3alarmer 

...napalm. It's more of a jellied consistency, so you can just brush it on. Napalm is the solvent of choice.

Kevin R

Chain maintenance is really simple....no need to get caught up in marketing hype of all the chain lube products out there.

YOU must devise a maintenance schedule for cleaning your chain based on mileage and or terrain ridden.

Kerosene is my cleaner of choice; I remove chain (quick link) and shake vigorously in a bottle, then wipe dry.

I use synthetic auto transmission oil for lubricant; applied generously so it gets between the side plates and rollers; then i wipe dry any excess and re assemble.

Synthetic oils don't break down with time; I don't think i can subject that lubricant to the shearing forces of an auto transmission; when used on a bicycle chain.....

I don't bother with the wet/dry lube debate, my environment is tropical and this works for me.

I service my chain fortnightly; which for me is overkill......but im good with that.

DaveSSS 

There is a limit to the solubility of paraffin in naptha, depending on the temperature. It's 1 ounce by weight to 6-7 fluid ounces of naptha, at room temp. If you make a big batch with a 4 ounce block of paraffin, it requires 24-28 ounces. You'd need only about 1/2 ounce of oil. It's not critical, but the more oil, the dirtier the lube.

Since I wrote the above, I've done more experimenting and found that far less naptha can be used, but as the amount is reduced, the mixture will not be liquid at most room temperatures and needs to be heated slightly by placing the applicator bottle in some hot tap water. I've also increased the amount of oil, to as much a 1 part oil to 3 parts wax, before dissolving it in a minimum of 3 parts naptha.

Cycle Tourist

Ha. Funny stuff.

I have never lubed a new chain. It feels lubed and I never gave it much thought. It's only the old ones that are either covered in crud or rusty ones that haven't see lube in many years that I go to town on. Thanks for the confirmation though. I'm not sure if the ones I've "saved" are better than the cheapies but they do seem to work just fine on the bikes they came on.
It's amazing the different "solutions" people come up with. I suppose in the greater scheme of things it matters not a hoot what method you use and people shouldn't be so head up about something so trivial.
Whatever you do just keep riding. I'm just past 70 and I keep turning the pedals and try not to end up on my ass.😁

Racing Dan

A simple solution to chain clearing is to place the bike on a piece of card board, brush the chain, cassette and rings with white spirit (or similar), let it soak and drip on the cardboard. Remove cardboard and hose the bike and drive train. -You'll be amazed how clean it becomes with minimum effort - Wipe the chain and lube as per ususal.

davidad

I use chain saw bar oil on a clean chain every 800 miles or so. I mix it with 4 parts unscented mineral spirits. That's enough to make 5 quarts (160 ounces or 40 bottles) of chain lube that is better that the high dollar bike specific stull.
Think about it. Which chain works the hardest in the worst environment?

3alarmer 

...some things you might (or might not) want to consider.

1. while your strategy of leaving older chains on your bikes because they "wear in" with the rear cogs might work for you, it does present some issues. If the chain is "stretched" beyond a certain point, it also "wears in" with your chainwheel teeth. Chainwheels are much more expensive than a ten buck chain.

2. the ten or twelve dollar KMC chains I'm referencing are high quality, X plate chains that will work on anything from 5-8 cogs in the rear. So a lot of stuff. The high tech lubricant that is sort of waxy solid is pressure injected as a part of the manufacturing process.

3.the main issue in cleaning and re-lubricating a chain that is not "stretched" beyond a certain standard is getting the clean in where the sun don't shine and all the real action happens. Once you get them relatively clean inside the bushings and at the pin surfaces (or the equivalent wear surfaces in a bushingless chain), you're faced with getting the new lubricant in there.

Again, this is where the sun don't shine, and unless the space you're trying to fill is already empty ( which is why people like gasoline...it flashes off rapidly leaving the interior spaces dry), you'll have the devil of a time getting the sort of more viscous oils/waxy lubricants in there to fill those voids.


The result is that a lot of chain cleaning, while well intended, often does not accomplish its intended objectives. Anyway, enough chat, have a good time out there.

Junkbeast

I use full strength Simple Green in a chain cleaner thing and then lube with Pro Link (I've had a bottle of this for years now). Clean and lube every 4-6 weeks I guess, 500-800 miles give or take.

cyccommute 

The factory lubricant isn’t injected with/or without pressure, at least according to this . The chains are made continuously so it would be difficult for them to be put under pressure and removed from pressure. It’s far easier (and more likely) to simply dip the chain in a warm oil (or oil like substance) in a continuous manner.

You get the new lubricant in the same way that you got the old lubricant out. Chains aren’t sealed nor are the tolerances even that tight. Solvent can easily penetrate into the links as can most any fluid. In fact, solid material can be small enough to get the inside of the chain, otherwise there would be no need for cleaning the chain to begin with.

Many solvents will “flash” off. A better term would be to simply evaporate. Water would evaporate...eventually...but it would probably oxidize the metal first. But the real problem is that the faster the solvent “flashes”, the more likely the solvent is to be hazardous to the user due to its flammability. Mineral spirits, for example, has a lower flash point so it’s easier to handle and less likely to leave the user in a ball of flame. It takes a little longer to evaporate but it doesn’t do damage to the metal while it does it like water does.

On the other hand, most all bicycle lubricants have some kind of carrier solvent used to “carry” the lubricant into the chain’s internal workings. The solvent then evaporates and leaves the more viscous lubricant behind. In most cases that I’ve seen the solvent is much like mineral spirits.

While I agree with you that there is an overt amount of chain cleaning that shouldn’t be necessary, I agree for reasons that others may not agree with. Oil based lubricants serve as a trap for solid materials that work their way into the chain and accelerate wear. Oil lubricants are messy and need to be removed from time to time so as to not get old lubricant and the products of wear on everything

Dry lubricants like wax lubes (or even hot wax) don’t serve as a trap and thus don’t need to be removed because they don’t carry the grit to the inside of the chain. However, because of viscosity of the wax, the wax can’t move back like oil does. Certain parts of the chain are starved for lubrication and wear is accelerated.

The issue here is that there is accelerated wear in both systems. So much so that the amount of wear using either lubricant is about the same. That’s why the mileage that people report for chain wear is about the same for both. Neither lubricant works better than the other one.

Personally, I prefer not having to clean all the time. I clean a chain once when I install it, use a wax lubricant and then never clean the chain again. Saves a lot time.

3alarmer 

... www.Someone_Who_Cares.net

3alarmer 

A Religious Question

3alarmer 

Bicycle chain

cyccommute 

Well you seem to.

Oh. Wait. I get it! Unless you are the one posting, everyone else should just shut up and agree with you.

Right?

If you really don’t care, why do you keep posting?

3alarmer 

Dear Stewart,

This stuff is classic you, which is one reason I was reluctant to participate in another chain lube thread.

I don't know if the wimmen in your life have ever accused you of mansplaining ? If not, let me do you the favor of pointing out to you that you do have a remarkable tendency to go on and on about anything that can remotely fit into one of your many areas of expertise.Where that often leaves me (in an attempt at some reasonable discussion with you), is not disagreeing with you over points of fact in general, but wondering why you seem to assume that I do. Which then seems to trigger some human impulse in you to search out one error of fact or the possibility of one (see "How Factory Chain Lubricant is Applied), and then launch into another of your ad nauseum listings of your own opinions.

I'm fine with your opinions, but I already know the majority of them from our long and fulfilling history here on teh Biekforooms. I'm fine if you disagree with me and my opinions. I'm fine if you disagree with other opinions posted on the internet. But please don't tell me that I'm captive to yours, any more than you're captive to mine. The only real comparison standards for chain wear ( which is what this whole thing is about, right ?), are opinions. Because it's no secret everyone is doing something a little different. And absent controlled conditions, how are we to judge which regimen is genuinely to be recommended over another ? We both base them on fact, but then proceed with a great deal of conjecture (based on logic that might or might not be correct).


The onliest reason I made the mistake of posting in this thread is that the OP does seem to be new enough, and has some different ideas about stuff like WD40,and reusing some chains that might be better flushed away into the refuse stream. But note that I still state my own opinions as such, and that he might or might not want to consider them.

Respectfully yours,
Stinky Wizzleteats

Rick53

Kerosene is a Great Great Cleaner : Non explosive Fairly cheap : And chain Lube is Lube : THe Thicker stuff doesn't fly off as easily but it also doesn't fall into the cracks as well.


IT'S OIL PERIOD :

These conversations remind me of the Gun Lubricant Debates : A quart of Mobil One is $5.69 An Ounce of Mobil One in a bottle that says Lube Magic is $14.99

Admittedly I am New to Bikes" BUT HOW MANY WAYS can they make Lube : OIL IS OIL IS OIL : : Some include Cleaners Others Don't : If it sticks to the chain better . It's OIL with some sort of Adhesive added :

Gallon of Kerosene is Under $4.00 > It works as well if not better then any chain cleaner :

The Golf Industry sells million of little tiny bottles of Club Cleaner and tiny brushes to carry on the course : Everyone Buys one . Everyone who tries to use it on the course soon realizes they have no time to. And it really doesn't Matter :

MARKETING HIPE : Shampoo that causes Hair Growth on bald heads : JUST SaYING

If you put the right name on it They'll buy it

wobrien

What I have learned from this thread is that:
1) There are a lot of ways to care (or not) for your chain - each rider can/should do as they please
2) There is no getting away from the fact that chains will wear out. We can extend or reduce their useful life but they will wear out at some point
3) Dirt, grime and metal shavings cause the chain to wear out. They also cause the other parts (sprockets etc.) to wear out
4) Wet lubricants are better at getting inside the chain and keeping those internal parts lubricated vs. dry lubricants
5) Wet lubricants hold onto dirt, grime, metal shavings etc. a lot more than dry lubricants. That dirt and grime also erodes the sprockets that they come in contact with so it is more than just the chain that we are talking about. Wet lubricants also make chains messier in general which can cause the dirty lubricant to get on your hands, leg, clothes etc.
6) Dry lubricants do not hold onto the dirt, grime etc. as much as wet lubricants but they also don't penetrate into the internal parts of the chain very well.
7) Dry lubricants don't require as much cleaning, which some don't care about because they never clean their chains
8) Neither wet nor dry lubricants have an advantage in terms of extending the life of a chain. How well the rider executes the care process (as well as where and how they ride) is the better driver of the chain's life.
9) Much like beekeepers, if you ask 10 cyclists for their opinion on something you will get 12 to 15 opinions.
10) I got a quick and cheap education on this topic which I really appreciate. Good people helping other people is a great thing - thank you all.

I am going with the dry lube path because I want my chain and parts to be cleaner. I like the look of the cleaner drive train; also, I think that it is something that I will do a better job of executing.

wobrien

I made a batch yesterday. Thanks DaveSSS for the formula. I shaved the paraffin with a cheese grader. I used one bar which is a little over 5 oz. I used 24 oz. of Mineral Spirits. I put about a third of each in a quart jar. I shook it and let it sit for a while while I did other things, I shook it periodically. Then I put the second third of each in and did the same. Then I put the rest of both in and did the same. After about 2 hours about 90% of the paraffin has dissolved. If I had let it sit over night it probably would have dissolved the rest of the paraffin but I am impatient so I put the jar into a bowl of hot water and ran an errand. When I got back it was entirely dissolved. It filled most of the quart jar. I added about 2 oz. of bar oil, should have done about half of that but it is too late now and I am sure that it will work fine. It is pretty thin so I need a better applicator than I have so that I can apply smaller amounts onto the chain.

By the way, I am also a beekeeper and have worked with beeswax which has a fairly low flash point (somewhere in the low 200 degrees) so you have to melt it with care when working with it. I and many others melt it in an oven at its lowest temperature (mine is 180 degrees). It is a save way to melt wax, in this case paraffin, if anyone wants to melt the paraffin before adding it to the solvent (naptha, Mineral spirits, etc.)

DaveSSS 

Finding the right applicator bottle can be tough. I found some plastic bottle with pointed tips, made to apply hair coloring, at Sally Beauty. The hole at the end of the tip was much too large, so I melted it shut with a soldering gun and then pushed a safety pin into the tip, to make a very small hole. I leave the pin in place to plug the hole, between uses.

wobrien

Great idea. I might try something similar with hot glue and poke a whole through it.

mrt2you

i rotate my chains every few weeks and have a lazy mans system for cleaning and lubing.

with a dirty chain i place it in a qt empty auto paint can w/ lid, i am a auto body tech/ painter so i get these for free, filled 1/2 way with some lacquer thinner, also free.
let it soak for 2 or 3 days with lid on it, but shake the can couple times a day when i walk by it in garage.
remove from can and blow chain dry. take old solvent and strain dirt out thru paint strainer, also free, to remove dirt into another empty qt can.
let soak another 2 or 3 days.
after soaking remove and blow dry and hang on nail in garage for a day.
blow dry again and put chain in another can W/lid that has bar and chain oil mixed 50/50 with lacquer thinner. and soak for 2 days shaking it every day.
after that hang on nail in garage ready to be installed when current chain starts to look nasty and repeat process with dirty chain.
i think i might spend 10 min spread out over a couple of weeks time cleaning and lubing the chain.

i really can't tell you how many miles i have on the chains. i seem to buy a new to me bike every 4 years after about 6,000 miles of riding.. i buy a new chain, sometimes 2 depending on how worn the current chain is on the bike, when i buy the bike. never had a chain wear out on me.

wobrien

Here is another idea idea for an applicator bottle. I am going to try using a bottle that contact lense cleaner comes in. It has a pretty small whole so it should work. My bottle is still pretty full so it will be a few weeks before I can try it.

southpier

it's okay. I just dump everything behind dad's garage. next to where he dumps his oil change oil.

dedhed

That's pretty much how we did it when I was growing up. Killing the weeds in the gravel drive.

southpier

too bad you can't figure out how to get those for free, too. I never cease to be amazed . . . .

wobrien

Using the contact lense cleaner bottle for the applicator works well. It is cold now so the wax solidified and clogged the whole. I put the bottle in a bowl of hot tap water for about 15 minutes and it flowed fine. I haven't found a better applicator but I am sure other options are out there.