Cheap oil.

[cyclop]

For the first time in my life,I,ve no oil in the house.....cooking oil excepted.Had to call in my local garage for a few drops.Being a cyclist of a certain age,I,m lothe to fork out for a few spoonsworth of super dooper high tech oil.My house clearance store in town had some motor oil....bingo!£5 for a decades worth.So,why not? Used mainly on an MTB.

[PT1029]

I'm sure it will do the oiling aspect of things.
It might be prone to attacting lots of muck/dirt on a bike chain, so use sparingly - not what you want to hear when you have got 10 years worth in the can!.

[Carlton green]

For the first time in my life,I,ve no oil in the house.....cooking oil excepted.Had to call in my local garage for a few drops.Being a cyclist of a certain age,I,m lothe to fork out for a few spoonsworth of super dooper high tech oil.My house clearance store in town had some motor oil....bingo!£5 for a decades worth.So,why not? Used mainly on an MTB.

Providing it reaches the bearing surfaces some oil is a lot better than none, and I question the use of expensive oil on bikes. That said gear oil might be best ‘cause it has high pressure additives. Motor mower oil of say SAE 20 an 30 is readily available and not too expensive. For how little oil I use the price of it isn’t significant. Whether really old oil is still fit for use I do not know, it might become thicker over time (decades) but I don’t know whether that’s the case and doubt that it’s critical for use on bikes. Avoid using any oil that drys to forms a gum like deposit on surfaces.

Edit. My thanks to those below that confirm that oil does not have an infinite shelf life. I don’t recall coming across any oil that had become un-fit for use but it is something to be wary of.

[Nearholmer]

. Whether really old oil is still fit for use I do not know

My other hobbies have got me into this topic at various times, and the broad answer is that traditional mineral oils cease to be fit for use surprisingly quickly, maybe a decade, perhaps even less depending on circumstances. They tend to separate into their constituents parts, volatiles tgat I think might act as solvents disappearing (that changes the smell), leaving a very thin, watery part that has no lubrication property, and a sludge, which after several decades turns to a shale-like solid, which can literally jam mechanisms solid. Thin films of these oils also have a habit of ‘drying out’ in a way that leaves something resembling slightly-sticky varnish.

Modern synthetics, both oils and greases, seem to retain their characteristics for much longer, not noticeably decomposing, although my “accidental test samples” are only up to c35 years so far, so I can’t vouch for beyond that.

For bikes, one of the key characteristics needed for drive train lubricants is their ability to cling on to fast-moving parts (there’s a technical name for this that I’ve forgotten!), which a many light oils aren’t particularly designed to do because of the way that the lubrication in not-bike things works (often they use tenacious greases, rather than oils for fast-spinning gears if there is no splash-lubrication), and some bike-specific lubricants claim to be very good for that, and they need to resists being washed off by water, and not grab more dust, grit etc than is avoidable. The duty is different from, say, inside a mower engine (cooler, for one thing!).

Which is probably all a bit OTT if the duty is “low-power utility riding on paved surfaces”!

[Pebble]

Thin films of these oils also have a habit of ‘drying out’ in a way that leaves something resembling slightly-sticky varnish.

I',m restoring an old metal working lathe that has not been use for a decade or two, many such examples of oils and greases drying out., im particular they used a wick to lube the main phosphor bronze headstock bearing, you would think it had been soaked in varnish. new wick fitted.

As for bikes, its lawnmower SAE30 for me, and lots of it. when the chain is soaking after a wet ride, it gets dried with that 'chain drying attachment' that come with hot air guns, then I just pour more oil on the warm chain, it is not a pretty sight but seems to work well.

[cyclop]

I actually got two bottles one of which is synthetic so will usé that.Cheers.

[nirakaro]

On tour last year, I realised I was carrying three bottles of different oils - chain lube, olive oil for picnic salads, and King-o-Shaves for shaving. Time on my hands in the tent at night, I started wondering if I could save weight by finding a single oil that would do all three jobs tolerably well. Any suggestions?

[Nearholmer]

Grow a big, thick, bushy beard, and use chain-wax to give it shine, and to make your salad slip down more easily?

(Pictures I’ve seen of some round the world cyclists suggest to me that they do these things, but often forget to groom their beards)

[Psamathe]

... use chain-wax to give it shine...

I've never used chain wax but videos I've seen from others suggest the treatment does not last that long and nothing anywhere close to long enough for a tour.

That said I've also wondered if people who wax their chains tend to be very thorough about chain care - something many touring might not be so focused on? And people who make and publish videos about waxing chains maybe even more particular about chain care?

Ian

[simonhill]

I use White Lightning Dry wax stuff on tour. Each go lasts about 300kms - probably less in reality but I redo about then. I'm normally in hot and dry so works OK.

Main reason I started to use is because it's clean. If I'm taking my bike into a hotel, I can touch the chain and it leaves no mark on my finger.

In the past I have used drips from the old empty oil cans in petrol stations. Tends to be messy, but cheap and nothing to carry. Not sure you'd find any nowadays - 5 gallons of petrol and a pint of oil.

Does oil last - well some of what we use is over 500 million years old, some much younger at only 65ish million. I think we will use it up before it wears out.

[rareposter]

I've never used chain wax but videos I've seen from others suggest the treatment does not last that long and nothing anywhere close to long enough for a tour.

Depends where you're touring and the sort of mileage you're doing. I've just done a week in Spain - about 500km - with a newly waxed chain and it was spot on throughout, didn't need touching. Still clean and dry and silent at the end. but all the riding was on warm dry clean roads. The big advantage with wax, as @simonhill says, is that it just stays completely clean. However it doesn't last as well in wet conditions and to get it applied correctly is considerably more faff in the first place.

To me it's a bit like tubeless tyres. More faff initially but with the benefit of fewer punctures further down the line. Same with wax - a lot of effort to clean and dry the chain and then wax it properly but with the benefit that it then doesn't need touching for 300+km (more in dry weather) and it doesn't turn to black gunk. It also doesn't wash off in wet weather leaving you with a dry and squeaky drivetrain.

A few years ago on a ride-leading job, I stopped to help a guy with a mechanical. He'd clearly heard that chains need regular lubing so had obviously just dribbled a bit of 3-in-1 over it regularly - but without ever cleaning anything. The result was that his chain was absolutely thick with black gunk, it looked like it had been dropped into a vat of North Sea crude. He'd got it all over his hands, his jersey, the bike, the bar tape was covered in sticky black fingerprints... I'd never use wet lube or basic 3-in-1 type oil for that reason alone!

[853]

My other hobbies have got me into this topic at various times, and the broad answer is that traditional mineral oils cease to be fit for use surprisingly quickly, maybe a decade, perhaps even less depending on circumstances. They tend to separate into their constituents parts, volatiles tgat I think might act as solvents disappearing (that changes the smell), leaving a very thin, watery part that has no lubrication property, and a sludge, which after several decades turns to a shale-like solid, which can literally jam mechanisms solid. Thin films of these oils also have a habit of ‘drying out’ in a way that leaves something resembling slightly-sticky varnish.

Modern synthetics, both oils and greases, seem to retain their characteristics for much longer, not noticeably decomposing, although my “accidental test samples” are only up to c35 years so far, so I can’t vouch for beyond that.

In 1990 my company car was dropping oil, so I did what all responsible company car drivers do and bought a litre of oil (Shell Gemini 10W30) - and put it on expenses. I used half a litre before the garage fixed the car, and for the next 33 years I have been using the rest for all my cycling requirements, (as well as door hinges ad everything else), including my Dura Ace chain.

Last year, with it nearly empty, I bought a litre of synthetic 5W20. Did the 10W30 (which I believe is mineral oil) thicken? Possibly, but if it did I couldn't really tell. It's worth saying that it was kept, lid tightly screwed on, in an unheated downstairs toilet on the north side of the house, so it never got above room temperature.

Purists, and bike shop owners, will no doubt object, but I take the view that the importance of lubrication is that you do it when required, and what oil you use probably doesn't make that much difference. I haven't noticed any premature wear, or similar, so will continue with engine oil.

[Nearholmer]

A lot of the decomposition of mineral oils seems to be to do with them losing more volatile components, which I think act as solvents for the rest, to the air, so the whole action takes far longer if they are in a tightly-capped bottle/tin, even then they will slowly deposit-out solids though. My points were really about oils and greases in-situ on or in mechanisms, where they get plenty of access to air, and often live a life of wide temperature variation too. Mineral oil technology advanced over time though, so there is a sort of double-whammy in old kit, where the oil itself was “primitive”, and has had decades to go off.

Nothing to do with the subject in hand, but some of the most decomposed mineral oil I’ve met was in high-voltage electrical applications, where it was historically used very widely as part of insulation and arc-quenching systems. The combination of moisture, heat, and electrical stress, along with decomposition of other components in the insulation, can produce truly vile oil, the smell from which turns your stomach!

[andrew_s]

On tour last year, I realised I was carrying three bottles of different oils - chain lube, olive oil for picnic salads, and King-o-Shaves for shaving. Time on my hands in the tent at night, I started wondering if I could save weight by finding a single oil that would do all three jobs tolerably well. Any suggestions?

Presumably putting motor/chain oil on your salad wouldn't be good for the digestion.

On the other hand, I did see a test of chain oils from Friction Facts (paywalled at last check) that included extra virgin olive oil, and it came out as one of the best oils (rather than waxes).
That was from the point of view of transmission losses in a new chain - they didn't say anything about lifespan, picking up muck etc.

As for shaving, I recommend a bar of soap. It will also do for the body, the hair, and for clothes.

[rareposter]

On the other hand, I did see a test of chain oils from Friction Facts (paywalled at last check) that included extra virgin olive oil, and it came out as one of the best oils (rather than waxes).
That was from the point of view of transmission losses in a new chain - they didn't say anything about lifespan, picking up muck etc.

Have you seen the price of extra virgin olive oil recently?!
I think chain oil might turn out to be cheaper...