Factory lube on KMC chain sticky
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Factory lube on KMC chain sticky
I know that there have been countless threads on the best lube for chains, however...
I recently replaced my chain with a new KMC 10.93 chain and when I installed it, the factory lube (which many consider to be the best possible lube for the chain) seemed to be rather thick and sticky. I like to run a pretty clean chain and my go-to chain lube is the wax-based White Lightening product.
I decided to just run it with the factory lube for a while but after just a couple of typical road rides (not wet), the chain had already started to pick up a lot of dirt - more than to my liking so I did a couple applications of White Lightning, cleaning with a rag in between applications to get most of the dirt and sticky factory lube off of the surface of the chain.
Like I said, it seems to be conventional wisdom that the factory lube is good stuff but I don't personally care for it too much. I haven't resorted to paraffin waxing just yet but I may give that a try someday. I do some bike commuting so I need something that will hold up and stay clean under varying conditions.
I recently replaced my chain with a new KMC 10.93 chain and when I installed it, the factory lube (which many consider to be the best possible lube for the chain) seemed to be rather thick and sticky. I like to run a pretty clean chain and my go-to chain lube is the wax-based White Lightening product.
I decided to just run it with the factory lube for a while but after just a couple of typical road rides (not wet), the chain had already started to pick up a lot of dirt - more than to my liking so I did a couple applications of White Lightning, cleaning with a rag in between applications to get most of the dirt and sticky factory lube off of the surface of the chain.
Like I said, it seems to be conventional wisdom that the factory lube is good stuff but I don't personally care for it too much. I haven't resorted to paraffin waxing just yet but I may give that a try someday. I do some bike commuting so I need something that will hold up and stay clean under varying conditions.
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Yea, wasn't much of a problem - just expected that the new chain would have a "drier" lubricant that would allow it to stay a little cleaner for a while on its own. I used the liquid wax lube so it would still be well protected after I rubbed the factory lube off of the surface.
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Factory lubed chains are dipped hot 'oil' (there are videos of this in various places like YouTube). When cool the lubricant/rust preventive coating is quite sticky. One can simply dampen a rag with, say, WD40 (mostly solvent) and drag the chain through the rag. This will remove most of the now unneeded layer of lube from the exterior of the chain without affecting lubrication of the moving parts.
The most effective chain lubricant you can currently buy is Chain-L (Home Page Chain-L High Mileage Bicycle Chain Lubricant). It is thick and stays in place for a very long time.
Joe
The most effective chain lubricant you can currently buy is Chain-L (Home Page Chain-L High Mileage Bicycle Chain Lubricant). It is thick and stays in place for a very long time.
Joe
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Yea, wasn't much of a problem - just expected that the new chain would have a "drier" lubricant that would allow it to stay a little cleaner for a while on its own. I used the liquid wax lube so it would still be well protected after I rubbed the factory lube off of the surface.
Rubbing a liquid wax lube over the outside of the chain accomplishes nothing. The inner roller bits need the lube, not the outer plates.
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I know I don't need any lubrication on the plates, just corrosion protection - I ride in an area that heavily salts the roads in the winter so even when it's not snowy or icy, the water splashing on the chain can be highly corrosive. Mufflers don't last long here.
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There's a name for it, but at the moment I can't remember it. It comes on lots of things that would rust in storage. New weapons for one. Is it cosmolene?
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Factory lubed chains are dipped hot 'oil' (there are videos of this in various places like YouTube). When cool the lubricant/rust preventive coating is quite sticky. One can simply dampen a rag with, say, WD40 (mostly solvent) and drag the chain through the rag. This will remove most of the now unneeded layer of lube from the exterior of the chain without affecting lubrication of the moving parts.
The most effective chain lubricant you can currently buy is Chain-L (Home Page Chain-L High Mileage Bicycle Chain Lubricant). It is thick and stays in place for a very long time.
Joe
The most effective chain lubricant you can currently buy is Chain-L (Home Page Chain-L High Mileage Bicycle Chain Lubricant). It is thick and stays in place for a very long time.
Joe
As for one lubricant being better than another, there is lots of disagreement on that point...hence the infinity +1 threads on chain lubrication.
You are misunderstanding what Irishbrewer is doing. He removed the outer wax on the chain but I doubt that he just "rubbed" liquid wax lubricant over the outside of the chain. Any wax lubricant...or even most wet lubricants...have a solvent that is used to penetrate into the chain and remove the old lubricant while leaving behind fresh lubricant. Of course simply dripping on a sovlent with new lubricant does nothing to force the old lube out and simply mixes with the new stuff while leaving some of the old stuff still there.
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Wax and wax-based lubes are not the best application for high-salt / high-corrosion environments. A sticky oil is generally the best choice. Corrosion resistance is generally incompatible with a sparkly clean chain, although if you lube your chain frequently enough, even a wax-based lube protocol will be better than the usual neglect regime most riders use...
Now least mtnbke comes along and starts calling me an idiot again, a wax lubricant like White Lightning's "Clean Ride" might not be the best choice. Epic or Wet Ride might be better. That said, I've used the original Clean Ride for all of my bikes in all kinds of weather for around 15 years and never had problems.
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There is no reason that a proper wax based lubricant wouldn't be just as adequate as a "sticky" oil. A wax lube should "stick" better than an oil since the viscosity...i.e. "stickiness"...is better than oil.
Now least mtnbke comes along and starts calling me an idiot again, a wax lubricant like White Lightning's "Clean Ride" might not be the best choice. Epic or Wet Ride might be better. That said, I've used the original Clean Ride for all of my bikes in all kinds of weather for around 15 years and never had problems.
Now least mtnbke comes along and starts calling me an idiot again, a wax lubricant like White Lightning's "Clean Ride" might not be the best choice. Epic or Wet Ride might be better. That said, I've used the original Clean Ride for all of my bikes in all kinds of weather for around 15 years and never had problems.
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Shimano's factory lube is a grease. Never heard of any manufacturers waxing their chains at the factory.
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I've not had good luck with wax-based lubes or hot wax dipping in coastal New England, with ocean salt in the air and where they mercilessly salt the roads in winter. Constant battle against rust. Heavy, sticky oil seems to work best for me, but I'm slightly negligent when it comes to regular chain lube maintenance...
My only problem with them is applying them. They don't go on easily when it is cold since the solution is saturated and tends to precipitate when it hits a cold chain. That's not a huge problem for me since I keep my bike inside at work and just lubricant when it needs it there.
I've handled chains from all kinds of manufacturers and they all use similar stuff. It's not "grease" but a soft wax. "Grease" isn't easy to apply hot. Wax is. Shimano's representatives may have called the lubricant "grease" in some articles but if you were to talk to their chemist, they would call it wax.
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The KMC lube feels much more like a grease to me. It sticks to the metal like Phil'so tenacious oil and has the same feel as this oil. Not a waxy feel at all. When I think of a wax, I think of something that is slick but doesn't stick to your hands or dirt particles which is why it is more desirable in this application.
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I've handled chains from all kinds of manufacturers and they all use similar stuff. It's not "grease" but a soft wax. "Grease" isn't easy to apply hot. Wax is. Shimano's representatives may have called the lubricant "grease" in some articles but if you were to talk to their chemist, they would call it wax.
FYI Sheldon Brown called it grease too.
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The KMC lube feels much more like a grease to me. It sticks to the metal like Phil'so tenacious oil and has the same feel as this oil. Not a waxy feel at all. When I think of a wax, I think of something that is slick but doesn't stick to your hands or dirt particles which is why it is more desirable in this application.
I have tried waxing chains in the past and never found it to be effective. That may have been because I used candle wax which is just too hard to stick to the chain. A soft wax does would penetrate better and stay on better. White Lightning actually uses soft wax and harder waxes in their mixtures. The Wet Ride formulation uses the most of the soft wax.
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There are many items in our world that are referred as one term but technically are something else. The other example that I think of is "sealed bearings" as opposed to "preassembled cartridge bearings". Another is the tires that most of ride being called clincher instead of wired on. I suspect that 99% of readers never handled a real clincher. Andy.
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There are many items in our world that are referred as one term but technically are something else. The other example that I think of is "sealed bearings" as opposed to "preassembled cartridge bearings". Another is the tires that most of ride being called clincher instead of wired on. I suspect that 99% of readers never handled a real clincher. Andy.
The most galling to me, however, is the term "salt". "Salt" that you use on your table is only one "salt". A salt is an ionic compound that results from the reaction between an acid and a base. Baking soda (not the correct name) is a salt. Baking powder is a mixture of a couple of different salts. The wall board you have in your house is made from a salt. If you have cement products in your house, that's a salt. There are, again, hundreds of thousands of "salts" in the world.
Gleitmo made by Fuchs is the material used by Sram (and possibly others) as the original chain lubricant.
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Incidentally, I have some bar oil, and decided to give it a try on my bike last winter. Not for the chain, but as a coating on any exposed steel surface that I could find, kept in a tin can and applied with a little brush. That stuff is sticky as hell, and picked up a lot of black dust, but the parts that I coated remained rust free. I plan to do it again. The bits that I overlooked -- rusted.
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If using White Lightening like the OP, then I'd soak the chain in solvent to strip off all the existing lube and start fresh with the White Lightening.
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Incidentally, I have some bar oil, and decided to give it a try on my bike last winter. Not for the chain, but as a coating on any exposed steel surface that I could find, kept in a tin can and applied with a little brush. That stuff is sticky as hell, and picked up a lot of black dust, but the parts that I coated remained rust free. I plan to do it again. The bits that I overlooked -- rusted.
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Some people swear by the factory lube based on comments by Sheldon Brown, but I've found that on both SRAM and KMC chains, the factory lube attracts grit and grime like a magnet. I clean my new chains in mineral spirits and then lube with either Dupont Multi-Use Teflon lube or WD40 Bike Dry Lube. I have to say, that the WD40 dry isn't all that dry and doesn't leave my chains any cleaner than the Dupont Multi-Use that I use in wet or winter conditions. I'm interested in Dupont's new dry film Teflon lubricant and will give it a try soon.
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I believe that in the old days new chains may have been pre-packed in Cosmoline, which is a oil/wax combo, but I don't think anyone uses that any more.
BTW I enjoyed your rant about what a salt is. You should try Swedish Salty Licorice, that would blow your mind, the salt is Ammonium Chloride!