# Olive oil for the gears and chain?



## Accy cyclist (21 Aug 2017)

Not just olive oil but extra virgin olive oil.  I couldn't find my bike lube yesterday,so i put a spoonful of the stuff on the chain and gears. It stopped the squeaking and grinding,giving a smooth running sound. Have any of you used it on your tackle and if so what do you reckon?


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## slowmotion (21 Aug 2017)

You are Marlon Brando and ICMFP.


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## Accy cyclist (21 Aug 2017)

slowmotion said:


> ICMFP.


 Who or what is ICMFP. Slowmo?


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## slowmotion (21 Aug 2017)

Accy cyclist said:


> Who or what is ICMFP. Slowmo?


https://www.allacronyms.com/_internet_slang/ICMFP


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## raleighnut (21 Aug 2017)

slowmotion said:


> You are Marlon Brando and ICMFP.


Close but that was a pat of butter as I recall. 



Accy cyclist said:


> Not just olive oil but extra virgin olive oil.  I couldn't find my bike lube yesterday,so i put a spoonful of the stuff on the chain and gears. It stopped the squeaking and grinding,giving a smooth running sound. Have any of you used it on your tackle and if so what do you reckon?



Campagnolo runs better on it I think.


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## Shut Up Legs (21 Aug 2017)

Accy cyclist said:


> Not just olive oil but extra virgin olive oil.  I couldn't find my bike lube yesterday,so i put a spoonful of the stuff on the chain and gears. It stopped the squeaking and grinding,giving a smooth running sound. Have any of you used it on your tackle and if so what do you reckon?


It will attract dirt really well, but it's probably fine as a fallback when you have no chain oil.


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## slowmotion (21 Aug 2017)

raleighnut said:


> Close but that was a pat of butter as I recall



It was a spectacularly tedious film, wasn't it? Dreadful really.


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## Accy cyclist (21 Aug 2017)

Shut Up Legs said:


> It will attract dirt really well, but it's probably fine as a fallback when you have no chain oil.


i think all he lubricants i've used over the years have attracted dirt. I don't think it'd be bad for the chain and gears as it's obviously not bad for our digestive system.


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## slowmotion (21 Aug 2017)

Accy, are you going to wipe off the excess oil and add it to your beef stew?


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## Custom24 (21 Aug 2017)

Accy cyclist said:


> I don't think it'd be bad for the chain and gears as it's obviously not bad for our digestive system.


By the reverse reasoning, I think I will put some Finish Line on my salad for lunch


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## Deleted member 23692 (21 Aug 2017)

For the full Italian experience you could use Tagliatelle for bar tape.


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## S-Express (21 Aug 2017)

Accy cyclist said:


> Not just olive oil but extra virgin olive oil.  I couldn't find my bike lube yesterday,so i put a spoonful of the stuff on the chain and gears. It stopped the squeaking and grinding,giving a smooth running sound. Have any of you used it on your tackle and if so what do you reckon?



Fair play, just when I think your questions couldn't get any more preposterous, you always manage to find a better one...


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## alicat (21 Aug 2017)

Just pop by the doctors and mention you've been considering using washing up liquid in a front loader, adding dog food to your stew, buying a car when you need a bus pass for your poor visibility, trespassing at your ex-wife's and putting olive oil on your bike chain ...


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## alicat (21 Aug 2017)

> For the full Italian experience you could use Tagliatelle for bar tape.



Don't forget it has to be fresh egg tagliatelle not the dried stuff.


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

Olive oil isn't much use, but baby oil rubbed in by Andrea Riseborough is just great!

Edit - oh, on the bike. I see. That sort of tackle.


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## Accy cyclist (21 Aug 2017)

I know some are thinking this is another Accy Cyclist stupid question/wind up thread,but it isn't. The stuff seriously works..well it does for me! My bike was squeaking and grinding ,crying out for lubrication. Just before my ride i poured about a level tablespoonful of olive oil over the cassette,turning the rear wheel to distribute in evenly. Don't do it in the house as you'll get olive oil on your carpet. Then i simply set off and let the oil work its way over the chain and free wheel. The squeaking was gone after about 30 seconds,giving out a smooth running sound. Surely the stuff can;t do any harm to the bike as we put it into our stomachs? I know some might say it picks up grit and stuff,but so does stuff like GT85. Even the so called non oily lubes have picked up grit on my chains in the past.


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## tyred (21 Aug 2017)

Personally, I think that you'd have been better and boiled in goose fat.


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## Banjo (21 Aug 2017)

I must remember your tip about not lubing the bike on the living room carpet Accy.


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

The waterproofing oil from condor feathers is much better.

On a serious note for a moment, isn't there something in vegetable based oils that makes them prone to gumming up, and needs processing or extracting before it can be used as a lube?


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## Banjo (21 Aug 2017)

I wouldnt use it I think it will emulsify into a gooey mess first time it rains.Be ok as a get you home fix if you needed it but I would wash it off and replace with something more able to stand British weather.


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

Banjo said:


> I would wash it off and replace with something more able to stand British weather.



Goose fat.


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## Accy cyclist (21 Aug 2017)

Banjo said:


> something more able to stand British weather.


Spry crisp 'n' Dry maybe?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5kHVaqxjdo


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

Surely your bike would sizzle in the hot weather?


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## Mugshot (21 Aug 2017)

Accy cyclist said:


> a level tablespoonful of olive oil


As opposed to a heaped one?


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## Tim Hall (21 Aug 2017)

Drago said:


> Goose fat.


Woad.

Woad's the stuff to show, men
Woad to scare your foemen


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## Accy cyclist (21 Aug 2017)

Mugshot said:


> As opposed to a heaped one?


Yes good point!


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## Fab Foodie (21 Aug 2017)

Difference between mineral oil and vegetable oi is stability.
Vegetable oil will soon oxidise especially in contact with metals forming a variety if volatile compunds and gums. You know that sticky residue of old oil you get on the outside of an old veg oil container or fat fryer? That will soon be in your chain.


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## Accy cyclist (21 Aug 2017)

Drago said:


> Surely your bike would sizzle in the hot weather?


And maybe you'd get dogs chasing after you,trying to lick the chain?


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

Or hungry hobo's.


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## Profpointy (21 Aug 2017)

A friend of mine cracked the sump on his jaguat based kit car. He was up a donkey track in the wilds of spain somewhere so had to get back to somewhere sensible in pre mobile phone days. He took off the sump, lined it with plastic then refilled with his remaining engine oil plus cooking oil and butter. Got hime back to the villiage so he could do proper repair.

And to be fair to Accy using olive oil on a chain is probably one of his more sensible suggestions. But that said a cap of 3 in 1 is hardly going to break the bank. For what it's worth I use car engine oil on mine


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## Globalti (21 Aug 2017)

Baby oil would work, it's a light mineral oil and smells great.


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## gaijintendo (21 Aug 2017)

Banjo said:


> I wouldnt use it I think it will emulsify into a gooey mess first time it rains.Be ok as a get you home fix if you needed it but I would wash it off and replace with something more able to stand British weather.


^^^If you mix it with water, then whisk it with chains, you won't believe the chain's not buttered.


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

We could cut out the middle man.


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## Colin_P (21 Aug 2017)

What part of Olive Oil did you use exactly? Hope Popeye doesn't find out.


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

Accy is Bluto and ICMFP!


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## raleighnut (21 Aug 2017)

Why not use Castor Oil, that should help keep things nice and loose,

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...40.pdf&usg=AFQjCNF2Og391i9uqYctMOrZ1pA-sNMbow

They use it in racing engines.


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## jongooligan (21 Aug 2017)

Fab Foodie said:


> Difference between mineral oil and vegetable oi is stability.
> Vegetable oil will soon oxidise especially in contact with metals forming a variety if volatile compunds and gums. You know that sticky residue of old oil you get on the outside of an old veg oil container or fat fryer? That will soon be in your chain.


Yup. Did a trip across South America where there were a lot of dirt roads and no bike shops. It made chain care very difficult. There were lots of greasy joe type truck stops though so we'd clean our chains as best we could then coat them with olive oil from the greasy joe. Didn't last long but really it only had to last until the next truck stop. Did a job.


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## Dogtrousers (21 Aug 2017)

[QUOTE 4925622, member: 9609"]what about Cod lover Oil ? I rub that into my knees before a very hilly ride - ifit works for my knees I guess it would be good for the chain.[/QUOTE]
I quite like cod. Love is maybe too strong a word.


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

Oh no, he mentioned cod. Stand by for all the fish puns all over the plaice.


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## TheDoctor (21 Aug 2017)

fark me.
Every time I think he couldn't come up with a stupider idea. he does.
Poundland sell chain lube.

Yes, anything vaguely oily will work in extremis, but something made for the purpose costs a pound.


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## snorri (21 Aug 2017)

Fab Foodie said:


> Difference between mineral oil and vegetable oi is stability.
> Vegetable oil will soon oxidise especially in contact with metals forming a variety if volatile compunds and gums. You know that sticky residue of old oil you get on the outside of an old veg oil container or fat fryer? That will soon be in your chain.


Experts Pffffff...........they're so last year.


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## Drago (21 Aug 2017)

Globalti said:


> Baby oil would work, it's a light mineral oil and smells great.



I never knew that, although in fairness I'm not a baby oil user. My wonderfully soft and fragrant skin is natural.


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## Tim Hall (21 Aug 2017)

Fab Foodie said:


> You know that sticky residue of old oil you get on the outside of an old veg oil container or fat fryer? That's you, that is.


FTFY.


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## welsh dragon (21 Aug 2017)

Drago said:


> I never knew that, although in fairness I'm not a baby oil user. My wonderfully soft and fragrant skin is natural.




You mean smells like bull sh*t.


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## Globalti (21 Aug 2017)

There are many many different weights of distillates of petroleum and then probably lots of blends and deodorised versions. The lighter weights will evaporate but the heavier won't. Even diesel oil evaporates slowly.


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## Rickshaw Phil (21 Aug 2017)

So I did. Mea culpa.

Apologies to those who genuinely do want to know about the pros and cons of using olive oil. There are threads with useful information which the search function will find for you. This isn't one of them.


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