Chain Lube or Plain Engine Oil

[Scilly Suffolk]

FYI.

 

[subaqua]

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.

stale cat pee was how the smell was desribed to me by my dad many years ago. aaah the memories of standing a gear oil bottle in hot water to make it easier to squirt into the gearbox filler hole.

 

[Linford]

[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]

I'd have to agree with this. It does pong a bit

 

[slowmotion]

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

Get hold of a plastic disposable syringe and an 18 gauge hypodermic needle. Use them to put drops of Finish Line Wet lube onto the ends of each chain roller. You can do a whole chain for about 1.5 mL. A 120mL bottle of FL costs about £6. Do the math, as they say....

 

[gbb]

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.

+1.
Unsuitable, not designed for the purpose...perhaps, but i've been logging different chains, mileage and lubrication used for my last 4 chains....its made NO difference (noticeable difference) to the life of a chain whatever lube i used (engine oil or finish Line). The only one that did poorly was one i experimented on using WD40. That wore noticeably quicker than the others.

Finish Line i found left the chain black quite quickly.
Engine oil, while very cheap did leave everything spattered in oil, however much i wiped it after oiling.

I'm going to try the chainsaw oil

 

[Gareth]

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

Chainsaw oil will not do the job as it is a dilantant lubricant. The more pressure it is put under the stiffer it will become and the less likely it will be thrown from the chain. At a stand still it will just seep away with gravity.

 

[slowmotion]

[QUOTE 1792338, member: 9609"]Equating in the minimum wage and an oiling once per week - that works out about £636 per year[/quote]

I gently suggest that you re-take that maths GCSE, dude.

EDIT: I think I missed something....sorry... no offence meant at all.

 

[Linford]

WD40 is a definite no-no on a chain, the solvent washes any heavier oil or grease out of the links.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Chainsaw oil will not do the job as it is a dilantant lubricant. The more pressure it is put under the stiffer it will become and the less likely it will be thrown from the chain. At a stand still it will just seep away with gravity.

After reading this I went out to check my knockabout bike which has stood unused for a week since it was last cleaned and re-oiled. There is no sign at all of the oil having seeped away - the rollers clearly still have oil in them and there are no marks of oil under the bike or indications of drips forming or having formed on the underside of the chain.

 

[compo]

Chainsaw oil will not do the job as it is a dilantant lubricant. The more pressure it is put under the stiffer it will become and the less likely it will be thrown from the chain. At a stand still it will just seep away with gravity.

This spray is advertised as a dilatant lubricant and is specifically advertised for chains, including bicycle chains.

http://www.motipdupli.de/?L=2&id=944

 

[compo]

+1 for chainsaw oil. B&Q - 1ltr £8.49

On my ride this morning I stopped of at a branch of Earnest Doe agricultural merchants and bought a litre of Husquvana chain saw oil for £4:49. I reckon that should do me about 20 years!

 

[Drago]

[QUOTE 1792353, member: 9609"]Just going a little off topic, or may be not since gear oil is getting a mention. Up until the early 1970's the vast majority, if not all of the cars and lorries in the world used Whale Oil for gearboxes and transmission. The stuff was that good that it never needed changing and would last the life of the vehicle. When killing Whales become a bit of a no no, we started using mineral oil, gearbox failure become common place. We now add Sulpher and other stuff to improve the mineral oils (hence the horrible smell) but it is still thought not to be as good as Whale Oil.

Would certainly shed cyclists in a different light if we demanded to started whaling again just so as we could look after our bicycle chains a little better.[/quote]
PJ1 motorcycle chain lube used to contain whale sperm. I kid ye not.

 

[gbb]

PJ1 motorcycle chain lube used to contain whale sperm. I kid ye not.

Bleuchhhh

 

[smokeysmoo]

Another vote for chainsaw oil. I'm using THIS at the moment

 

[compo]

Another vote for chainsaw oil. I'm using THIS at the moment

Do you use it as per Mickle, ie, wipe clean the chain then apply a drop on each roller then wipe off surplus once it has had time to penetrate.
Thanks.