Tourist in MSN

When I read a statement like, "waxing my chain or getting it lubed", when I read "getting it lubed" it sounds like you are getting someone else to apply the lube. Or when I read "I got a LBS to relube it for me", it makes me curious if you have personally lubed a chain yourself? Or what your aversion is to a quick application of lube?

If you ask 10 cyclists what the best way to apply chain lube is or what the best chain lube is, you will probably get more than 12 answers. So there is no single answer and some will have multiple answers depending on weather or type of riding. But 90 percent of the answers will describe a method that takes no more than a few minutes at most. I often skip wiping a chain after applying lube if I will be on pavement, I rarely take more than one minute to do it if I am skipping the wiping step. Even if I wipe it off with some disposable paper toweling from a rest room or gas station, that only adds a couple minutes including the time to discard what is left of the paper toweling.

Even if you had no chain lube and needed some, if there were no bike shops around, I have heard of people going into the trash bins at gas stations and pulling out the discarded empty plastic bottles that previously held engine oil, there likely is still a half ounce of oil in the bottle that could be used. I have also heard of cooking oil (specifically olive oil) being used as a chain lube, but I suspect that would not last very long.

If you are concerned about getting your hands greasy, next time you are at a dentist or doctors office, ask if you can get a couple pair of the disposable gloves that you can use when working on your bike. Or if left in a room unattended, help yourself to a few pair.