Three more chain lubing questions…

[CharlieB]

Hitherto, I've used fairly generic oil for chain lubing, doing a complete clean and relube on my commuting Brompton every 1-2 weeks, and every couple of hundred miles on either Bianchi or MTB.
I recently bought (on Evan's Cycles recommendation) a bottle of Pedro's SynLube. On closer reading of the instructions, it says clean and relube 'after every ride'.

So question one is how literally do I take that?
How long is a 'ride', according to their instructions?

And most weirdly, since using it, the rear derailleur on the Brompton is sticking a bit a lot - this has always worked perfectly in the past, as the mech is pretty simple and bomb-proof. All is moving freely and as it should.
Can a different type of lube really affect things that much?
Brompton make no specific recommendations in their manual for derailleur lube, other than the stock 'use a good quality oil'.

 

[PpPete]

Er.... take it back to Evans and ask for a refund?
It must be crap if it needs to be applied after every ride.

 

[battered]

Oil it. Ride it.

 

[CharlieB]

Cheers, guys…

…I was hoping for something a little more constructive, actually.

 

[2Loose]

The road.cc review of this stuff was more than complimentary >here< suggesting that it needs less application than anything that they had ever used.

As for sticking mech, this is probably unrelated to the lube and maybe a cable issue?

 

[zacklaws]

The road.cc review of this stuff was more than complimentary >here< suggesting that it needs less application than anything that they had ever used.

If you also look at the review for Chain-l on the same site that they reviewed before Pedro's, they get 750 to a 1000 miles between lubes as opposed to only 500 miles for Pedro's.

I started using Chain-l last week and so far I am impressed with it, it quietend down the drive train better than anything I have used previously and spent I 5 hours in torrential rain on Sunday riding and the chain was still quiet and smooth changing at the end. When I got round to checking the chain a couple of days later, I found the chain had rusted on some of the side plates and some of the rollers, but none had been applied to the side plates to start with, but the drive train was still quiet and there was still plenty of lube around the side of the rollers so it had not washed off as much as I thought.

 

[2Loose]

If you also look at the review for Chain-l on the same site that they reviewed before Pedro's, they get 750 to a 1000 miles between lubes as opposed to only 500 miles for Pedro's.

Also heard very good things about that stuff too. Maybe when I empty my FinishLine wet I'll give one of them a go.

 

[battered]

Cheers, guys…

…I was hoping for something a little more constructive, actually.

That IS constructive. Too many people, here and elsewhere, get hung up on which snake oil chain lube they should use, how often they should clean it off, and all the rest. Some poor sod on here the other day was upset that his bike had been out for 40 miles in the wet, washed off the lube and done a lot of it with no lube on the chain. The horror of it.

It's a bicycle. The main event is riding it. It will from time to time get wet, dirty and anything with mechanical parts exposed to the weather will eventually wear out. Just put lube on when it looks a bit dry, and you'll be fine. As for the oil manufacturer suggesting you should use their oil "after every ride" you may remember what Mandy Rice Davies once very famously said: "He would say that, wouldn't he?"

Onto your shifter, that has nothing to do with your choice of oil, it's something else, probably a sticking cable. You could lube the shifters with recycled chip fat and it would work the same.

 

[Alun]

As for the oil manufacturer suggesting you should use their oil "after every ride" you may remember what Mandy Rice Davies once very famously said: "He would say that, wouldn't he?"

I don't think she was talking about oiling bicycle chains, though!

 

[PpPete]

I don't think she was talking about oiling bicycle chains, though!

Riding yes - bicycles no

 

[Crepello]

I don't know what this Pedros lube is like, but if it is a thick lube, it's not actually beyound the realms of possibility that the gear changes could become sticky, especially if too much is used.

What you need is a lube that you can put on and forget, adding a little more when necessary. To be having to clean the drive train every couple of weeks or 200 miles - life's too short, unless it's yer sunday best!

I use Motorex Bikeline Wet lube.