Oiling the chain

Now this is something I am about to experiment with on the push bike after great sucsess on the trials motorbike.......
Due to all the grit and crap clinging to the chain I thought I'd give wd40 or gt85 a blast for a while and although you need to apply it much more often (it is only cheap anyway) it works a treat no ill effects and my trials bike chain has lasted as long if not a bit longer than if I were using proper chain lube. I put this mainly down to the fact it isn't picking the crap?
Plus it makes the bike smell nice (GT85) and is much easier to clean [:)]

http://www.action.org.uk/giving/sponsor ... arrybaines

http://www.r2wtrials.co.uk/

Hi. Depends what you mean by "standard" oil, 3 in 1 ? Engine oil ?
It's a fact all bike chains attract a fair amount of grit because they are right in the way of everything thrown up by the front tyre and operating close to the road.
There are so called "dry" lubricants designed to reduce this problem.
The principle is, it is applied as a mousse under pressure (aerosol). This creeps everywhere and when the bubbles disappear they leave behind the lubricant which hardens to a degree. Note: The chain is still subject to the same ingress of road cr#p but to you it may appear "clean". The chain still requires cleaning but the lube is not as messy as with oiling.
I clean my chain when I take the bottom chain run and roll it backwards/forwards between thumb and forefinger. If it feels gritty I use my chain cleaner then re-lube each roller individually with one "drop" while turning the chain backwards. Before riding, I turn the chain backwards while holding an old towel around it - this takes off the excess, and this is done as and when necessary..
I use Decathlon brand Vasalene based low viscosity Chain Oil.
Personally I like my chains as clean and grit free as possible, and lubed sufficient for noise free operation and smooth changes. I achieve this my way :-)
Maybe you are just putting too much lubricant on or using the wrong stuff.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Mosschops2</i>

If I almost never oil my chain, does this make me a bad person??!!??

<font size="1">Have you ever tried pressing Alt+F4 ??</font id="size1">
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

No, but it probably means you have mudguards and don't use derailleurs though. [:)]

But you could be a bad person as well, of course [:)]

I have a hub gear on my commuter and I clean and lube the chain once every two or three months, whether it needs it or not...

__________________
<font size="1">Six foot six he stood on the ground. He weighed two hundred and thirty five pounds
But I saw that giant of a man brought down by a baby elephant</font id="size1">

Three main choices - wet lube (like Finish Line green top) dry lube (like Finish Line red top) and wax lubes.

The wet lubes are great in the wet, they pick up crap but resist washing off. The dry lubes really do seem to pick up less stuff. Now this may be because I'm usually riding on dry road when its on but ... I've also used wax lubes from time to time but don't regularly. Pedro's Ice Wax I quite liked (I may even give that another go in the summer) seemed to stay clean and made the chain very quiet.

OK but bear this in mind. WD40 is designed to penetrate and resist moisture, something it does very well. It contains no lubricant qualities at all and you are putting it on the only part of your bike which is most exposed to grit etc.
Consider also, it's you who powers your bike - not an engine [;)] so you want your chain as efficient as possible right!
The chain is a masterpiece of engineering in that, to date, there is little to come close to it in transferring the maximum of effort to the wheel - something like 90% odd. Just about all motorcycle chain these days have synthetic "O" rings between the rollers and side plate - designed to keep lube in and cr#p out.
Personally I don't think any experimenting as such will improve on what the engineers give us, and the producers of lubes sell us, it's just a question of how well do you want to look after this well engineered and often neglected piece of kit
[:)]

Purple Extreme seems to attract less muck than ordinary oils, like Finish Line, on my bikes.

FROM WD40 WEB SITE
FIVE PRODUCTS IN ONE - THE 5 FUNCTIONS
CLEANS: WD-40 gets under dirt, marks and grease making it easy to wipe away. It also dissolves adhesives, allowing easy removal of labels, tape, and stickers
PROTECTS: WD-40 protects metal surfaces with corrosion-resistant ingredients to shield against moisture and other corrosive elements
<b>LUBRICATES: WD-40's lubricating ingredients are widely dispersed and hold firmly to all moving parts</b>PENETRATES: WD-40 loosens rust-to-metal bonds and frees stuck, frozen or rusted metal parts
DISPLACES MOISTURE: Because WD-40 displaces moisture, it quickly dries out electrical systems to eliminate moisture-induced short circuits. Turn the power off before you spray



Non Omnis Moriar

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Aido</i>

I usually use Finish Line, the one with the green top, a wet lube on my hybrids. The lbs advised though that I should use something like White Lightning on my new road bike, not used it yet though, is it any good?

If I had a baby elephant, who would take it for walks?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I tried White Lightning, hated it. Threw it away half finished actually.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by NumbNuts</i>

FROM WD40 WEB SITE
FIVE PRODUCTS IN ONE - THE 5 FUNCTIONS
CLEANS: WD-40 gets under dirt, marks and grease making it easy to wipe away. It also dissolves adhesives, allowing easy removal of labels, tape, and stickers
PROTECTS: WD-40 protects metal surfaces with corrosion-resistant ingredients to shield against moisture and other corrosive elements
<b>LUBRICATES: WD-40's lubricating ingredients are widely dispersed and hold firmly to all moving parts</b>PENETRATES: WD-40 loosens rust-to-metal bonds and frees stuck, frozen or rusted metal parts
DISPLACES MOISTURE: Because WD-40 displaces moisture, it quickly dries out electrical systems to eliminate moisture-induced short circuits. Turn the power off before you spray



Non Omnis Moriar
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

[:I] Wow, can't argue with that. I imagine Bicycle Chains are listed in the 2000 uses but I didn't bother to read them all.
It is not sold as a lubricant in the full sense of the word however and I rest my case. If it's good enough for your rusty guitar case fastener (just one of the uses) then it must be good enough for your chain, and as I said, it's better than nothing
[:)]

In 'easier' climates, Prolink Gold, or Finish Line is pretty good.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I'm only escaping to here because the office is having a conniption

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Aido</i>

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by sloboy</i>

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Aido</i>

I usually use Finish Line, the one with the green top, a wet lube on my hybrids. The lbs advised though that I should use something like White Lightning on my new road bike, not used it yet though, is it any good?

If I had a baby elephant, who would take it for walks?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I tried White Lightning, hated it. Threw it away half finished actually.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
What were your reasons for not liking it?

If I had a baby elephant, who would take it for walks?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

To be honest - I can't really remember. It's my age, y'know. Once something's on the "Don't be doing that list", all other data is deleted. I can tell you what I like about the others though - and I'll assume WL was different (I tried the search, cos I think I commented on this before, but it seems to have forgotten as well).

Finish Line Green - sticks well. Dropper bottle easy to use small amounts. Aerosols unreliable

Finish Line Red - very light. Harder to use small amounts as its very thin, but seems to keep a clean smooth chain.Same comment on their aerosols !

Pedro Ice Wax - I used to find this worked well on a summer mountain bike in that it would stick well but not attract too much dirt. Might try it again on some of my more neglected chains.

If I had to guess what I didn't like about WL, I have a feeling I didn't get the feeling it was sticking very well.