Gear box oil for cassette/chain etc on new bike-good or bad?

[RCITGuy]

Citius, don't try to change the context of what I said.
The Engine oil itself wont wreck your drivetrain, its the crap that it is designed to attract that will grind it down and wreck it.

 

[Citius]

Any oil will attract dirt if you leave enough of it on the outside of the chain. The trick is to wipe it clean from time to time.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Horses for courses. If I have a rocket, and need to disperse water from the areas where water collects, I'll be sure and use WD-40. If I wish to lubricate a bicycle chain, I'll use chainsaw oil for mine. I've had good results with it. Many popular lubricants out there, choose your own, and may it bring you happiness, as well as a clean and well lubed chain.

 

[mrbikerboy73]

Simply take your bike chain to the local kebab shop and have them smear it with fat from a doner kebab. If my clothing is anything to go by, it will never need lubricating ever again! Garlic sauce and chillies are optional....

 

[gbb]

Use almost any oil, just wipe well after lubing.
Engine oil, dry lube, wet lube, 3 in one, etc etc...tried all sorts, makes very little difference to chain life. Mine last roughly the same whatever i use.
The only one that didnt work for me was very regular doses of WD40. I only got roughly 1/3 of my usual mileage....but did have an almost permanently sparkling chain.

 

[Padraig]

Many years ago, as a boy, I oiled my bike chain with 3-in-1 oil. In the 1980s, I noticed a spray can of chain lube in a bike shop. I bought it and used it on the chain of a bike I'd just rebuilt - a Sun Mist. It stripped the new paint off the right-hand chainstay. So I reverted to oil, but engine oil this time. I also ran a motor bike, so there was always plenty of oil to hand. Within the past few years, I've used car multigrade engine oil on bicycle chains. Only thing about that is that it seems to pick up a lot of grit. Last summer, I acquired my Bob Jackson, and set about a complete rebuild. Having done that, and fitted a new chain, I thought it was about time I took advantage of new developments in chain lubrication. I went to Halfords and bought a small dropper bottle of a certain brand of dry lube. The blurb on this claimed that it was the absolute business, race quality, etc. It seems it contains Teflon or something of the sort. It comes out looking milky. I applied this to the chain, and it seemed to be all right. Anyway, because of a minor health problem, I was obliged to lay the bike up for several months over the winter. When I got it out this spring, I was horrified to see that the chain was gummed up absolutely solid with the lube, which was black. Nothing would shift it. I contacted the manufacturers of the lube, and they were very helpful. They sent me some chain cleaner. I haven't tried this yet. I simply replaced the chain. I have the old one, still gummed up, so I might try the cleaner they sent, but I'll be staying away from expensive modern lubricants in the future. The wheel has come full circle. I bought a can of 3-in-1 oil. This seems different from what I remember as a boy. It's now much lighter in colour, and quite thin. No problems with it so far. At least, when the time comes to clean the chain, the 3-in-1 is easily soluble in either white spirit or paraffin, which the dry lube certainly wasn't.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Many years ago, as a boy, I oiled my bike chain with 3-in-1 oil. In the 1980s, I noticed a spray can of chain lube in a bike shop. I bought it and used it on the chain of a bike I'd just rebuilt - a Sun Mist. It stripped the new paint off the right-hand chainstay. So I reverted to oil, but engine oil this time. I also ran a motor bike, so there was always plenty of oil to hand. Within the past few years, I've used car multigrade engine oil on bicycle chains. Only thing about that is that it seems to pick up a lot of grit. Last summer, I acquired my Bob Jackson, and set about a complete rebuild. Having done that, and fitted a new chain, I thought it was about time I took advantage of new developments in chain lubrication. I went to Halfords and bought a small dropper bottle of a certain brand of dry lube. The blurb on this claimed that it was the absolute business, race quality, etc. It seems it contains Teflon or something of the sort. It comes out looking milky. I applied this to the chain, and it seemed to be all right. Anyway, because of a minor health problem, I was obliged to lay the bike up for several months over the winter. When I got it out this spring, I was horrified to see that the chain was gummed up absolutely solid with the lube, which was black. Nothing would shift it. I contacted the manufacturers of the lube, and they were very helpful. They sent me some chain cleaner. I haven't tried this yet. I simply replaced the chain. I have the old one, still gummed up, so I might try the cleaner they sent, but I'll be staying away from expensive modern lubricants in the future. The wheel has come full circle. I bought a can of 3-in-1 oil. This seems different from what I remember as a boy. It's now much lighter in colour, and quite thin. No problems with it so far. At least, when the time comes to clean the chain, the 3-in-1 is easily soluble in either white spirit or paraffin, which the dry lube certainly wasn't.

There are many types of 3-in-1 oil nowadays. The old type I believe was formulated as spindle oil for cloth and textile factories, so spindles wouldn't rust during shutdowns.

 

[youngoldbloke]

As I said earlier, Prolink. Just checked one of my bikes - Ultegra 11speed chain, getting on for 5000 miles, Prolink from new, checked with Park tool gauge and 12" rule - no measurable wear

 

[Padraig]

I've come across injunctions on various bike forums against using 3-in-1, because it goes gummy over time. I must say I like the 3-in-1 I'm currently using. It's light and clean. I think the secret is to wipe off the excess of whatever oil you use. It's only really needed within the chain rollers, after all, and any external coating will only cause dirt and grit to stick to the chain. For me, the big step forward has been the availability of quick-release links on chains. These make it so easy to remove the chain regularly for cleaning. Those chain rivet extractors were so fiddly that it tended to deter you from what you knew was essential maintenance.

 

[winjim]

If you look after your chain, taking it off and cleaning it is not essential maintenance. If it were essential then all chains would be removeable. Which they aren't.

 

[Padraig]

As a comparative newcomer to the forum, I have no desire to be controversial. Nor pedantic. But it seems to me that, if all chains started life off the bike, and had to be installed, they must, virtually by definition, be capable of being removed. This process has, obviously, various degrees of difficulty. In the case of the standard 3-speed, there's the good old spring link, of fond memory. Then the process using the chain rivet extractor, of less fond memory, but capable of being mastered if you work at it. Now, thank goodness, the missing link, a veritable boon to mankind (and womankind, if you insist). I've never come across a chain that wasn't capable of being removed, although such things may exist on dire children's bicycles from Walmart and the like. If there are such, I would hope they are beyond the scope of discussion on a serious cycling forum.

 

[Drago]

Try being my weight with thighs like beer kegs. To get to 2000 miles at 1% wear is extremely good going.

 

[youngoldbloke]

[QUOTE 3960210, member: 9609"]that is amazing, 5000 mile and no measurable wear![/QUOTE]
Agreed - I will buy myself a new steel rule with clean, clear marking and check again, but any stretch really is minimal

 

[winjim]

As a comparative newcomer to the forum, I have no desire to be controversial. Nor pedantic. But it seems to me that, if all chains started life off the bike, and had to be installed, they must, virtually by definition, be capable of being removed. This process has, obviously, various degrees of difficulty. In the case of the standard 3-speed, there's the good old spring link, of fond memory. Then the process using the chain rivet extractor, of less fond memory, but capable of being mastered if you work at it. Now, thank goodness, the missing link, a veritable boon to mankind (and womankind, if you insist). I've never come across a chain that wasn't capable of being removed, although such things may exist on dire childrens' bicycles from Walmart and the like. If there are such, I would hope they are beyond the scope of discussion on a serious cycling forum.

Campagnolo 11 speed for example. Requires a special tool to put on, and ain't designed to come off again*. Of course you could join it with a different manufacturer's joining link, but it's not designed for that, and in any case a KMC 11sp missing link is not designed for multiple use.

*Strictly speaking not designed to go back on again once removed.

 

[RCITGuy]

It was my understanding that none of those quick linky things were designed for on/off/on/off usage... They were only ever designed for easy on and easy/quick fix on breakages, requiring zero tools to put them on?