Cycling UK Forum

Hi,
Old saying any oil is better than no oil.

Get oil on chain ASAP then before next ride wipe excess if there is too much.

A motorbike friend dries his motorbike off, after washing it, using a garden leaf blower.
I wonder if my wife would mind me using her hair drier.
I do have a heat gun but I could imagine accidentally melting something (paint,mudguard,tyre.).

cycleruk wrote:A motorbike friend dries his motorbike off, after washing it, using a garden leaf blower.
I wonder if my wife would mind me using her hair drier.
I do have a heat gun but I could imagine occidentally melting something (paint,mudguard,tyre.).

The leaf blower sounds interesting, because I could do a bit of leaf blowing too. I had actually wondered about a cheap compressed air line contraption (i.e. not canned compressed air).

Thornyone wrote: The other things I like about the wax are that my fingers stay cleaner should chain removal be necessary (for puncture or thorough bike clean) and that I never bother to/need to clean the chain itself.

I always carry a pair of disposable nitrile gloves in my toolkit for exactly that reason. They weigh nothing, stop the tools from rattling in their container, and keep my hands clean during emergency roadside repairs.

Being cleaner to handle is the main (or indeed only) advantage wax lubes offer over wet lubes, in my opinion: in every other respect, they're inferior. An oiled chain need not be a dirty chain if it's wiped off with a rag sprayed with WD40, GT85 or 151 Super soon after application.

Roadster wrote:Being cleaner to handle is the main (or indeed only) advantage wax lubes offer over wet lubes, in my opinion: in every other respect, they're inferior. An oiled chain need not be a dirty chain if it's wiped off with a rag sprayed with WD40, GT85 or 151 Super soon after application.

Cleaner and lower friction...
http://www.squirt-lube.de/wp-content/up ... ined-1.pdf

I use Squirt (which is wax based) and find it clean, easy to apply and I usually get 3000+ miles out of a (10 speed) chain on my winter touring bike and longer on my "Summer bike". It is relatively expensive but I find it lasts a long time. I bought a large bottle (500ml) for about £20 two years ago and still have about half left (covered about 14,000 miles in that time on various bikes all using the same lube). I find everything stays much cleaner with it than with the various wet lubes I used before. You do possibly need to apply it more often then with a wet lube, but that is partly because I find it works best if you only apply a small amount.

I am an oil user. No real definite preference. I use what's around, sometimes automotive sometimes bike chain stuff. Wilko or anything cheap.
I think that oil flows and re-seals contact surfaces better than wax, on the outer surfaces of the rollers for example.
Which is where rust would perhaps form when using wax.

Squirt is the only wax-based chain lube that remotely appeals. I might well try it when my newly-bought bottle of Morgan Blue Syn Lube runs out...

for winter riding leaf blower followed by chainsaw bar oil thinned with white spirit applied immediately after a wet ride. I tried thinning the bar oil with something more evaporative (is that a word?) - cellulose gun-wash I think - but it coagulated the oil.

Mick F wrote:White Lightning Clean Ride is a wax lubricant and is excellent in dry weather, but not so good on a wet ride.

I'm using White Lightning Epic Ride for the winter, and my chains get drizzled with it before every ride. Out this morning in drizzle and damp and also got caught in a downpour, and my bike is under cover and drying off now.

I don't expect to see any rust on the chain.

I wouldn't touch Epic Ride with a barge pole!

I was using it for a while in Summer 2016. Come September I went on a 3 day/2 night camping trip. I duly lubricated the chain (remembering to shake the bottle vigorously first) the night before I set off to allow it to soak in, etc. I had 3 days of completely dry riding but the bike was outside overnight - after the 1st night there was a heavy dew, 2nd night it was dewy & foggy in the morning. I rode about 112 miles altogether & by about 20 miles from home on the 3rd day (so around 90 miles total) I was getting several stiff links in the chain!

I've only ever had that sort of thing happen, and only rarely, on a neglected bike that has been left stored for weeks/months without oiling the chain before storing.

I'm currently using WD40 Bike Wet Lube (Note: WD40 is a "brand" not a single product these days) which seems to perform well without getting too mucky. I apply it a drop at a time onto each roller - it takes a little longer - maybe 5 minutes total - than just letting it dribble onto a moving chain but but should be less wasteful & means the side plates stay cleaner.

One thing that is abundantly clear from this thread is that there are almost as many (often fairly stongly held) opinions on how best to lube a chain as there are cyclists, and that one individual's idea of what constitutes the best lube is most certainly not another’s. It is quite amazing how it seems to be possible to have such widely differing experiences of the same product, but I suppose that is life
Incidentally, I wonder how many people follow the advice that I have read of leaving the manufacturer’s stuff on the chain (until it wears away to the point of needing a re-lube) because it is supposed to be the best? I always remove it before first use, because it seems to attract micro grit like a magnet.

Thornyone wrote:Incidentally, I wonder how many people follow the advice that I have read of leaving the manufacturer’s stuff on the chain (until it wears away to the point of needing a re-lube) because it is supposed to be the best? I always remove it before first use, because it seems to attract micro grit like a magnet.

Me, for one! Just wipe it over with a clean rag with solvent on it after fitting.

Mind you, I also use a quick spray with WD40 after a wet ride to disperse the water...

To dry a chain after a wet ride I use TF2 aerosol spray lube applied liberally to the inside of the bottom run of the chain whilst turning the pedals backwards.
Let it soak for 30 seconds and reapply.
Then run the chain through a rag to remove any excess.
The TF2 displaces the water and lubes the chain.
I then treat the mech pulleys to the same,and the rest of the mechs to a good squit of GT85 to displace water from pivots etc.

it is worth noting that there is a fundamental difference between using a water displacer on a wet chain vs leaving it to dry.

If the chain is contaminated with salty water, leaving it to dry results in brine of infinite strength, that is incredibly corrosive. There are a few lubes that resist this well enough that the chain never corrodes, but they are the exception.

By contrast if you remove the water, e.g. by using a water displacer of some kind, you largely remove the salt along with the water.

cheers

Thornyone wrote:Incidentally, I wonder how many people follow the advice that I have read of leaving the manufacturer’s stuff on the chain (until it wears away to the point of needing a re-lube) because it is supposed to be the best? I always remove it before first use, because it seems to attract micro grit like a magnet.

I tried not lubing a new (KMC) chain, and it was squeaking by the end of the first ride, so I always lube a new chain. I suppose it depends on what lube the manufacturer uses. Perhaps some are used just to prevent the chain from rusting before the consumer buys it. My lube of choice is finish line wet ceramic - a lot less gunge than FL wet, but long lasting and no rust. I found dry lube messy to apply (too thin) and useless as a lube in anything other than bone-dry conditions. There's a school of thought that the blackening of a chain is a good thing - the wear particles are being forced out of the bushings, rather than staying inside with a wax lube.

My current steed has an Alfine 8 IGH so grimy transmission components and rapid chain wear are no longer the major issues they used to be when I used derailleurs. I reinvest the money saved on replacement chains by spending more on an all-nickel-plated chain (SRAM PC991) which resists corrosion better and generally seems much easier to maintain.

I read somewhere that SRAM do not recommend stripping the factory lube out of a new chain because that will merely remove the best lubrication it can and will ever get. I've followed that advice and found it to be true, though obviously cannot speak for other brands of chain.