Wet-climate chain lube

[Patrick Moore]

Kent Peterson liked the imaginatively named “Chain-L” that worked well in Pacific NW weather and didn’t get too dirty. His first bottle lasted him 14 years of high-mileage riding and just ran out.

He thinks that “Chain-L” might simply be chainsaw oil and that’s cheap for a quart.

Some years ago when Deacon Patrick abounded on this list, he suggested chainsaw oil for bike chain lubrication, and I bought a quart. Man, does it cling! Like a needy toddler. Unfortunately, while it might be relatively clean for a “wet” lube, it certainly does attract dry sandy dirt — I tried it once, the chain immediately got covered in grit, and I had a heckofa time getting the stuff off my chain. I want back to expensive proprietary waxes, Purple-something, and, latest, Smoove.

But if it clings so well to a chain it ought to work very well with small internal parts, so I use it to lubricate my various internal gear hubs, those that have oil ports. I expect 500K miles out of each hub.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.

[Bill Gibson]

How I love chain lube discussions. I, too, used Chain-L and still have plenty, but I think lubrication is a science, and science moves on. So, it is Silca wax deluxe for me now. Of course, I currently reside in Arizona...But maybe Chain-L is/was a kind of repackaged gear lubricant. I always felt that bicycle bearings should be filled with gear oil, except maybe the headset. As I may have once mentioned on the internet, I used to cut gear oil with white gas to lube a chain, because of viscosity, following the instructions of the the great author of the always controversial Effective Cycling, John Forrester, who passed on this and other gems of British Cycling lore to this former Texan. All his bikes seemed to have oiler holes and caps added. So much of his lore has passed into history as conditions on the roads change, and new research reveals new truth. Such as: a quiet chain is not always a well lubed chain, and a noisy chain is not always out of lube, and many lubes create a grinding paste that erodes components faster than no lube at all. Sort of like narrow high pressure tires and wide supple tires are not what we all thought they were!

Bill Gibson
Tempe, Arizona, USA

My Photographs : https://billbgibson.myportfolio.com/ and on Behance: https://www.behance.net/BillGibson

If you like my photographs, buy me a coffee!

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[Garth]

I have some Chain-L which is to me more tacky than chainsaw oil that I've ever seen. The smell is very strong, and it doesn't go away. Way stinkier than chainsaw oil. Not good if you store your bike inside, even with an attached garage. I mean it's really strong, and I can't emphasize that enough. Stink-o-rama, it penetrates walls  ! I stopped using it mostly for that.  I use a lighter lube that I apply more often and wipe frequently. I'm not out in the rain much, or dirt. For that I'd rather use a drip wax is a petrol base like White Lightning Clean Ride. Otherwise I've been using Tri-Flow or drip WD-40. I don't clean chains on or off the bike, strictly lube and wipe frequently. Just don't let a black mess of goo form on the chain or sprockets. If that's after each ride, so be it. The whole premise that a chain can be cleaned deep inside, or that it needs it, or even good for it ..... or else bad things will happen, well I've proven that to be bunk. Tri-Flow is good enough for now though. . it doesn't attract as much dirt as most oils. It also stinks but not nearly like Chain-L and it dissipates.  Do note, I don't live or ride in a wet climate. If so, I'd move..... I love me some dry and Sun.

[Benz Ouyang, Sunnyvale, CA]

I'm not sure how you reconcile the belief that "bicycle bearings should be filled with gear oil" and advocating for chain wax, when Jobst clearly explained that wax (Silca or otherwise) "is not mobile and cannot replenish the bearing surfaces once it has been displaced."

[peec...@yahoo.com]

I like to keep my chain clean and lubed with Rock and Roll Gold.  It attracts less grit than the triflow type of lubricants.

[Bill Gibson]

Ah, they are different kinds of bearings, and testing has shown that Jobst’s wax chain hypothesis doesn’t hold up.

The gear oil days were filled with cup and cone bearings, which were not sealed, and are kind of precious and adjustable. I still ride mine, but they are not really state of the art anymore. They are nice when well adjusted and lubed. Most folks use grease in them, but flushing clean oil through the system, following by a wipe with a rage was thought to keep things smooth and free in the nineteenth century. I still do that for pedals. However, even mid twentieth century cup and cone bearings were being replaced with low or no maintenance sealed cartridge bearings, to be replaced at the end of their life. Less labor than tearing down and adjusting cup and cone. But chains are different.

The Zero Friction website (zerofrictioncycling.au) publishes extensive tests of chain lube and now chains. He is independent and enjoys chain lube as much as I do, no, probably a lot more than I do. His tests show even the squeakiest waxed chains last longer and introduce less friction than liquid lubes, but it’s OK to mix and match if it’s super cold. Too cold to ride, which it never is where I am.

Bill Gibson
Tempe, Arizona, USA

My Photographs : https://billbgibson.myportfolio.com/ and on Behance: https://www.behance.net/BillGibson

If you like my photographs, buy me a coffee!

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a3bd8279-e94f-4029-b2e2-30dd26902e67n%40googlegroups.com.