight. If the chain is particularly grubby, I might get the chain bath out with some citrus degreaser.

I'm sure engine and other oils are just as effective, but I doubt they are as easy to clean off the chain.

veronese68

I use Squirt which is a dry lube. Seems to hold up well to me, chain is quiet and it doesn't need to be reapplied too often. Also keeps the chain relatively clean unlike conventional oils. The chain is dry, but lubricated.
As a pure lube any oil will do. 3in1 might be a bit thin, if you want to get technical gear oil is probably a better bet than engine oil of the automotive stuff.

dennisn

Veronese68 wrote:

I use Squirt which is a dry lube. Seems to hold up well to me, chain is quiet and it doesn't need to be reapplied too often. Also keeps the chain relatively clean unlike conventional oils. The chain is dry, but lubricated.
As a pure lube any oil will do. 3in1 might be a bit thin, if you want to get technical gear oil is probably a better bet than engine oil of the automotive stuff.

"...if you want to get technical...."? Chains MIGHT have been technical or high tech a couple hundred years ago. These days? It's a chain, not part of a manned mission to Mars.

surrey_commuter

dennisn wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

I use Squirt which is a dry lube. Seems to hold up well to me, chain is quiet and it doesn't need to be reapplied too often. Also keeps the chain relatively clean unlike conventional oils. The chain is dry, but lubricated.
As a pure lube any oil will do. 3in1 might be a bit thin, if you want to get technical gear oil is probably a better bet than engine oil of the automotive stuff.

"...if you want to get technical...."? Chains MIGHT have been technical or high tech a couple hundred years ago. These days? It's a chain, not part of a manned mission to Mars.

As a pure lube any oil will do. 3in1 might be a bit thin, if you want to get technical gear oil is probably a better bet than engine oil of the automotive stuff.

read the whole sentence with your tongue in your cheek and see if it is less rage inducing

veronese68

I was referring to the technical differences in additive packages used in automotive oils, all are more than a little excessive for a bicycle chain. Tongue was firmly in cheek. But, if you wanted to be really geeky about it, gear oil would be better as it generally has more in the way of anti-wear additives. Also engine oil has cleaning agents to deal with the byproducts of combustion which shouldn't ne needed on a bicycle chain. If they are you have bigger problems than which lube to use.
Personally I like the cleanliness aspect of the lube I use so I'll stick with it and won't be using regular oils.

surrey_commuter

Veronese68 wrote:

I was referring to the technical differences in additive packages used in automotive oils, all are more than a little excessive for a bicycle chain. Tongue was firmly in cheek. But, if you wanted to be really geeky about it, gear oil would be better as it generally has more in the way of anti-wear additives. Also engine oil has cleaning agents to deal with the byproducts of combustion which shouldn't ne needed on a bicycle chain. If they are you have bigger problems than which lube to use.
Personally I like the cleanliness aspect of the lube I use so I'll stick with it and won't be using regular oils.

what about chainsaw oil?

captain_tiara

1)Rock 'N Roll Gold

2)Rock 'N Roll Extreme

3)Rock 'N Roll Absolute Dry

Clean silent chain, with the lowest friction as found in comprehensive lab tests.

veronese68

Surrey Commuter wrote:

what about chainsaw oil?

No experience of it, but that is likely to have the right sort of properties.

Giraffoto

A couple of unscented pillar candles from the pound shop. A cheap saucepan from Wilkinsons. Melt the wax in the saucepan and dip the chain in it. Brilliant olde worlde solution!

drlodge

Giraffoto wrote:

A couple of unscented pillar candles from the pound shop. A cheap saucepan from Wilkinsons. Melt the wax in the saucepan and dip the chain in it. Brilliant olde worlde solution!

One word - faff.

veronese68

drlodge wrote:

One word - faff.

That's the thing, there isn't a lube that is cheap, clean, faff free and lubricates well. I'd like to think the one I use is doing a good job of lubricating, it's clean and as faff free as any of them are. But it's not cheap. Using whatever oil you have lying around is cheap and lubricates well, but it's dirty and there is more faff with cleaning. Candle wax is a huge faff as you say. As with all these things there is no magic wand, it's just whichever compromise suits the individual. The main thing is use something, it makes me wince when I hear a bike with a squeaky dry chain crying out for some attention.

dennisn

Still just a load of crap to me. You can either pedal a bike fast or you can't. It has nothing to do with the lube you use. Think of it as golf, in which you buy all the stuff that takes bunches of strokes off your game, yet for some reason you're still terrible at it.

drlodge

dennisn wrote:

Still just a load of crap to me. You can either pedal a bike fast or you can't. It has nothing to do with the lube you use. Think of it as golf, in which you buy all the stuff that takes bunches of strokes off your game, yet for some reason you're still terrible at it.

I don't see people referring to the speed advantages of using one oil over another, its about effectiveness of lubrication (all oils much the same), longevity and ease of maintenance.

dennisn

drlodge wrote:

dennisn wrote:

Still just a load of crap to me. You can either pedal a bike fast or you can't. It has nothing to do with the lube you use. Think of it as golf, in which you buy all the stuff that takes bunches of strokes off your game, yet for some reason you're still terrible at it.

I don't see people referring to the speed advantages of using one oil over another, its about effectiveness of lubrication (all oils much the same), longevity and ease of maintenance.

Effectiveness of lubrication? Is there anything more effective than plain oil? Longevity? Does ANY of this plethora of fancy lubes last longer than plain oil? Ease of maintenance? Are you saying that oil is harder to clean off and apply than some 15 dollar an ounce stuff? I don't think so.

veronese68

There are many types of oil. What is plain oil? Crude? That's not much use I'm afraid. WD40 is oil, but too thin to be much use as a lubricant. Grease is just thick oil, but too thick to get in where you really need it unless you warm it. Some may last longer than plain oil. The fancy ones generally have additives in them to try and maintain a level of lubrication after the oil has gone. Oil may be harder to apply depending on what kind of container it's in. A gallon of 20/50 is quite hard to get onto a chain without making a hell of a mess, a dropper bottle may be more convenient for some. Yes, oil is harder to clean off than the stuff I use.
As I said earlier it's important to use something, different people have different expectations. The main thing is to use something. People can use cold pressed extra virgin olive oil for all I care.
I will add I doubt what you use will affect your speed, there are of course far more important things in that respect. But keeping your chain well lubed will improve your chain and cassette life.

Giraffoto

drlodge wrote:

Giraffoto wrote:

A couple of unscented pillar candles from the pound shop. A cheap saucepan from Wilkinsons. Melt the wax in the saucepan and dip the chain in it. Brilliant olde worlde solution!

One word - faff.

Put the pot on the stove, take it off when the wax has melted. Place the pot on the garage floor, on a piece of cardboard (or similar). Put the chain in it, rattle it around a bit, pull it out and hang it over the pot to cool. Not only is that hardly any more faff than dipping the chain in a pot of any other liquid, but the chain gets both cleaned and lubricated at the same time, your "bath" becomes an inert solid block overnight and there is literally no mess.