Oil instead of grease?

[Mick F]

I used to put Hypoy 90 in the car differentials in my past life.
Would that be any good?

[Brucey]

it is fine, but for low speed bearings a thicker (more viscous) oil will give more protection than a thinner oil, at the penalty of a little more drag (but still not as much drag as a typical grease). So 140W would be better than 90W, and 300W might be better than that.

cheers

[rootes]

I used to put Hypoy 90 in the car differentials in my past life.
Would that be any good?

bit thin, as above in a previous post of mine and as per brucey - try EP140..

though one downside of gear oil is it smells like cat micturate...

[mig]

are the newer style chain lubricants (eg 'purple extreme') actually 'oils'? or are they something significantly different?

[Brucey]

good question. I have no idea....

cheers

[mig]

^^ sorry you're just not allowed to bail out like this!!

[mark a.]

Blimey, I think that's the first time I've seen Brucey stumped at a question, let alone a one about oils and greases. Has his account been hacked? Is he unwell?

[Mick F]

Define "oil".

a viscous liquid derived from petroleum, esp. for use as a fuel or lubricant.

I reckon it should go further than that. Oil isn't necessarily derived from petroleum, oil can come from a variety of non-petrol sources.

Fish?
Whales?
Vegetables?
Nuts?

[mark a.]

It depends on where you got that definition from. On dictionary.com

1. any of a large class of substances typically unctuous, viscous, combustible, liquid at ordinary temperatures, and soluble in ether or alcohol but not in water: used for anointing, perfuming, lubricating, illuminating, heating, etc.

Plus others about petroleum, oil painting etc.

[Brucey]

OK I've done a little digging about and 'Purple Extreme' uses 'synerlec' EP additives which are the basis of much of the 'Royal Purple' lubricant line.

Other than the lubricant scores well on a timken load test, and contains calcium and sulphur, they ain't telling us much. If it is a dry film lubricant then its oil content may be very low. The lube may be little more than the EP additive package plus a solvent.

EP additives can score well on a timken load test, but cynics point out that this does not necessarily relate to real-world application conditions; the test is done at a moderate temperature (cool for an engine, hot for a bike chain), under conditions where there is a flood supply of fresh lubricant.

Maybe it is a good test for a bike chain lubricant; I really don't know. However I suspect that the pressure loading in a bike chain bushing is higher again by some margin than that seen in the timken test, i.e. the lubricant film is sure to be breached, so it is more a question of damage limitation for the chain bushings rather than preventing metal to metal contact per se.

Synerlec is believed by some to be a sulphated ester compound. It is used in motor oils because (amongst other things) it burns to give no measurable ash; hardly a compelling advantage for a cycle chain lube ingredient. However, some (but not all) independent reports indicate that the oils containing these additives work well in engines; oil analysis result typically indicate low levels of wear metals present which is normally a very good sign.

Royal purple make almost (word for word) identical claims for their motorcycle chain lube 'Max-Chain' which leads me to suppose that it is similar if not identical in nature.

'Purple Extreme' in bottles retails for about £11 for 4 oz

'Max Chain' in aerosols retails for about £16 for 11 oz.

Which (barring a different solvent content) sounds very much like you get nearly three times more 'Max chain' than Purple Extreme' for just a fiver extra.

Any dry film lubricant has the potential to reduce the amount of crud picked up on your chain, so as long as it isn't actually worse as a lubricant then it is arguably already likely to be better in practice, provided you start with a clean chain.

I have yet to find any testing which actually claims to have measured chain life with and without this chain lube; could be a job for someone there....

cheers

[mig]

thanks for the research!

so using a lubricant such as purple extreme on such as freewheel bearings would be okay? or a few drops on some hub grease to make it less stiff?

the stuff is however quite 'runny' so would be likely to leak away methinks.

is it that difficult / expensive for hub manufacturers to fit good quality seals on their (more expensive) units in the first place?

[Brucey]

a good part of what is in the bottle is solvent. The lube dries to a slightly waxy film.

It seems quite likely to wash out any lubricant that might be in there at present; personally I've not been a fan of dry film lubes for rolling element bearings, but it might work OK for a freewheel I suppose.

cheers

[Mick F]

a good part of what is in the bottle is solvent. The lube dries to a slightly waxy film.

Sounds like White Lightning Clean Ride.

[Brucey]

my suspicion is that the slightly waxy appearance is where the resemblance ends between these chain lubes.

A suggestion for you, Mick; why not use a different lube on each of your chains to see if it makes any difference or not?

If you were to do this I think that you could be doing the other CTC members a big favour here.

cheers

[mig]

i have a quarter of a bottle or so of purple extreme to donate if you fancy a go mick f?