# Chain Lube , what do you use!!!



## neil earley (16 Nov 2012)

Hi just wondering how you clean and lube your chain. There is quite varied opinions On B.R.O.L. bentridersonline as our cousins across the pond use from chain saw oil to nothing but WD40. So how do you maintain your chain! I use white spirit to clean using a brush and then wipe down untill dry with a clean rag , finish off with white lightening applled on rollers of chain then again wiped with a clean rag. Bit time consuming but think its worth doing.


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## musa (16 Nov 2012)

Give the forum a search been covered quite a lot. Anything will do.


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## slowmotion (17 Nov 2012)

Type "Mickle" in the Search box, top right.


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## neil earley (17 Nov 2012)

Ta for the thread will look at the mickle and see what its about.


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## Scoosh (17 Nov 2012)

It's here !


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## neil earley (17 Nov 2012)

Thanks once again think I will do the mickle method , still interested in which lubes people use as these bent chains are soooo long


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## snorri (17 Nov 2012)

I found a can of engine oil in the shed, so that's what I'm using just now, it's better than dumping the oil down the drain, but it's important to put an old mat under the bike to catch the drips when its parked for a bit.


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## byegad (17 Nov 2012)

I'm using chainsaw oil. Applied to a new chain it seems to be better than anything else I've used at staying on the chain, not picking up dirt and chain life seems at least 1000 miles more than I was getting from conventional lubes.


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## starhawk (19 Nov 2012)

To be honest. I have never ever lubed a chain. Never had a problem with them either. I have never changed the chain on any of the bicycles I have had over the years. It just is there and it works so why bother?


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## smokeysmoo (19 Nov 2012)

+1 for chainsaw oil. Excellent results and excellent VFM compared to bike specific chain lubes.


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## Cubist (19 Nov 2012)

starhawk said:


> To be honest. I have never ever lubed a chain. Never had a problem with them either. I have never changed the chain on any of the bicycles I have had over the years. It just is there and it works so why bother?


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## Stonepark (19 Nov 2012)

Chainsaw lube for me as well, designed for tensioned chains spinning at 11m/s and inexpensive compared to bike lube.


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## neil earley (19 Nov 2012)

Seems chainsaw oil as a good following on here, will def give it a go!


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## BlackPanther (19 Nov 2012)

I use 'Finish Line Cross Country Wet Lubricant'. 25% off at chainreactioncycles at the mo.

I'd really recommend using a cleaning tool. My 'Park' chain cleaner (35% off) takes 30 seconds, and leaves it looking like new and it has a magnet to remove all the metal shards.

Oh, and at there's an extra 10% off at the moment at chainreactioncycles, code 'NET10'.


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## bubbles3 (19 Nov 2012)

neil earley said:


> Hi just wondering how you clean and lube your chain. There is quite varied opinions On B.R.O.L. bentridersonline as our cousins across the pond use from chain saw oil to nothing but WD40. So how do you maintain your chain! I use white spirit to clean using a brush and then wipe down untill dry with a clean rag , finish off with white lightening applled on rollers of chain then again wiped with a clean rag. Bit time consuming but think its worth doing.


 
LIke yourself i use white spirit and a small paint brush, then cotton buds to get any other muck out from between the chain links. Until recently i used Muc of dry lube but the mechanic who fixes my bike said it was making the chain very stiff. He sold me a can of piranah aerosol lube. it seems to do the job, despite putting a bit to much on the first time i used it!! It has the added advantage of having a little pipe on the nossle so i can get the lube into more awkward areas.


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## compo (20 Nov 2012)

I recently tried chainsaw oil. I even bought a nice little oil can with a bendy spout so I wouldn't over oil the chain. It seems that no matter how little I use it sprays off like the sparks from a catherine wheel, is very stringy and deposits over the wheel and stays. So if anyone wants a full 1 litre bottle, less a tiny bit, of fresh, good quality chainsaw oil and can collect from Harlow you are welcome to it!


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## Cubist (20 Nov 2012)

Dry ceramic wax. That is all. 

Wet lube is Satan's jizzm.


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## Steve Jones (21 Nov 2012)

I use Putoline chain wax

http://www.putoline.com/en/products...roducts/chain-maintenance-products/chain-wax/

This is an old-fashioned technique of using holt-melt wax (this one with graphite additive). Whilst it is described as a wax, it's clearly not simple paraffin wax (the base of many home-brewed hot wax treatments) as it is very sticky. On my road bike it seems to last and last, and doesn't seem to wash off. At 600 miles it's still working fine, although by then I take the chain off to clean it. Examination of the PowerLink shows there is still plenty of lubricant on the pins at that mileage.

My regime is to have two chains on the go and to swap them over after about 5-600 miles (I suspect I could go a lot longer). The one I take off I give a good clean and degrease, allow to dry thoroughly and then give it the hot wax treatment making sure it's all properly melted with the chain immersed for a good 10 mins (and the odd stir). Then I fish the chain out, allow excess to drip off and then wipe off excess using kitchen towel (excess on the outside will just attract dirt and does nothing for lubrication). After that, it goes into storage for the next swap. Of course you could use the one chain, but I prefer to allow a good 24 hours for drying, so find it convenient to swap chains. I don't need to use any lubricant between swap, but I did used to carry a small bottle of lube just in case it started squeaking (I've now given that up). 

Of course this only makes sense using PowerLinks or equivalent. Breaking a chain (or using one-off links) isn't such a great idea. Off-road users might find they would have to clean the chain a lot more frequently, so it might be less suitable (use of an on-bike degreaser would clearly not be compatible with this regime).

Done this way, the drive chain, cassette and chainrings remain very clean, comparable to wax-based lubricants. However, I found the latter unsatisfactory as it was necessary to relube very frequently, especially in the rain. I've not yet detected any chain wear after about 3k miles, but I'll see.

Whilst the initial purchase is quite expensive (about £25), that's for 1Kg which is enough to last several lifetimes.


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## tricksta (10 Feb 2013)

Just tried paraffin wax bath,
See my post
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/what-oil-for-simmering-chain-in.118080


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## Cycleops (10 Feb 2013)

Strange how advise changes down the years. I have a 1981 cycle maintainance book that advocates first cleaning in kerosene and applying heavy gear oil. The guy talks about five years on one Regina chain but I don't know if that is down to better quality chain or the lubrication. I use Brunox Top-Kett which is quite thin but seems to work. Have also used a hot wax bath on motorcycle chains years ago and this was effective.


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## mickle (10 Feb 2013)

Oh lordy.


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