veganbikes

I mean you have had bicycle lubricants for decades upon decades I see no reason at all to use random fluids for a task that has something designed for it in fact many things designed for it. You can even use melted wax and that is one you don't need to spend on buying a bicycle specific product but I think chain lube is not a huge expense and there is no need to use ATF or WD-40 or other random fluids.

I would understand trying to use ATF if I was in the middle of nowhere and there was nothing else out there for many miles and I really needed to semi lubricate my chain and couldn't wait at all. But that is a really specific situation that really wouldn't exist much because I have a feeling ATF wouldn't be that fluid available.

smd4

Canola oil is cheap. A gallon should last a lifetime.

80sKidd

Many many years ago (like 35) when I worked at a bike shop, Tri-flow and Phil wood grease were our go to's for nice bikes and everything else got WD-40 and bullshot grease. I use Park grease and Sri-flow on all my BMX builds. Getting ready to try the drip wax process on my road bike chain to see how I like it.

wheelreason

Why? And no.

wheelreason

The delivery guys from some restaurants use used fryer oil on the chains I make them clean up the mess before I'll let one of my guys near them.

Duragrouch

I don't know about canola oil, but I lubed hair clippers in a pinch with olive oil, big mistake, after a while it dried to a gum and locked up the clippers. Take apart the two blades and clean, a few drops of ATF and they worked perfect, and have for a couple years now.

Duragrouch

I stopped using Tri-Flow "with PTFE" after working in engineering. I know what PTFE looks like, and there doesn't seem to be any, or at least much, in the Tri-Flow clear carrier oil that then evaporates.

There are now commercial formulations and homebrews of hot-melt chain wax with PTFE (and also moly- or tungsten-disulfide), the PTFE additive is a white powder (like the color of plumbing teflon tape), it does not dissolve in many things, that's one of PTFE's strengths in certain applications.

Trakhak

Saw the recommendation for Phil oil in freewheels, instantly thought, "Lives somewhere that doesn't see freezing temps," checked location of poster: San Jose.

TiHabanero

I live in Michigan, about half way up the coast and have always used Phil Wood Oil in my freewheels and cassette bodies. Commuted for 20 years in all weather year round and never had any trouble with the freewheel or cassette locking up due to frozen lube inside. Commute distance at that time was 15 miles one way. The coldest I rode in was 0 degrees fahrenheit. Windchill down to -20. My feet froze, but not the freewheel!

smd4

Tri Flow "with Teflon" is my preferred bike oil, and has been since the 1980s. Actually, it's my preferred oil in just about any application.

Trakhak

I worked in bike shops in New Haven CT during the seventies and serviced at least a few freewheels over the years that had failed during the winter (freewheeling in both directions thanks to the oil being replaced with grease). The pawls were damaged as a consequence of the congealed grease preventing them from being fully pushed out by the springs.

Phil Tenacious Oil might have been OK, but after encountering those failures, I avoided using any lubrication in the freewheel that was heavier than the lightweight lube used at the factory. That's all that's necessary, since there are no load-related forces in play while the freewheel is freewheeling.

Reynolds 

BITD we used sewing machine oil for freewheels.

noglider 

I'm not an expert in lubrication, but my opinion is that the choice of lubes on bikes isn't very critical. I used ATF for a while, and it was fine. Eventually, you have to clean or replace a chain regardless of the lube you use. I'm sure one can point out the downsides to any given lube, and I trust they'll be right. Some lubes attract more dirt than others, so the cost is that you have to clean or replace more frequently. Some lubes last longer between applications.

For my chains these days, I'm using Chain-L. It's quite heavy, so I expect it to attract dirt, but I find that it doesn't. Since it's heavy, it last a little longer than light lubes.

For other places that require oil, this is where I think the choice matters even less. Any petroleum oil is fine for me.

Some have mentioned vegetable oil and how it turns to gum. I'm sure that's true, but I can imagine myself on the road, needing lube, being far from a store, and I might use vegetable oil to get me to the next stop. I'm not recommending it; I'm just imagining it.

squirtdad

LOL True...did no consider colder climes...... but I grew up in north central Montana, so I do know below zero temps if that counts for anything

cyccommute 

I suspect that you used 3-in-One oil if you cycled anywhere near the days of the Schwinn Stingray. “Sewing machine oil” in those days was probably 3-in-One. It’s not that well known that 3-in-One oil was originally formulated as a bicycle chain lubricant in 1894. My mom would steal my dad’s can of the oil for her sewing machine and both were too cheap to have 2 bottles.

PromptCritical 

I worked at an aerospace company (interestingly "The Aerospace Company") in one of their labs for a couple of summers while in college (long, long time ago). They had so much cool stuff! One of them was a lubricant (I shy away from calling it an oil) that had phosphorus in some form (I forget what). It was super, super slippery, so I put an ounce or so in my wheel bearings and freewheel. The difference was incredible. I went into work on Monday and mentioned it to one of the scientists. He said: "I bet, but you want to be careful as it is highly corrosive of most metals, especially aluminum".

Bummer. I don't think I got it all out of the freewheel as it didn't last long.

Reynolds 

It was in the '60s, and yes, 3-in-One and Singer were the brands.

CrimsonEclipse

ok... I'm tired.

Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms as a what?

Fine, I'll get some sleep!

Russ Roth

I've got hub bearing grease for hubs, headset bearing grease for headsets, ring drive lube for freehubs, and finishline grease for BBs; is that close enough? The first cross bike I ever ran had the headset completely seize after 3 races, its replacement king has now been through 3 bikes and still feels like new. The matching hubs have had 4 rim changes from the old rims wearing completely out and 25yrs later the original bearings still roll super smooth, if they say there's a different grease for the purpose I'm willing to trust there's enough difference to need them.

Duragrouch

Back in the day, dad said, "Son, there is sliding contact grease, and rolling contact grease." The former for things like the zerk fittings on the car steering linkage (sliding bushings), the latter for wheel bearings. In recent decades the tubs of grease I buy say they are good for both. Of late I've been using the green marine wheel bearing grease that Aaron's Bike Repair swears by.

Someone said recently in a post somewhere, that Phil Tenacious Oil is a synthetic, and if so, it should still flow very similar at well below zero F as well above it. I went to school where it would get 20 or 30 below F, and I first started using Mobil 1 synthetic back in the '80s, flowed fabulous at subzero temps, easy engine starts with good lube right away. The same is true of the 75W-90 synthetic gear lube I have been using, though I'm planning to go back to wax as chain lube.

JoeTBM 

I find today that sewing machine oil is thinner then 3-in-1. We actually keep some around in needle type dispensers for oiling up gummy trigger shifters and other tight areas.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292190162722?

Duragrouch

I used to have one of those oilers with thin oil, I think I got cheap from Nashbar, plastic finally cracked. For same function now, I keep a hypodermic syringe filled with... ATF!

I think back in the day... WAY back in the day, they used whale oil, it was supposed to be a very fine oil. EDIT: Wow, just read this on wiki:

grumpus

Yep, 19th century sewing machine manuals tell you to use "sperm oil" for smooth running. 😮

cyccommute 

Spermaceti is the “sperm [whale] oil” that was used. It is not the oil that was rendered from the fat layer that whale have. It is part of an organ in the head of the whale (about 500 US gallons) that helps them with buoyancy and/or echolocation. It has a particularly high lubricity compared to petroleum oils, especially 19th century distillations. Herman Melville describes someone falling into the organ in Moby Dick.

Today, jojoba oil has replaced sperm whale oil as a particularly fine lubricant.

grumpus

I should perhaps have explained that distinction, although I don't think anyone was going to try rendering blubber for their bike anyway. Good to know we have an effective plant-sourced replacement.