Do you oil your chain?

[jimboalee]

I just been into Harbourne Cycle Surgery in Birmingham.

Ahead of me in the queue was this guy with a Dawes Horizon, 2008 model, blue with canti brakes.
The guy had fixed a puncture by putting in a new tube, but couldn't get the inflated tyre past the brake blocks. The mechanic showed the guy how to unhitch the stradle cable ???????????????? That's just a by-the-way.

When the mechanic lifted the bike up, the chain was as rusty as Old Nick.

Then another guy came in with a six speed Brompton. 2 sprockets on a 3 speed hub. His chain was liberally splattered with thick grease.

In the space of ten minutes, I saw both ends of the spectrum.
You pays ya money,,, etc etc.

 

[peanut]

I just been into Harbourne Cycle Surgery in Birmingham.


When the mechanic lifted the bike up, the chain was as rusty as Old Nick.

Then another guy came in with a six speed Brompton. 2 sprockets on a 3 speed hub. His chain was liberally splattered with thick grease.

In the space of ten minutes, I saw both ends of the spectrum.
You pays ya money,,, etc etc.

thats all very well but without knowing how the bikes were looked after and serviced that is a meaningless comparison

. i've never smothered a chain and cassette with oil in 30+ years of cycling and I've never seen any rust on any of my chains.
HoweverI always dry my bike off after a ride and they have always been kept in a heated room of the house . A lot of riders just chuck their bikes in a shed after a ride and wonder why their bikes get rusty ?

 

[jimboalee]

At Harbourne Cycle Surgery, I spent £20 on a new chain. This photo shows the old one after 10,500 miles over 2 years service.

I propped the bike up my kitchen wall to let the light shine through. This is about as bad as it should get. Save this photo to remember a well worn chain.
The casette was OK. Wear on the 'popular' sprockets was fine.

 

[mickle]

Now then - this WD-40 in Cycling Plus 'furore'...it was written by a man with nearly 30 years experience as a bike mechanic and rider. He does know his stuff - even if it's a controversial view...

Who? Don't make me go out and buy a copy.

 

[dodgy]

I've just read the Cycling plus article, and to be fair, WD40 (and GT85) were not being pushed as a chain specific lube, the WD40 was voted as 'best all round' lubricant (or similar wording). I'd agree with that, really.

Dave.

 

[mickle]

*sobs*

 

[peanut]

At Harbourne Cycle Surgery, I spent £20 on a new chain. This photo shows the old one after 10,500 miles over 2 years service.

Its too out of focus to see much. If you download google's `picassa '
http://picasa.google.com/you get a free image editor which can crop, resize ,lighten and generally edit your images. It will also collect every image on your hard drive and put them into a thumbnail gallery for easy location and reference.
I think the chainrings on a Shimano Sora are steel ?which is the only chainset I know of that doesn't use Aluminium so there is a potential for the chainrings to rust

 

[notthebuzzard]

Go on Mickle, go and buy it!

 

[jimboalee]

Yeh, the rings on Sora are steel.
They've a thin, almost imperceptible choming ( low cost ). Before the bike got to roll down the road, all surfaces, including the plastic ones were given a dose of Simoniz Original Wax polish.

WD 40, I believe, is a de-greaser / release compound as well as a water repellent. It does not get anywhere near my bikes. Spray the chain with that stuff and you wash the factory fitted lube out of the chain. I think this has been said before.

You may scoff at my unconventional methods. What is required on a chain is something that will keep the water out, and the lube in. I call on the assistance of Mr Sheen to help. Spray furniture polish. Provides a weather proof seal and coats the metal with a water repellent. It dries and is not sticky.
Now I’m telling all my secrets. “Keep them” I hear you all shout.

 

[peanut]

Before the bike got to roll down the road, all surfaces, including the plastic ones were given a dose of Simoniz Original Wax polish.


.

bet you are real handy around the house Jimbo

 

[jimboalee]

Nope, "A tidy house is the sign of a wasted life".

 

[andy_wrx]

OK, to let Mickle out of his misery...

C+ Dec 2008, p116 'Six of the Best Lubes'.

Best all-weather wet : Finish Line Cross Country Wet

Best all-weather dry : Weldtite TF2 Dry Wax

Best all-purpose grease : Weldtite Bike Grease With Teflon

Best high-tech carbon assembly paste : PACE RC005 Carbon Composite Shield

Best all-purpose spray lube : WD-40
It took 40 attempts to get this water displacing formula right, back in 1953. Today it's the mechanic's trusted friend. It's a secret mix of petroleum distillates, and repeated application leaves a yellowish coating that provides excellent corrosion protection - to remove the build-up you just use more WD! WD-40 frees seized parts, and can be used as a daily chain lube. If you park your bikes outside, or you only want to have one bottle of lube around the house, this is the one to go for.

Best thin and dry spray lube for fine tolerances : GT85
When you need a clean lube that won't attract dirt or gunk, like in the tight spaces between pivot points on derailleur parallelograms, GT85 is what you need. Containing PTFE, a non-stick Teflon type product, GT85 fulfills a similar brief to WD040 (and smells sweeter): it displaces moisture, but doesn't accumulate as quickly, and runs a fair bit dryer. And it works really well for cleaning white handlebar tape too!


No byline, so can't tell if it's your mate Vincent...
But there's a workshop piece on the page opposite about how to use each of these lubes attributed to George Ramelkamp and featuring the same syntax and grammar - so it's either his or the same sub-ed's been loose on both pieces

 

[Steve Austin]

I've just read the Cycling plus article, and to be fair, WD40 (and GT85) were not being pushed as a chain specific lube, the WD40 was voted as 'best all round' lubricant (or similar wording). I'd agree with that, really.

Dave.

WHAT?!?!?!? Better than cottage cheese? I don't believe it.....

 

[mickle]

Aha, Ramelcamp eh? I used to work with him! I wonder if he still drives that lovely old white Renault 4. Lovely bloke. We high-fived each other going in opposite directions on the bike path one day, it hurt like fcuk!

Thank you Andy.

 

[numbnuts]

So it’s take 11 pages of discussion to find out WD40 is a lubricant, well thanks God for that