Do you oil your chain?

[mickle]

How the hell did you come to that conclusion?? Put it this way, my brother who works for Bentley as a technician and knows a thing or two about metal reckons that WD40 is so nasty that he wont even use it on the rusty hinges of his outhouse door. I only have it in my workshop because it's the best thing for removing stickers from frames.

It may well be a 'lubricant' but for any working surfaces which you might consider it there's always a much better alternative.

 

[peanut]

How the hell did you come to that conclusion??

It may well be a 'lubricant' but for any working surfaces which you might consider it there's always a much better alternative.

guess that just about sums it up really.

`It may be a lubricant but not as we know it Jim'

If you have a choice of lubricants why would anyone in their right minds choose to use WD40 above all others ?

space for numbnuts to answer [......]

 

[numbnuts]

space for numbnuts to answer [......]

space for numbnuts to answer [6500 miles out of my chains]

 

[peanut]

space for numbnuts to answer [6500 miles out of my chains]

Are you planning on getting a new chain this millennia ?

 

[Fab Foodie]

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



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.

OK, I may be being a bit semantic here, but I think the key word here is DAILY (well and also can as opposed to anything more forceful).
IMO, WD40 is a great solvent with mild short-term lubing capability, I think the word DAILY is important as it's lubing effect will not last much longer. Experience shows this to be the case with other lubing jobs around the house where simple oil is far more effective in long-term performance.

I'm becoming of the opinion that chains don't need a great deal of lube, there's not vast amounts of movement going through them and agree that chainrings and cassettes need very little too, so just a thin layer to keep it all quiet and smooth is fine. I don't subscribe to the grinding paste argument of heavily lubed chains either.

I'll go with the KMC advice/Mickle method and keep using that, every so often as required depending on bike use, no solvents required, no daily application.

Chain life it seems would be a great college project...


BTW, not just bicycles where the debate rages, plenty on motorcycles too...

Subject: Chain lubing and WD40
From: vfr@xxxxxxxxxxx at INTERNET
Date: 1/19/96 7:36 AM


Hi all, been almost lurking a while but had some time today.

One note about WD40 is that it is not a 'lubricant' for anything other
than light loads and corrosion protection coating. Also, it has some
kerosene in it, which is what makes it so good for cleaning things. In
my opinion, it should only be used for cleaning (I use straight
kerosene because I don't want to risk the propelants) and not for lubing.

O-ring chains do have lubricant in them, as discussed on this list before,
but that lube is only for the internal pivot points of the chain. That
lube will NOT protect the external wear surfaces (between plates and
sprocket contact) and an additional lubricant is required. One that
has enough body to stay on, and that is safe for o-rings. Going without
lubricant will only accelerate wear of all components and let things
rust.....leading to kinks and binding and all those other bad things.

As for not lubing a chain for off-road competition, I would agree with
that because the added grit you pick up in the dirt would add heavily
to wear. And typically these chains are cleaned and lightly lubed (WD40)
between races/events, and the chains are not expected to last 20K miles.

This does not work on the street where the grit level is much reduced,
and longevity is of concern. A lube (correct for o-rings whether
wax or oil or spray lube) is required. Yes, this will pick up some
grit and debris, but that is why cleaning is recommended. Both must
occur, and they require different products.

Just my opinion.

Carl, 94 VFR

 

[Fab Foodie]

Oh, and more... from Wiki of course

Formulation
WD-40's main ingredients, according to U.S. Material Safety Data Sheet information, are:

50%: Stoddard solvent (i.e., mineral spirits -- primarily hexane, somewhat similar to kerosene)
25%: Liquefied petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant; carbon dioxide is now used instead to reduce WD-40's considerable flammability)
15+%: Mineral oil (light lubricating oil)
10-%: Inert ingredients
The German version of the mandatory EU safety sheet lists the following safety relevant ingredients:

60-80%: Heavy Naphtha (petroleum product), hydrogen treated
1-5%: Carbon dioxide

Stoddard Solvent is white spirit.

So, WD40 is just over 15% mineral oil (light-lube), mostly white sprit and some propellant. This would suggest that for frequent use it's probably OK.

 

[Randochap]

Mickle brought it up earlier, but it bears repeating: What about material safety concerns?

As a two-time cancer survivor (was it the years of photo chemies, or the chain lube ... or plastic water bottles ... or ... growing up in Wolverampton?) :-)

There are some excellent wax-based lubes around, like Boeshield, but I wouldn't open a bottle in the house! I lean towards the Finish Line stuff, which seems the most innocuous of the lot.

Anyway, oil your chain ... and keep it clean (using citrus degreaser).

and WD-40 doesn't count

 

[jimboalee]

No Randochap, it wasn't the plastics, chemicals or growing up in Wolverhampton, it was riding in the rain, the week after Chernobyl. As happened to my Mum.

 

[mickle]

No Randochap, it wasn't the plastics, chemicals or growing up in Wolverhampton, it was riding in the rain, the week after Chernobyl. As happened to my Mum.

Me too, lost a bollock.

 

[dodgy]

Sometimes it's difficult to differentiate reality from humour on this forum.

 

[Randochap]

No Randochap, it wasn't the plastics, chemicals or growing up in Wolverhampton, it was riding in the rain, the week after Chernobyl. As happened to my Mum.

I dunno, I think Brum and Wolves have their own little unspoken Chernobyl going on. All those old factory sites ...

Very high cancer and illness rates among the rellies still there.

I was living in Vancouver, B.C. when the Russian reactor melted. Still, that cloud went 'round the world. Incedentally, my dad helped build Dounreay.

Now, what were we saying about chain lube?

 

[yello]

There's always something verging on the surreal with jimboalee's posts.

 

[andrew_s]

It never ceases to amaze me how many cyclists oil their chains .
<snip>
Heres what it should look like . Completely bone dry, as new. I guarantee your transmission will run and sound a lot better

The chain may look completely bone dry, as new, but so does the rest of the bike. Has it ever been used outside in the weather?

I can't be bothered to read all 13 pages, but in my experience if you don't oil a chain it gets noisy. My favoured method is a small drip of Finish Line Wet on each roller (along the top of the lower run = inside, clean half), run the chain round a few pedal revs, leave for a while (if I've got time), then run through a cloth to wipe off all the excess. Then leave it until next time I notice the noise.

Here's an example of a chain that's been oiled regularly, never cleaned, and used for far too long. I could see the gaps between the chain and chainring in the shadow whilst riding alone next to the bike.

 

[summerdays]

Errr..playdoh, plasticine, lawn cuttings, tomato sauce...sod it. I havnt got any of those. Spose i'll just have to make do with oil for now then....

I once saw a kids bike with some white stuff smeared liberally over chain, sprockets etc. I couldn't help myself and had to ask ... he had been told to lubricate his chain - so he and his dad used LARD!!!

 

[jimboalee]

I was cycling past a bus stop, and a cheeky young lad shouted -
"What d'ya oil yer chain with, Mister?"

So I shouted back, "Melted down little boy".