smd4

That's the second-best reason to use it!

SirMike1983 

I use 3-in-1 blue bottle oil, just a few drops will do for a chain - too much attracts dirt and makes a mess.

Reynolds 

Gasoline or diesel for cleaning, ATF for lubing. Cheap and good results so far.

repechage

it exists but is emasculated as a solvent.
kerosene is hard to come by now.
so is denatured alcohol
I do understand but at some point, the materials are only marginal.

like aircraft paint stripper... gone
methylene chloride is nasty stuff but effective.

cyccommute 

“Green” mineral spirits is mostly useless. It’s, basically, soapy water. Some things that might work and seem to be available in California (I’m not from there, so I can’t say for certain) are “Painter’s Solvent” which is a mixture of ketones and mineral spirit. Kerosene is also available. Lighter fluid is very close to mineral spirits but maybe a bit more expensive.

I don’t know if you can get Coleman stove fuel (aka “white gas”) but that would be similar as well.

Under no circumstances should you use gasoline. You might as well just go into bomb disposal without a suit. Yes, it is that hazardous! As a chemist, I’d use water…which is totally ineffective…before using gasoline.

Bad Lag

Very interesting discussion here, no? The thread topic was lube but the more important discussion is about the pre-lube solvent cleaning.

I used ethanol-free, 50:1 pre-mixed gasoline (gas : oil) because it was right at hand. I picked that over plain gas because it leaves behind a tiny bit of oil after the gas evaporates.

Coleman fuel, as I understand it, is gasoline with no additives at all. I had some but it did not come to mind. It might be better than pre-mix.

I forgot about charcoal lighter fluid but that is a really good one to try next time.

Now that the wax is gone, the acetone will work, too.

Regarding safety - I wore gloves, worked outdoors directly on on a concrete slab with no heat sources nearby (no pilot lights, I don't smoke, etc). It was humid enough that ESD was not a big concern.

SirMike1983 

Is there any consensus for whether something like the Park Tool chain cleaning machine (the plastic thing with the brushes inside) is worth it for a simpler chain set up like a single speed or three speed? I saw a couple said they use that, and I was looking at it, but not sure whether it is of benefit with a simpler chain set up or not.

Classtime 

I think the park chain cleaner gets all the grit out of the chain periodically. For "squeaky" clean, dump the black stuff out and use fresh from the can for a second washing. For reusable link users, removing and swishing around in the tub of kerosene works as well.

Aardwolf

Apparently Coleman Fuel is Naphtha + a small amount of rust inhibitor.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coleman-Liq...MO2/ref=sr_1_1

Getting naphtha is a bit tricky in the UK currently so I did the research (great for cleaning brake tracks on rims).

jonwvara 

I have used ProLink for the past 20 years or so. It's a good lube and a good cleaner. But I doubt that the chain lube a person uses makes any difference in the grand scheme of things.

Andrew_G

I tried White Lightning (wax lube) when it first came out. I hated it; it made the chain run stiff and slow, IMHO. I then went back to oil-based lubricants:

Phil Wood's Tenacious Oil, Triflow (teflon), Boeshield, etc.


With oil-based lubricants, I don't have to endure the misery of trying to scrub off accumulated wax. Here in smoggy and drought-dry Southern California, I now clean my chain using Park CB-4 "Bio" chain cleaner, applied by using a Finish Line chain scrubber box with the chain still on the bike. After two scrub cycles, I follow up by removing the chain and giving it a quick acetone rinse in a stainless steel can. Since I use a Wipperman chain with a slip-fit master link, the quick rinse is an easy task. After a 15 minute hang-dry on an outdoor hook, the chain is ready for reinstallation and lubrication.


I have no experience with the newest class of lubricants which are using micro particles instead of teflon.


However, here's my current lubricant, which isn't 'state of the art', but at one generation back, I think is still very good. I've been using for a few years now and I really like it: https://lillylube.com

Lilly Lube is available thru Amazon.


Of course, you can also search for Google reviews on bicycle chain lubricant and decide accordingly.

bark_eater 

I used Break-Free CLP for a while. I always figured it was equivalent to Tri-Flow but cheaper in bulk sizes. I could be wrong.

I got the impression that it was picking up to much grit and creating a grinding paste.

I switched over to Nixfrixshun. It seems to work as described. I'm also a little bit more facetious since wearing out a couple drive trains using CLP.

cyccommute 

There are thousands of house fires started each year by people using gasoline. With a flash point of -40°F, it is not a safe solvent to use at any temperature that you will regularly encounter. It shouldn’t be handled cavalierly.

You are misinformed. Coleman fuel isn’t “pure gas”. With an octane rating of 50 to 55, it would make a car run extremely poorly if you use it. The “white gas” name comes from the fact that some oil wells will produce a clear, colorless liquid that is also called “drip gas” because it will “drip” from the well head. It is naphtha which is similar to mineral spirits, although it usually has some more benzene in it. That gives it a lower flashpoint of around 0°F compared to mineral spirits’ flashpoint of closer to 70°F to 131°F, depending on the grade.

Again, similar to white gas and mineral spirits. It has a higher flash point.

Not really. Acetone is water soluble which is known as a polar solvent. All chain lubricants are nonpolar. You can fiddle a little with the polarity by adding a surfactant (soap) which is what Simple Green and other water based solvents do but there is a limit (very small limit) to how much grease they can solubilize. Mineral spirits and stove fuel have no limits. You can mix as much grease and oil with them as you like to the point where you have more grease and oil than solvent and they will still dissolve grease and oil.

There is a toxicity factor to consider with gasoline as well. The acute issue with it is flammability but it does contain a large percentage of chemicals that can result in chronic problems. Coleman fuel and mineral spirits can contain some of those same chemicals but they are there is far lower concentrations which is why they aren’t quite as flammable.

Overall, they are just safer. Frankly, the CARB standards getting rid of mineral spirits was an unwise decision. People will probably go to using gasoline which is more hazardous and more of a volatile substance…which adds to the air pollution problem.

Finally, as to chain lubricants, there really isn’t one that works better than all the others. There isn’t even a handful that work better than all the rest. No matter what you use, you can expect to get about the same mileage out of a chain. If there were one that was far superior to all the others, we would never had long involved discussions about chain lubricant.

cyccommute 

As a long term solvent wax user (White Lightning and other related products), I’ve never had to “scrub off accumulated wax”. People who are new to the material are overusing it because they want a drivetrain that “sounds” like an oiled one…i.e. dead silent. The chain isn’t squeaking but it is noisier. That solvent waxed chains aren’t as quiet as oiled chains which is something that the user just has to accept. The chains last as long so there isn’t really a problem with the (slightly) increased noise.

That said, I’ve used solvent wax for 25+ years and the major advantage is that I don’t have to clean my drivetrain….ever! Chains are stripped of the factory wax before they go on the bike because I’ve found the drivetrain to stay cleaner that way. Wax lubricant is put on the chain every 600 to 700 miles, just like oil lubricants. But the chain stays on the bike for about 3500 miles and never needs cleaning. No weekly chain cleaning. No weekly tear downs of the bike to remove oily crud. No chainring tattoos on my legs. No oily mess if I have to put the bike in a car. And no oily hands (clothing, pets, wife, kids, etc.) if I happen to brush up against the chain. My bicycle maintenance duties are so little that I have to volunteer at a co-op to work on bikes

Classtime 

6-700 miles on one application of wax chain lube!? If you don’t keep track of miles, how do you know when to re-apply if the chain is always noisy?

Bad Lag

@cyccommute , thanks for your inputs to this thread. Those are significant contributions, clarifying erroneous info picked up over the years and for the cautions on safety.

Thanks to everyone for your contributions, really.

My old Regina Oro chain is clean and lubed with Phil Oil and is back on the bike. I have a new chain sitting in my tool box and there are new chainrings in transit to me. I am set.

cyccommute 

The same question could be asked of oil users. I usually only apply after rain. People who use oil should do the same because the oil is contaminated with water and the water seeks the metal since both are polar. Oil just masks the sounds of the rust where wax actually squeaks.

That the chain is “noisy” doesn’t mean that the chain is squeaking. It just makes more noise. It’s something you get used to. Solvent wax doesn’t need to be refreshed every 100 miles like White Lightning tells you. You are never going to drown out the whirring sound of a wax lub chain. Trying to do so will only result in excess wax.

I don’t usually track my mileage between lubrications but I have had occasion to do so. I did a 1500 mile tour and applied it shortly before the tour, at about the half way point and just before the end. I also have total mileage on that chain which was 3500 miles.

dddd

I have noted the ever-present sound of rattling rollers on chains that were wax-lubed, which is why I don't use wax myself.

The OP's old Regina chain is likely a bushed-design chain, which tend to be far more reliant on more than scant lubrication since these chains are much less flexible laterally.

My own preference for chain lube is something that is 75% solvent-diluted, which helps get the chain clean quickly on the bike and which leaves no excess of oil inside of the chain after wiping it down thoroughly with terry cloth.
I am thus able to complete the whole lube and wipe to the chain using a continuous stream, and it takes just a minute or two.

Emphasis on using a suitable squeeze bottle with calibrated applicator tube, so as to deliver the oil at an optimal flow rate while turning the cranks through two or three passes of the entire length of the chain.
The flat-sided, 4oz squeeze bottle with thin applicator delivers just the right amount of lube to a moving chain using a 75% solvent mix.

icemilkcoffee 

How about charcoal lighter fluid?


Is this same as mineral spirits?

tendency

This entire topic is ALMOST a moot point .. I mean c'mon everyone is replacing their chain 1-2 times/season anyhow right? No need to make so much fuss IMO.

davester

Umm, no. That would be wasteful, environmentally poor practice and pointless.

I replace chains when they exceed 0.5% elongation. That's the approximate point where the chain starts destroying the freewheel cogs and chainrings. Using a quality lubricant (e.g. Molten Speed Wax or Silca Super Secret) means that you can get many thousands of miles out of a chain. If you pay attention to the testing done by Zero Friction Cycling you will realize that there is a massive difference between the wear rates of the different lube types and in general, heat-applied encapsulating lubes (e.g. wax with friction-reducing additives) score the highest, some (but not all, e.g. White Lightning) drip-on solvent-containing wax lubes are pretty good, and wet lubes score incredibly poorly in this regard.
https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/
https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/w...-FAQ-v1.3b.pdf

roadsnakes

I use one of those chain cleaners with the brushes inside. I fill it with Marvel Mystery Oil. Chain cleans up pretty nice, after I wipe it off any residual Marvel Mystery Oil won`t hurt anything. Then I lube it with Synthetic Gear Oil.

Dfrost 

Completely disagree.

My SRAM 8-speed chains go 2500-3500 miles before hitting 0.5% elongation, at which time they are replaced, so 2-4 years/bike. I’ve been using Pro Link Gold or Boeshield for years, typically reapplied every 300-400 miles when they start “talking”.

I decided to try Smoove on one bike after reading impressive comparative test results, and it’s a love/not love relationship. Love that after 4,000 miles there’s zero elongation, and re-application only seems needed every 500-600 miles. Not loving the mess it creates on the pulleys, cogs and chainstay. It doesn’t attract dirt, but the instructions “Do not wipe off excess” lead to that mess.

cyccommute 

Almost. It’s slightly more flammable than mineral spirits so that it ignites easily. I believe the flashpoint is somewhat higher than Coleman fuel, however. It will work just as well as mineral spirits and is likely available because you can’t really make “green” lighter fluid.

tendency

Exactly my point - I ride 10,000 miles a year and replace my chain 1-2 times. Sure, of course, if you're only riding a 'few' miles/year you'll keep your chain alot longer, but, by the same token, need to clean it much less often.