Chain lube

[CorrieTheron]

Cycle shops are crazy with pricing on most things, especially clothing and consumables. Then stuff like bombs etc., they are not too badly priced. 

Happen to go to Checkers Hyper this weekend for groceries, and spotted Q-Bike Dry lube, on the shelves (find it better than other dry lubes). I paid R 110 for the exact same bottle of Q-bike at Cycle lab last month. R59 at Checkers... How?...

Most Dry lubes are nice and all, but on longer rides, the chains still gets dry after a max of 50km. I've tried various mixtures of oils and motorbike chain lubes, and for tar it does last longer, but for dry dusty, or fine loose gravel it becomes a grinding mess. I've washed up to half a teaspoon of sand out of chains, and that's not for a particularly sandy or dusty trail ride either.

So I don't know. Dry lube works better for now, and as far as Q-Bike, it looks to draw much less dirt than other popular dry lubes I've had.

[rudi-h]

On 6/24/2022 at 2:32 PM, madmarc said:

10% bar oil with 90% engine oil - More or less - I use an old lube bottle to mix it - sometimes I add a bit too much bar oil and get strands coming off the chain when i spin it - Then i add some more engine oil, i still get a few strands initailly, but i spin the cranks a few times and then wipe the excess off the chainstay - I also lightly rub off the inside of the chain after lubing.  The trick is not to overlube the chain 1 drop per roller is more than enough.

Apply the same as you would any other lube

I don't want to throw a spanner in the works here, but there are cheap automotive gear oils straight out of the box that will work as good or better than the "mix" that you propose.   So unless you happen to have engine oil and bar oil to mix, I would just buy a small bottle of diff oil.  That said, bicycle chains do not require a sophisticated lubricant by any stretch, so whichever concoction that you might use will generally be okay.  Chain damage does not happen as much because of incorrect lube or dirty drivetrains, but rather the lack of lube.  This is also the case for the dry-lube/wax VS wet lube debate.

[michaelbiker]

I guess with all these things there is some truth and some hype but all I know is that I got over 8000km on my last MTB drivetrain with two chains (both XX1) in rotation and when I sold it (to a friend) the one chain was still under the 0.5 wear indicator. The other was just over. All I used was Smoove and basically wiped the chain down and reapplied every 100kms, making sure to let the wax dry before riding. 

The big problem I have with oil-based lubes is how gross they get. With wax you never need to degrease - just some meths in a rag and most of the crud comes off. 

[117]

https://youtu.be/FbFNrnQ4QUo

Here's a good tester for chain lubes

Edited June 28, 2022 by 117

[michaelbiker]

4 hours ago, 117 said:

https://youtu.be/FbFNrnQ4QUo

Here's a good tester for chain lubes

I have seen this video before and the wear rate test is not that great according to the guy at Zero Friction Cycling. If you have the time - and I mean time, since he goes into heavy detail - have a read through his site  

TLDR; using Molten Speedwax and a crockpot gave the best wear results. 

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au

I was actually contemplating providing a subscription service to people who would like to have pre-treated chains send their chains in at one point but I figured the drip wax approach really was good enough and so much less hassle.

As for cost, a new XX1 chain is now close to R2k and cassette is nearly R7k. I would rather spend a bit extra on lube to make it last longer than have to replace my drivetrain every year.

 

[DieselnDust]

6 hours ago, 117 said:

https://youtu.be/FbFNrnQ4QUo

Here's a good tester for chain lubes

this is a horrible video for lube testing and is very far from being representative of the real world application and use

[Delgado]

On 6/24/2022 at 11:16 PM, madmarc said:

Yes also known as bar oil - normal engine oil tends to be a bit runny and drips/sprays everywhere the bar oil makes it a bit more sticky - Don't mix too much i use about 10:1 ratio. If you spin the pedals and you get strands of oil forming between the sprockets and chain = too much bar oil.

also people tend to over lube the chain cause they in a hurry and spin the cranks while lubing this ends up gungking up your sprockets and pulleys - 1 drop per roller is all thats needed.

I actually need to give credit to Johan Boring Man - Its his recipe from that article he wrote on chains and chain lube many years ago. From an engineering point of view, the only correct lube for chain drives is a hydrocarbon lube (basically oil). If dry lubes worked then every chain drive manufacturer would be recommending it and i've only ever seen snake oil salesmen in the bicycle industry recommending it.

Whatever happened to Johan? Not seen him pop up in ages

[madmarc]

6 hours ago, Delgado said:

Whatever happened to Johan? Not seen him pop up in ages

I heard he emigrated to Scotland a number of years ago after he sold his Yellow Saddle setup to Cyclelab

[TheoG]

10 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

this is a horrible video for lube testing and is very far from being representative of the real world application and use

Maybe you right, but I'm still willing to give the Muc Off Dry lube a shot, can only be better than the usual crap.

[thebob]

8 minutes ago, TheoG said:

Maybe you right, but I'm still willing to give the Muc Off Dry lube a shot, can only be better than the usual crap.

Using it for some time now. Seems to work well

[NotSoBigBen]

I'm not anal about this stuff like some and I understand their reasoning be it saving money on chains and stuff or keeping their drivetrains clean etc.

I love to ride bikes (yes and occasionally build some 😜 ) so my thinking is as long as you do lube often, whatever it is you decide use, and occasionally clean the drivetrain it'll be ok.

My regime and yes I'm sure there is fault with it but I'm happy with that is as follows. I lightly lube my chain every time I go out, run the chain backwards and apply lube to the inside, I don't check that there's just a drop on every roller ... I happen to use Squirt but that's just by the by and that I can refill my little bottle at my LBS for a mere 99ZAR.

I generally wash my bikes once a week unless it's been extremely muddy, part of that I spray some full strength general purpose cleaner onto the drivetrain and leave it to stand for a few minutes then give it a quick scrub with a brush. Wash the whole bike and good to go again.

I go through one small bottle around every 2 months and I ride pretty often so I don't worry too much about the cost of the lube.

I'd be interested how others go about it?

 

 

[TheoG]

28 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

I'm not anal about this stuff like some and I understand their reasoning be it saving money on chains and stuff or keeping their drivetrains clean etc.

I love to ride bikes (yes and occasionally build some 😜 ) so my thinking is as long as you do lube often, whatever it is you decide use, and occasionally clean the drivetrain it'll be ok.

My regime and yes I'm sure there is fault with it but I'm happy with that is as follows. I lightly lube my chain every time I go out, run the chain backwards and apply lube to the inside, I don't check that there's just a drop on every roller ... I happen to use Squirt but that's just by the by and that I can refill my little bottle at my LBS for a mere 99ZAR.

I generally wash my bikes once a week unless it's been extremely muddy, part of that I spray some full strength general purpose cleaner onto the drivetrain and leave it to stand for a few minutes then give it a quick scrub with a brush. Wash the whole bike and good to go again.

I go through one small bottle around every 2 months and I ride pretty often so I don't worry too much about the cost of the lube.

I'd be interested how others go about it?

 

 

I operate pretty much the same way.  Been on a bottle of Q Bike for a few weeks now and so far so good.  I will however try the Muc off one next,

[The Ouzo]

22 minutes ago, TheoG said:

I operate pretty much the same way.  Been on a bottle of Q Bike for a few weeks now and so far so good.  I will however try the Muc off one next,

I found Q Bike to get very dirty very quickly.

Just finished a bottle of White Lightening, wasnt overly impressed, and have now started with a bottle of Squirt.

 

I've got a reminder to re-lube every 250km, but if I feel my drivetrain is getting a little noisy I'll wipe off excess grime and lube before the 250km mark. (This is on a road bike)

[117]

We clean the drive train after each ride, usually with a high pressure cleaner and diluted clean green (shock horror 💀). Once cleaned, i dry the chain of excess water and spin it around a few times to throw any left over water out. Lightly lube with Squirt once the chain is dry to prevent any rust build up, then we re-lube before any outride again. 

 

Works for us, and yes - there is no perfect golf swing either

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by 117