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Chain oil.

Old 07-15-22, 05:27 PM
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JD4ever
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Chain oil.

Before all the new chain lubes available what did cyclists use in the 50s, 60s and 70s to oil their bike chains.? I remember using an oil can but I am not sure what type of oil it was.
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Old 07-15-22, 07:32 PM
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When I entered the cycling world in 1968 we used anything from 3in1 oil (and the difference between the veg and the petroleum based stuff being lost at this young age), through sewing machine oil to auto 20W stuff. About 10 years later waxing chains came onto my radar. Just before that Triflon entered the market (who here was in a shop that got the promo package of TriFlon oil and the Guns and Ammo mag reprint of the automatic firing of their M16 increasing with less carbon build up...)

By the early 1980s and MtBs were becoming the money we began to see more alternatives to paraffin and machine oils. This and the advance of the media in our cycling world has driven the "is it Tuesday, must be ceramic wax day" lube market. Andy
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Old 07-15-22, 09:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart
When I entered the cycling world in 1968 we used anything from 3in1 oil (and the difference between the veg and the petroleum based stuff being lost at this young age), through sewing machine oil to auto 20W stuff. About 10 years later waxing chains came onto my radar. Just before that Triflon entered the market (who here was in a shop that got the promo package of TriFlon oil and the Guns and Ammo mag reprint of the automatic firing of their M16 increasing with less carbon build up...)
I remember that promo but I thought it was for Dri-Slide Bike-Aid.
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Old 07-15-22, 09:45 PM
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https://www.usedpei.com/antique-othe...626/photos?i=0

But personally in the 60s I used Texaco Havoline 30 wt on just about everything except the sewing machine... Ha
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Old 07-15-22, 10:19 PM
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Not reading the thread but the answer is: use lubrication, either oil or wax-based products. Everything else, IMHO, is like the discussion of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
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Old 07-16-22, 05:31 AM
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Same here. Whatever straight weight engine oil Dad had in the oil can in the garage.
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Old 07-16-22, 07:24 AM
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I got into "serious" cycling in the mid-1980's and initially used the squeeze bottle of 10W30 engine oil I had around for oiling anything that squeaked. Shortly thereafter, I read about hot wax and tried that for a year or so. It was super clean but not at all durable. By then some of the "bike specific" chain lubes were on the market and I probably tried a half dozen different ones looking for clean, durable and easy to apply. After much experimentation I concluded there was no magic lube and settled on a home made Mobile 1/OMS 1/3 mix and have been using it ever since.
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Old 07-16-22, 07:33 AM
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Originally Posted by HillRider
I got into "serious" cycling in the mid-1980's and initially used the squeeze bottle of 10W30 engine oil I had around for oiling anything that squeaked. Shortly thereafter, I read about hot wax and tried that for a year or so. It was super clean but not at all durable. By then some of the "bike specific" chain lubes were on the market and I probably tried a half dozen different ones looking for clean, durable and easy to apply. After much experimentation I concluded there was no magic lube and settled on a home made Mobile 1/OMS 1/3 mix and have been using it ever since.
Another "old fart" that used whatever oil was left in the can (remember those!?) from my dad's car oil changes, some experimentation with Finish Line, White Lightning, paraffin, but using the homebrew since early 90's; not specific to Mobil but more of what I have from my car's motor or transmission oil change.
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Old 07-16-22, 08:04 AM
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3inOne oil debuted in 1894 during the first great bike boom as a bicycle chain oil. It promised to 1) clean 2) lubricate and 3) rust proof. 3 benefits in one product! It's one of the oldest cycling products you can still buy.




As bike fever cooled heading to WWI, 3inOne reinvented itself as a multipurpose oil.

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Old 07-16-22, 08:08 AM
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I used 3-1 oil. Cleaning the chain in hi test.

If on a long rainy ride, I would stop at a Filling Station and pick out an "empty" oil can and drip it onto the chain. I tend to bring some chain lube with me on long rainy rides these days and it isn't oil
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Old 07-16-22, 08:39 AM
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Originally Posted by GhostRider62
Cleaning the chain in hi test.
Congratulations that you are still here to tell us about it!
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Old 07-16-22, 08:57 AM
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8 year old to 16 year old me: “Chains need oil?”
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Old 07-16-22, 09:21 AM
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Then as now, I'm sure there were heated opinionated discussions of what was the best stuff to use.

IMO, then as now I feel that what ever you can find is probably okay. I always just used motor oil well up into the late 2000's.

Though I do like the chain lubes that dry up after you put them on and keep the chain cleaner than the gunky mess my chains use to be. No more greasy marks on the inside of my calf or sock.

Though those gunky messy chains seemed to last just as long or longer with just one or two oiling's a year compared to the once, sometimes twice a week I lube my chain now with a "dry" lube every 80 mile or so.

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Old 07-16-22, 09:35 AM
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Old 07-16-22, 09:51 AM
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3 in 1 early on here. Wax briefly. Found Tri-Flo early on and have used it ever since. Now Tri-Flo for my summer bikes and the wet Finish Line MTB oil for my winter bikes. (Tri-Flo needs re-lubes after wet rides. The Finish Line holds up well. Yes, FWs, pulleys and chainrings get junked up but rust stays away.)

For me, really its pretty simple. Lube is always better than dry. Gunk buildup causes very little damage other than to the ego. (Yes, ultimately it starts affecting shifting, but clean it up and little long lasting damage was done.)
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Old 07-16-22, 10:39 AM
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I use 3 in 1 and always have. Just to note I get usually 7-10,000 miles on my 11 speed chains. It works well.
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Old 07-16-22, 01:12 PM
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Old 07-16-22, 06:47 PM
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For myself, Squirt wax.
For all others, I use chainsaw bar-oil.
I figure if it's designed to hold onto/into a chain as it cuts through a loggers days worth of tree, surely it must resist sheer enough to hold on to a bike chain for long enough to get the customer down the road for a week or 2. I don't know how long it lasts, but it stays put pretty well.

At $9/gallon it's about as economical as I've managed to find.

As far as vintage oil, I don't see how any ol' oil is different than any other oil except for the marketing on the label.

For the most part, when it comes to bicycle chains, oil is oil. It's the temperature or extreme pressure, or anti-corrosion or other additives for various uses that define an oils suitability for purpose. Those purposes, industrial or otherwise are so far removed from a bicycle chain that it just doesn't matter.

So long as whatever it is you are using is refreshed often enough it just doesn't matter what oil you use.

Keep an ear out for "scissoring" noise & clean off/out the accumulated gunk/grinding paste before reapplication & you should be good to go.



P.s. I hate Triflow for chains. Expensive & doesn't lube well for very long.

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Old 07-16-22, 08:26 PM
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When I was a kid, we always had an oil can in our garage for those miscellaneous oiling needs such as a bicycle chain. I can't imagine that oil can had anything in it other than 30w motor oil. A little later, in the '70's, I got pretty seriously into riding and racing off road motorcycles, and for the first time, I realized there were chain-specific lubes. I remember using motorcycle chain lubes during this time period that would both "clean and lube" with each application....and the rest is history, lol.
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