cyccommute 

It’s a donated bike to a co-op that we refurb to give away. We do provide as close to showroom fresh as we can when it comes to bikes we give away. The difference between a commercial shop and a non-profit is that we can’t really refuse bikes. A fair number of HellMart bikes go straight to recycle but some, like this one, are worth the effort to clean up. A relatively significant amount of this bike went to recycling as well. The crank, for instance, went away. We have lots of other cranks.

This guy didn’t wipe his chain nor was he all that careful on how he used it. I’m reasonably certain he used a spray bottle to apply it. The front wheel looked just about as caked as the rear. Personally, I wouldn’t let an oil based lube within 10 feet of any bike I own.

cyccommute 

A large part of the problem is that this isn’t my shop. It’s a co-op with 20 to 30 volunteers per week. A $5 box of gloves lasts about a week. I could bring in a box each week and it will be gone when I go back the next week. That means, to me, each pair of gloves is about $5. Asking the shop to buy gloves is a bit problematic as we are already squeezing every bit of snot out of Lincoln’s nose as it is.

tomato coupe

Buy yourself a box of gloves. Put a few in your pocket when you go to work in the shop. It's not a difficult problem to solve ...

cyccommute 

A headset press was one of the first specialized tools I ever bought. The only thing I need a commercial shop for now is if I need to face the frame. In 40+ years of working on bikes, I think I had that done once. I did buy a bottom bracket tap recently which was probably the next to the last thing I needed a commercial shop for…not that I needed threads to be chased that often either.

I sometimes loan my specialized tools to the co-op. If they don’t have a tool, I will often buy it. But, as I tell them, I don’t do it for them. I buy them tools that they don’t have because I need them and get tired of doing work arounds or loaning my tools to them.

cyccommute 

The factory lubricant isn’t “grease”. It is a soft wax. It is not intended to prevent rust nor will it wear away in just a few miles. Nor is it as bad as oil at gathering grit and pumping it into the guts of the chain.

That said, I’m not a fan of it since it does tend to leave chain tattoos. I remove it on the initial install and use solvent wax lubricant. The whole drivetrain is cleaner over all. My drivetrains always look like this, even in the depth of winter. I can handle them without the need for gloves.

IMG_1155 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

cyccommute 

Yes, I know but I forget. It’s just one more thing I need to remember to carry with me to the shop. I don’t need them when I work on my own bike and don’t think about it until I’m working on a particularly nasty bike, thus the hand washing.

MaxKatt

Relieved to see this. Riding 20 years, but still not an expert here. I've maintained a stable of road/Mtb/gravel bikes for me and the girlfriend for 20 years and have always pumped us both up pre-ride every time. I shudder to think of cumulative time waste if this was ruled "waste."

PeteHski

Checking tyre pressures before a ride is never a waste of time. Especially if tubeless as they tend to lose a little air over a few days.

terrymorse 

"The grease that comes on a Shimano chain is applied at the factory to the individual pieces before the chain is assembled." -- Nick Murdick, Shimano Tech "Guru"

"A new chain usually feels sticky at first. These are residues of the high-performance grease used during assembly. Remove this grease with a thin-bodied oil or cleaner (no aggressive grease solvents!), lightly oil the rollers and remove excess oil with a cloth." -- KMC Chain

"Ah, factory grease.... Honestly, it is like a zombie apocalypse that won't die.This is one of the worst bits of information on chain lubricants that is still too pervasive despite my and others' (like Josh Poertner, Jason Smith) efforts to correct it.

Factory grease is a) pretty slow, b) gathers contamination rapidly and thus quickly becomes much slower again and much higher wear, and c) most top lubricants do not mix at all with factory grease (or dispel them). Especially wax lubricants; that is trying to mix two completely incompatible products." -- VeloNews 2022

"Another thing as you know – the factory lubes have multiple roles to play. They need to keep the chain from oxidizing/rusting for (possibly) several years of shelf life.....We know the factory grease and oil on chains is like a magnet for contaminants. So, within a few rides, that grease/oil can become a grinding paste, actually decreasing the longevity" -- VeloNews 2022

Hondo6

As soon as I saw this, I knew it was going to start another chain lube "religious feud" . . . .

Lombard

Another reason I don't do tubeless.

Lombard

One of many reasons I don't use wax lubricants.

Hondo6

It wasn't - he was banned for a different reason exactly 5 months after the last comment on that thread.

Eric F 

What kind of tire/tube combination holds air indefinitely?

Polaris OBark

For me, by far the biggest waste of time is waxing my chain.

I have to turn on the crock pot to melt it. That takes over 0.2 sec.

Then I have to put the chain in when it has melted. That also takes over That takes over 0.2 sec.

Then I have to stir it around for 10 seconds.

Finally, I have to pull it out, which again takes over 0.2 sec.

That is more than 10.6 seconds of my life I will never get back.

frogman

[QUOTE=Hondo6;22851159]As soon as I saw this, I knew it was going to start another chain lube "religious feud" . . . .[/QUOT

After that post I need to put on my asbestos suit and get ready to be flamed.

Lombard

Indefinitely, nothing. But having to add air everyday is ridiculous. With butyl tubes, once a week is enough for road tires, every two weeks for gravel tires.

zandoval 

Ha... That's a good one... Every body knows a clean bike is faster then a dirty one... Of course that's not so true with the riders...

Lombard

You're forgetting the time it takes to take the chain off the bike and out it back on the bike. And then do you dip the chain in the hot wax slurry without cleaning it or do you have a cleaning ritual as well? Also, I assume you strip the excess wax off the outside of the chain, otherwise that's just as messy as lubing a chain and not wiping the excess lube off the outside.

Lombard

Nah, I just wear my Nomex underwear before entering.

genejockey 

So, don't use them. I don't. They make a measurable difference in rolling resistance, but the expense and the pressure loss problem mean they're not for me - I have 10 bikes and am a pothole and rock magnet. But for others, who care less about those issues, why not?

Lombard

Right. Precisely why I said I don't do tubeless. I didn't say everybody else shouldn't do tubeless. What's your point?

genejockey 

It just seems like complaining about something you yourself don't do is a bigger waste of time then pumping up your tires.

BTW, the 10 bikes is also why I don't do tubeless. Most of them would be impossible to convert, and IIRC tubeless tires and the sealant benefit from being ridden regularly.

Polaris OBark

The quick link is ... quick.

​​​​​
Yup. It doesn't get dirty because ... wax.

​​​​​

Liquid wax cleans it. That is the 10 second swirl step.

​​​​​,

No need.

It just flakes off. No need to do anything.

The only hassle is removing whatever they pack the chain in when it is new, but you (or at least I) would do that before any kind of lube.

Camilo

Looking for the large tools you just had in your hand 10 seconds ago.