Overdraft

so I’ve been trying to figure out when I had lubed all the links in my chain… turns out there’s a different looking master link (on my Shimano Ultegra setup anyway) so I can find it and start and stop there! I imagine I’m the second to last person in the world to notice this but I thought I’d post it anyway to help out that last person…

indyfabz

You put lube on every link?

seypat

Good to know for the future. Now if someone would please tell me what kind of lube I need to use, I'd be set.

chaadster

They’re where the action is, so it makes sense to me to do it that way, and you don’t wind up putting lube where it’s not needed and only acts to make gunk.

Chuck M 

I would try every lube that gets posted in this thread on individual links of my chains.

But none of my chains are that long.

datlas 

That's how I do it. I am lazy, so I only lube after a ride in the wet or once/month. I put one drop on each link. I don't go by the OP suggestions, I just know that 3.5 crank revolutions gets me a full chain cycle.

seypat

The OP provided a link on the correct way to do it. Nice!

indyfabz

Pro Tip: When you spin the chain the lube gets distributed. I use NFS, which is the best chain lube on the planet. 4-5 drops is all that is needed.

indyfabz

See post #8 immediately above.

seypat

This is what I use to clean my chains. I need to contact the 2nd company and see if they have a system I can adapt to mount on a bike like a disc brake system. It should only add 5-10lbs of weight to the bike. A small sacrifice for the benefits.

Mojo31

You guys are yanking my chain.

chaadster

That’s one way to do it, I suppose, even though you’re using less than half of what NixFrixShun recommends to be used.

As for NFS being the best— and I assume you’re talking about the original and not their newer Blue Devil, since you didn’t say Blue Devil and they still make both— I’ve never seen any testing of a wet lube which betters wax in terms of lower friction or lower wear. The newer wet lube Silca Synergetic— and remember that Silca offered their own version of NFS for awhile— tests better according ZeroFrictionCycling.com.au who call Synergetic “the best ever tested.”

In any case, when using a top wet lube, I reckon the differences are minimized when road riding in dry conditions and employing a diligent, thorough, and frequent cleaning and lubricating regimen.

koala logs

I just remove the chain from the bike and put them on a new newspaper to lube. Eliminates the guesswork where to start and end. But that's not the reason I remove the chain to blue. The main reason I do it so the lube doesn't get into the sprockets, jockey wheels, and chain rings. It's even critically important you do it if you're using wet lube. Depositing excess wet lube on the sprockets is typically the reason you get dirty drivetrain.

Overdraft

yup. why not? stuff drips out of a bottle, pretty easy to go tap tap tap along the links and have the lube land where you need it.

indyfabz

Because I don't believe that much is necessary.

NFS recommends using 12 drops, but I don't come close to using that much for a regular lubing..

From a review:

"Application is easy, and can be accomplished using what the NFS website calls the 12:12:12 method: with the chain on the largest chainring and smallest cog, apply 12 drops randomly on the inside surface of the chain, rotate the chain 12 times and then wipe the outside surface of the chain with a clean cotton cloth for 12 seconds."

BCDrums

Indy,

I use & like NFS. I use a pinpoint squeeze bottle to put a small drop on every link. The 12-drop method may or may not be adequate, I don't know, but I choose to distribute the lube myself, rather than rely on a transfer from the cog and chainring to the rollers and pins. Then I wipe down the chain, wipe off the cog, large ring, and the derailer pulleys. I also wipe the chain after each ride, but after the first one or two it's pretty well dry on the outside.

Regarding NFS's instructions on how to do it 12:12:12, the website also recommends this video on which the narrator (at :57) tells you to "put a thin stream of NFS along the entire length of the chain," certainly a lot more lube than 12 drops. So NFS endorses both 12 drops and a thin stream of lube, both ends of the spectrum.

I don't mind paying $7.50/oz. to use a boutique lube, it's part of the fun of the hobby to try different things, but I'm not convinced that, for the recreational way I ride, NFS is any better than Mobil One at $.69/oz.

There are many ways up Mount Loob.

datlas 

Will it break?? Possibly best cover version of "The Chain" ever.....

Mojo31

You may be right!

I like that acoustic bass. Don't see that often.

Bob Ross

LOL. When ^^^that video first came out I asked NFS owner Josh Simonds "Hey, what's the deal, I thought you recommended 12 drops?" and he said something to the effect of "if I thought everyone could weild a bottle of lube as skillfully/precisely as [the guy in the video] I would only recommend a thin stream along the entire length."

GBK233

Switch to a master link(i.e Wipperman). Makes chain cleaning etc much easier.

I use melted wax and will never go back to the hassle of degreasing/lubing weekly.

Overdraft

You do you Indy, but I'm not buyin' it.... we're not trying to lube the chain/sprocket interface. They're hardened surfaces that don't slide on each other that much (relatively speaking). The action is the motion between the chain rollers and their axles, and I just can't believe that suggested method can work. You're asking each of those 12 drops to not only lubricate the link they landed on but dozens of others via the mechanism of wiping off of where you applied them onto the sprocket and then imagining that the now lubed sprocket is going to wipe it back on to the dry links in sufficient amounts to get between the rollers and their axles.

BCDrums

I too use and like the Wippermann link.

As a wet-lube user, I don't ever clean after the first time to remove the factory lube on the new chain. Then I lube every 300-400 miles, or whenever I can't remember last time I lubed. To me, waxing looks like the hassle. I get more than 3500 miles per chain, that's good enough for me. But I know this is a contentious issue, and I wish the waxers well. As that guy in Karate Kid said, wax on!

seypat

If we're talking about lubing nip tips, lubing alone is not enough to prevent chafing. It needs some type of protective covering. I sweat too much for Band Aid type products to stay on. I use Liquid Skin.

datlas 

That would be a noob loob moob tip.