Lubrication and protection

[Fishplate42]

I am new to cycling, well, new to 'modern' cycling. I have not had a bike since I was a kid, now fifty years on, things have changed and there seems to be a lot of 'product' out there. In my youth, a tub of grease and a drop of oil was all I had to maintain my bike. I now have a couple of old, but modern to me, bikes. Nothing special, just something to ride around locally. Can anyone recommend which lubricants I should buy, or am I over-complicating things and just go back to my tub of grease and a tin of 3-in-1? Chain lubricant/cleaner is what I am most interested in.

Thanks,
Ralph.

[Brucey]

it depends....

on....

- the equipment you use
- the conditions of use
- your expectations
- how much effort you are prepared to put into it.

For example, speaking as someone who has (for years) routinely been able to destroy a derailleur transmission inside a couple of thousand miles (or half that on a MTB) without too much difficulty, I have found such transmissions both annoying and expensive to run, certainly for 'the hard miles'. But under more benign conditions I do get more miles than that and some folk get a lot more again, by dint of careful maintenance and possibly lower loading too. And if you don't do that many miles it might be years between new chains etc, not months or weeks....

So there is certainly more than one way of skinning a cat when it comes to chains etc. When it comes to greases, there are better greases than (say) a multipurpose grease such as Castrol LM, but (again depending on the things listed above) you may or may not derive very much benefit from using them.

cheers

[gbnz]

A bit of vaseline and latex normally works wonders

[reohn2]

My personal lubricants are
Weldtite aerosol TF2 for the chain applied sparingly with excess wiped off so as not to attract road muck and grit.
Shimano grease for ballbearings in cup and cone hubs.
Carlube 100+ semi fluid grease for pivots such such as on V brakes,deraileurs,etc and jockey wheel bearings again applied sparingly with excess wiped off.
GT85 for chasing out water after washing,it also gives a nice shine to paintwork too

[Brucey]

My personal lubricants are...

bearing in mind gbnz's comment oughtn't that read "my personal choice of bicycle lubricants..." ??

cheers

[Cugel]

A bit of vaseline and latex normally works wonders

On a member (!!) of one's preferred gender, perhaps..... but on a bicycle? Perhaps this was the cause of that bloke having to have an op to remove his bits from entanglement with the bicycle he had been trying to have congress with?

Cugel

[reohn2]

My personal lubricants are...

bearing in mind gbnz's comment oughtn't that read "my personal choice of bicycle lubricants..." ??

cheers

Whatever strums his strings so long as it's in the privacy of his own bike shed...

[robc02]

I normally use Weldtite TF2 in liquid form for chains. It does a reasonable job at a reasonable price. I have previously used car gearbox oil or even engine oil - the latter certainly not the best but readily available (to me and many others) and much better than nothing.

I traditionally used a general purpose grease, such as Castrol LM, mainly because of its availability. I still do for some things, but I now use Penrite semi fluid grease where its mobility will be useful, such as in BB units.

To the OP; you could do a lot worse than stick with a tub of general purpose grease, but something better than 3 in 1 would be a good idea for chains.

[Sweep]

I normally use Weldtite TF2 in liquid form for chains. .

Do you mean this?

Which they also dub "performance"?

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/weldtite-tf2-p ... gLVWfD_BwE

If so,me too - have settled on this after using a whole range of stuff over the years.

Also available in litres as here:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/wel ... gJxwfD_BwE

which makes it even more economical.


Was also encouraged by an earlier brucey post on this topic which I seem to recall suggested that a more liquid runny oil might be good for clearing debris. As it's quite runny a wipe of the outside of the chain plate and the jockey wheels after applying it also allows me to do a bit of between chain clean cleaning.

I have often wondered if the stuff in the small similar looking bottles from Decathlon and/or Wllko is the same stuff. Anyone have any ideas?

[thelawnet]

With respect to the title, er KY jelly & Durex.

Otherwise um, I would suggest not over thinking. Basically dry lube = it washes off every time it gets wet, but it stays clean from dust/grit, whereas wet lube = attracts dirt, but stays on for a while. So perhaps buy both, and keep a small bottle of dry lube with you if you are using that (although this is probably more relevant in places where it rains torrentially unpredictably, such as the tropics or wherever).

If your chain comes off (use quick links) you can stick it in a jar of diesel or white spirit and everything will come off. But maybe not worth the effort. If you have some new-fangled 12-speed or whatever then everything costs a fortune, so you may be more worried about cleaning it regularly. But with cheap stuff it can be as easy just to give it an occasional rub off.

Decathlon chain lubes are reasonably priced if you have one nearby.

[reohn2]

I normally use Weldtite TF2 in liquid form for chains. .

Do you mean this?

Which they also dub "performance"?

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/weldtite-tf2-p ... gLVWfD_BwE

If so,me too - have settled on this after using a whole range of stuff over the years.

Also available in litres as here:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/wel ... gJxwfD_BwE

which makes it even more economical.


Was also encouraged by an earlier brucey post on this topic which I seem to recall suggested that a more liquid runny oil might be good for clearing debris. As it's quite runny a wipe of the outside of the chain plate and the jockey wheels after applying it also allows me to do a bit of between chain clean cleaning.

I have often wondered if the stuff in the small similar looking bottles from Decathlon and/or Wllko is the same stuff. Anyone have any ideas?

Every wet lube I've used out of a dropper bottle,and I've tried a few,has always attracted road and trail muck and grit.How thin is the one you recommend?

[robc02]

I normally use Weldtite TF2 in liquid form for chains. .

Do you mean this?

Which they also dub "performance"?

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/weldtite-tf2-p ... gLVWfD_BwE

If so,me too - have settled on this after using a whole range of stuff over the years.

Also available in litres as here:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/wel ... gJxwfD_BwE

which makes it even more economical.


Was also encouraged by an earlier brucey post on this topic which I seem to recall suggested that a more liquid runny oil might be good for clearing debris. As it's quite runny a wipe of the outside of the chain plate and the jockey wheels after applying it also allows me to do a bit of between chain clean cleaning.

I have often wondered if the stuff in the small similar looking bottles from Decathlon and/or Wllko is the same stuff. Anyone have any ideas?

Every wet lube I've used out of a dropper bottle,and I've tried a few,has always attracted road and trail muck and grit.How thin is the one you recommend?

Sweep, yes that's the one.

R2, yes it can make the chain wet, especially if you overdo it. I try to apply only a very small drop to each roller and then wipe off the excess. I've had little luck with dry lubes - when using them I had persistent chain squeaks - and I don't like the use of sprays if at all avoidable.
How thin? Probably a bit runnier than 10W/40 engine oil. If anything, the ordinary TF2 looks a bit on the thin side to me, but I tried some Weldtite TF2 Extreme and found it formed sticky stringy trails around the transmission - maybe OK in a wet winter. Unless I hear of anything better I will probably carry on with TF2 as a good compromise between price and performance.

[reohn2]

R2, yes it can make the chain wet, especially if you overdo it. I try to apply only a very small drop to each roller and then wipe off the excess. I've had little luck with dry lubes - when using them I had persistent chain squeaks - and I don't like the use of sprays if at all avoidable.
How thin? Probably a bit runnier than 10W/40 engine oil. If anything, the ordinary TF2 looks a bit on the thin side to me, but I tried some Weldtite TF2 Extreme and found it formed sticky stringy trails around the transmission - maybe OK in a wet winter. Unless I hear of anything better I will probably carry on with TF2 as a good compromise between price and performance.

Thanks for the information,I'll give it a try.
TBH I've found chainlubes out of a dropper bottle to be a bt too thick for my liking,some gum up the drivetrain,Finnishline green and Purple Extreme being pretty bad and are hard to clean off with degreasing solvents
I'm convinced TF2 Extreme is no more than chainsaw oil hence it's stringy nature,YUK.
As for dry lubes,IME they're good for about 20miles before the drivetrain sounds like someone's following me rattling a bag of spanners

[Vantage]

I'm a fan of White Lightning Wet Ride. Put a bit on a rag and then drag the chain through it. This also cleans the main grit and grime off the chain.
I rarely need to clean it these days.
I'm trying out Carlube Copper grease for now. I've had enough of that lithium stuff.

[Brucey]

I'm trying out Carlube Copper grease for now. I've had enough of that lithium stuff.

copper grease is an anti-seize compound not a lubricant (e.g. for bearings)

cheers