BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

From my experience working with non-bike and bike chains, its something that really depends on where you're riding and your style of riding, in addition to how often.

If you always ride in nice weather, you can usually get away with lubing every few hundred miles, degreasing and full clean once a year/season. If you're a daily commuter and you ride in all sorts of terrain, then you need to keep an eye on your chain pretty much every time you get on your bike, making sure its free of debris and not kinking anywhere.

If we're talking about mountain bikes, you might have to at least wipe it down after every ride, but that depends how agressive you are, terrain, etc. Road chains should really get a couple of drops of lube every time they spin in the rain.

To cover everything, I'd say only casual riders can go by an x-mile schedule, everyone else should check up on their gear regularly and tend to it as needed.

this is my personal regimen, which is to say it works for me, but i won't exactly recommend it.

i probably put like 3-5k a year on my road bike, and usually in varying conditions. i lube probably every 100-200 miles, and it's usually based on whim. i will clean it off and lube if it gets gunky, like i ride in wet, dirty, messy conditions. and i'll do a full clean (citrus cleaner, scrub brush, and new lube) every time it affects shifting, which is like two or three times a year.

oh, and i also replace the chain once or twice a year, which generally includes a full drive train cleaning.

I probably lube about two or three times a month and scrape gunk off of my derailer pulleys about once or twice a month. My bike is primarily used for commuting and recreational riding.

I was using Duomonde lube which was really good and cleaned off very easily. I switched to Pro-Link which cleans and lubes when it's applied, however, because it was more readily available.

What kind of lube is everyone else using?

What kind of lube is everyone else using?

This is like asking if people wear helmets when riding

I'm a fan of White Lightening, myself.

I lube my commuter bikes after every ride in the rain or snow. My mountain bike gets lubed after every ride.

I use white lightning as well, but that's the only one I have ever used.

I tried using Pedro's Chainj lube. It was just fine, but I'm not used to my chain getting gunked up so much in inclement weather.

My routine for mostly road riding, with occasional limestone or gravel forays: Wipe and re-lube chain sporadically (every couple of weeks, sooner if riding in serious rain), take chain/deraillers/idlers off, soak, and properly clean every couple of months.

No religious views towards specific brands/types of lube. Generally prefer dryer types, but that's about it.

I've tried to be obsessive about chain maintenance but it doesn't seem to make chains last any longer. So I've settled in to casual neglect. Lube when it squeaks, wd40 right after bringing it home wet, wipe it off and check the wear every couple of weeks, clean when it gets impossibly gross, go over everything once a year. Lube is whatever I have around. Lately it's 90W gear lube, then wipe it off. Hate the smell

If I had a parts washer, though... I wonder if that would be a good thing to donate to free ride or if it would just be left dirty. Are there decent "green" solvents for parts washers?

This is probably terrible, but I'm usually the kind of person to just use what I have and not buy anything, thus I've lubed chains with anything from spray-on white lithium grease to thick purple valvoline grease in a can. The latter causes almost immediate gunking up issues and I don't do it anymore. But as for how often, its pretty much whenever i look at the chain and it don't look so good anymore.

I apply plain old 10W40 from a squirt can, every couple of weeks, scraping off the dirt and caked-on gunk beforehand. I think I'd do a better job applying it with an old toothbrush, though.

Some say not to use WD40 as a lube.

I use WD40 as a degreaser, and various different brands of lube, depending on availability and price. I've never found any one lube to be particularly better or worse than any other. If I've let things get particularly bad, I'll use some Tri-flow degreaser. That's more of a PITA to clean up than WD40, which is why I don't use it more often.

You mention that you put lubricant on regularly. Be sure to clean the chain first, and wipe off excess afterwards. Just adding more lubricant only helps it collect more gunk, which shortens the lifetime of the chain.

As for how often, ==everyone on variability. The best thing is to check it - if it looks really gunky, it needs attention. Making noises, not moving freely, etc, - needs attention. One short ride in the rain on a trail does more to gunk up my chain than a week of long road rides in good weather.

ok, so what exactly is in chain lube? More importantly, what are the goals of chain lube (and how do those ingredients accomplish them)? I know that proprietary ingredients will be an issue, but... lets just say I tend not to trust the words of people who's job it is to sell a product (the back of the bottle, salesmen, etc). Of course they're going to tell me their space-age polymers are cutting edge lubrication technology, increase the life of the chain, and make maintenance or repairs easier the more you use. They're not going to tell me to use sparingly or less often than whatever I think I should unless they have to in order to avoid lawsuits.

I have a friend with a chain saw who used a special oil lubricant (every use, when finished) until he figured out that it's basically a canola oil, so now he uses that (but pays way less). Chainsaws are not bicycles, I know.

WD40, in my experience with other things, works great at first and over time makes things like this more likely to sieze. I used to think I knew why, I've forgotten even that much (something about the way the propellant drives off heavier weight lube... man I used to be smart, now not so much).

A clean and quiet chain, like neat handlebar tape, is important because it lets other people know you take care of your bike.

The topic of chain cleaning and lubrication has been discussed at great length elsewhere.

wd40 is not a lubricant. It was never designed to be a lubricant. It has decent penetrating properties and works pretty good as a cleaner, but is too light to lubricate well. If you reapply every week or two then you are probably ok, but just sayin..

Having a clean well lubed drivetrain improves shifting (if you have gears) and if your drivetrain is gunky enough, you will lose power, so it helps with that too. Like changing the oil in your car, keep it clean and lubed, and it will run better and last longer.

For me its mostly about taking care of your stuff. I ask a lot of my bike and to make sure it can do what I ask, I take care of it. Just boils down to respecting your stuff.

EDIT: Also, I currently use pedros go (canola based, biodegradable, etc) but an going to try prolink. It builds up less than go and cleans easier.

What netviln said. Using wd40 to lube your chain does the exact opposite of what you want it to.

Wd40 stands for "water displacement formula 40", though it's doubtful that there were 39 versions prior. It's very good at sneaking into crevices and getting under the water to prevent rust. You should follow up with a more durable lube after it dries, though.

So, what's in all these fancy-schmancy formulas that make them ohsomuchbetter than slapping on some plain old 10W40? For the use I put it to -- 20 to 50 miles a week on mainly roads, here & there a mile or 3 of trail?

Depends on the lube in question. The easy answer is wax - chain lubes are usually much higher in wax than motor oil.

10w40 , the sort of stuff you might put in a combustion engine, is built for a completely different situation than you'll see on a bike. As it heats up, its ability to protect components from damage via friction increases. 10w40 specifically is thicker than say a 5w, which considering the average temp of a moving bike chain, would make more sense, if any.

When you lube up a bike chain however, the goal is to get cold lube into bushings, rivets and links. There is very little heat involved in the life of a bike chain when compared to an engine. The short end of it is that 10w40 wont get into the nooks and crannies you need it to, and for the bits it is coating, its not tuned for the right amount of protection at operating temperatures.

10W40 is a good lubricant, but (a) doesn't penetrate well, and (b) is pretty sticky so accumulates road grime. 90W gear oil is an even better lubricant, but even worse on those counts.

My preferred chain lubes contain a penetrating solvent that evaporates, leaving the lubrication inside where it's needed, and are easy to wipe off the outside so it doesn't get too gunked up.

I ride 5-6k+ miles per year, and one $8 bottle lasts me about 18 months. I buy the good stuff and don't worry about it.

ejwme, bar and chain oil isn't a bad lubricant for bicycle chains. it's the right weight and has anti-fling properties. that being said, the type of oil you use is much less significant than how clean you keep the chain.

thick lubes will last longer but attract grit and retain the particles of worn drive train. i don't recommend them for pittsburgh slop weather and dirty streets.

thin lubes do not attract as much grit but will wear off sooner. stuff like teflon or silicone sprays.

wd40 is not a lube it is a water displacer and OK penetrant and not much else. you'd probably have similar results using rubbing alcohol as "lube".

i find switching up between tri-flow and whatever silicone-based lube kraynicks or iron city stocks keeps everything working nicely. i get about 4-6 months out of a chain on the bike i ride about 60-70 miles per week.

As someone who just slacked off on chain maintenance myself

I use ProGold

http://www.progoldmfr.com/products/prolink.html

I know they have it at Performance, Trek, not sure where else in the city

Your chain should have a wet look. When it looks dry, you should apply more lubricant. When it is dry or the lube has been washed away, the chain will become increasingly noisy and as somebody else noticed, the links will start to get stuck in position and won't pivot freely

Lots of great info - and various opinions - thanks.

I've been using Finish Line Dry Teflon - REI product.

There were several mentions of chain replacement - what are the indicators that your chain needs to be replaced (other than the obvious broken links)?

You're supposed to replace the chain when it has "stretched" by 1%, which you can check with a ruler or using one of these:

http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=5&item=CC-3