Chain Lube or Plain Engine Oil

[Edge705]

I regularly lube my chain lightly in fact every week it gets a wipe and the sprockets get a clean However reapplying the lube is becoming expensive Ive done about 6 bottles in a year (and beleive me Im only lightly lubing on each knuckle both top and bottom but these lubes cost anything up to 6 quid a peice and come in the tiny'est of bottles

is there any reason why you cant use plain old engine oil or a cheaper equivelent?.

 

[Alun]

Don't think engine oil would be much good, other than being better than nothing. 3 in 1 is quite cheap, but you probably need to oil the chain more frequently. I was going to try chainsaw oil but I haven't seen any for a while.

 

[numbnuts]

Here we go again, I use WD40

 

[potsy]

I use whatever's lying about when I'm at work
And sometimes a WD40-a-like spray too

 

[Crackedheadset]

Engine oil is to heavy.

And why are you re-lubing after giving the chain and sprockets a quick wipe down? There's no need if you are just getting rid of some excess dirt with a cloth.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Although motor oil has a viscosity which would seem to make it suitable for chain use. the molecular structure of engine oil is designed to resist high sheer loads in an engine. On a chain you do not have sheer but rotational friction inside the roller at the pin. That is actually the place that the lubrication is necessary. The very reason why chain lubricants are made to penetrate is the outside needs no lubrication.

Remember engine oil is designed to film away from components to remove dirt and impurities which are taken to the filter as such your chain will likely fling it away, along with any lubrication properties.

Simply not a good idea, they are designed for different purposes.

 

[Andy_R]

Don't think engine oil would be much good, other than being better than nothing. 3 in 1 is quite cheap, but you probably need to oil the chain more frequently. I was going to try chainsaw oil but I haven't seen any for a while.

+1 for chainsaw oil. B&Q - 1ltr £8.49

 

[Globalti]

Hmmm... chainsaw oil, you say? Got plenty of that but never considered using it on the bike chain.

Deffo not engine oil, it's too thick and sticky and will clog up the chain with dirt.

 

[Scoosh]

After reading some very good reviews, I've started using Chain-L and have been pretty impressed thus far (4-6 weeks).

It is certainly very quiet and I am resisting the temptation to re-lube after each ride - which is not as easy as it may seem.

Last year or two, I was using Prolink Gold, which kept the chain very nice and clean but disappeared in the wet.

For the best advice on chain lubing, read the article in Cyclorama.

HTH

 

[Edge705]

What a good thread and blow me down chainsaw oil of course its lubricating a chain - Thanks for the reply's chaps its been bugging me this one i think the specialist bike oils are a rip off and given that the chain is replaced every 3000 miles I figure long term it cant do much damage

Engine oil is to heavy.

And why are you re-lubing after giving the chain and sprockets a quick wipe down? There's no need if you are just getting rid of some excess dirt with a cloth.

I commute 28 miles a day the chain becomes very dirty by the weeks end as does the sprockets and rings i notice a big difference in shifting on a clean sprocket than dirty one. Besides I need an excuse to dissaper in the garage for a couple of hours especialy when that britains got no talent strictly come dancing on ice rubbish is on the telly

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I used engine oil for years and found it perfectly adequate in terms of lubrication but it doesn't half spatter when the chain is freshly oiled and it dries quickly so has to be reapplied frequently. If you can live with this it's fine.

I've recently started using chainsaw oil instead and that seems pretty good so far - capillaries into the chain well and hardly spatters. Used sparingly it doesn't appear to attract as much dirt either.
You do have to be sparing with it though as a little goes a long way. If you put on too much the oil goes sort of stringy as it runs though the mech making a worse mess than the engine oil.

 

[amaferanga]

On my good bikes I use Finish Line Dry lube. I like it because it's very clean and you don't get oil splats all over the back of the bike. It also lasts for a very long time - 1 large bottle that costs about £8 (I think) will last the whole summer of riding on average about 250 miles per week. It does need reapplying after a properly wet ride, but I would guess I re-lube no more than one or twice a week.

I bought some Chain L on an impulse after having read about it when I saw it in Edinburgh Bike Co-op one day and have used it on my commuting bike, but I can't say I'm that impressed. I followed all the instructions for applying it, wiped off the excess and it looked great. It does its job as an oil, but it's no better than Finish Line wet lube IME. Both last a long time when used sparingly and keep the chain quiet for a while, but both result in oil splats all over the rear of the bike no matter how carefully you remove the excess. And like the dry lube I find you need to reapply after a properly wet ride anyway.

 

[Linford]

Although motor oil has a viscosity which would seem to make it suitable for chain use. the molecular structure of engine oil is designed to resist high sheer loads in an engine. On a chain you do not have sheer but rotational friction inside the roller at the pin. That is actually the place that the lubrication is necessary. The very reason why chain lubricants are made to penetrate is the outside needs no lubrication.

Remember engine oil is designed to film away from components to remove dirt and impurities which are taken to the filter as such your chain will likely fling it away, along with any lubrication properties.

Simply not a good idea, they are designed for different purposes.

EP90

What I will add to this is that I use 10w40 semi synth in my motorbike engine which shares its oil with the gearbox. The pressures in the box are quite high, and the bike has a 15,500 rpm redline producing 125bhp at the crank, and only losing 15bhp to the whole transmission drive train to the back wheel, and whilst I'd not use a thinner oil than this, it works fine. You want the grit to fling as this will marka bearing quicker than anything

I think that EP 90 is slightly better though as it will not disperse so fast under load. I made the mstake about 25 years ago of putting Mobil1 (0W50) in a Honda CBX 750, and the gearbox refused to change gear on the downchange after about 15 miles, put the regular 10w40 back in and it solved the problem once more and the boxe change function returned to normal

 

[compo]

I agree with chainsaw oil. We used to use it on the motorbikes in the Scottoiler as it was a lot cheaper than what Scott sold, which was probably the same stuff!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

[QUOTE 1792176, member: 9609"]Does EP90 have that horrible smell like most/all gear oils. I just hate the smell of it, can't wash it out of clothes and takes several very long soaks in the bath to get it off your skin.[/quote]
Yes it does - sort of vinegary. I have tried this on one of my bikes - wasn't very impressed as it attracted loads of dirt and the chain made squelchy noises all the time. I only put a drop on each roller, same as normal.