Lubricants and cleaning products

andy83
andy83 Posts: 1,558
edited February 2008 in MTB workshop & tech
Am looking to start a complete rebuild of bike next week and all i have at the moment is the muck off spray

i was just wondering what lubricants i needed or are reccomended for the chain and are there any other bits i need to pay special attention to, all the bits are new apart from the frame and forks if that helps

thanks in advance

Comments

  • Marjory Stewart BAxtor
    Marjory Stewart BAxtor Posts: 508
    citrus degreaser before you do anything - the chain arrives with a manufacturer's layer of grease that's always heartening to take off. I use an industrial strength HGV mechanic's degreaser but tbh that's prolly a bit overkill. halfords do a citrus degreaser but I found that to be rubbish. if in doubt, trust muc off.

    As for lubes, I started a thread last week asking the same question and some good advice there
    Train hard, ride easy
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    i would leave the chain grease on and when has been fitted add chain lube and then use.

    bearings any Quality cycle grease is fine .

    Finish line is good.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • Marjory Stewart BAxtor
    Marjory Stewart BAxtor Posts: 508
    nicklouse wrote:
    i would leave the chain grease on and when has been fitted add chain lube and then use.
    nicklouse is a top qual person to be advising but the manual to my chain disagreed... as did the instructions on my white lightening bottle.
    Train hard, ride easy
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    very contentious issue, sheldon brown had a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge article on it.

    Ideally you just remove the grease from the outside of the chain IIRC and try and leave the "good grease" in it until it is washed out by correct lube application (top of lower run, one drop to each roller)
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • andy83
    andy83 Posts: 1,558
    thanks for your replies

    think i will just put on the chain and then get some finish line lubricant for the chain. can see my re build taking a long time, especially as im puttin on disc brakes aswell as changing all the gear system from 8 to 9 speed

    I am only using bike to commute from work and wont be using it on proper mountain biking so shouldnt be getting too dirty i hope
  • andy83
    andy83 Posts: 1,558
    sorry to sound completely stupid but what is the main difference between wet and dry lube
  • Marjory Stewart BAxtor
    Marjory Stewart BAxtor Posts: 508
    dry leaves a graphite or teflon finish that clings to the metal. wet uses oil or wax to create a `wet` slippy surface. (though there's lots of overlap with the chemicals used).

    wet is bad for rain and in the dust it picks up a lot of crap that gets into your bike's *sensative area*.

    dry doesn't tend to last as long and people used to say it didn't perform as well
    Train hard, ride easy
  • andy83
    andy83 Posts: 1,558
    thanks for that, which would you suggest then, i live in not so sunny birmingham lol

    bike can be left outside whilst im at work
  • Marjory Stewart BAxtor
    Marjory Stewart BAxtor Posts: 508
    wet lube but your bike won't exactly collapse in on itself if you use dry
    Train hard, ride easy

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