And another quick question.....

[John Ponting]

Essentially then you are using parrafin as a chain lube John?

mickle, sorry NO - my routine is (as said) clean & degrease. I missed out the final lube from a bottle of red or green line.

At the moment I'm not doing enough miles to need much more than KerryGold Butter as a chain lube but my paraffin clean before lubing helps a 1000cc motorbike chain get past 18000 miles of all weathers.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'm with Mickle here.

KMC Chains do not recommend degreasers either, as Mickle states the important lubing is with the pin and roller NOT the roller and sprockets.
Degreaser washes-out the lube in the pins/rollers and re-lubing will not easily replace this.
I think I've tried every method over 25 years and Mickle's is probably the simplest and best.

I have experimented wih WD40 after paraffin and then plenty of lube while WD40 still present in the hope that the WD40 thins the lube enough to allow it to penetrate the rollers/pins, the WD40 slowly evaporates leaving lube in the pins area. On appearance it seems to work as there is virtually no oil on the chain in the morning (no its not on the Garage floor) so assume much has dissapeared into the chain. But only have done this when the simple Mickle system is just not enough.

Regularly (after a long ride) I use the Mr Paul Baby-wipe and re-lube approach and then a more intense Mickle-method every couple of weeks.

 

[Panter]

Thanks again all, I feel I've been catapulted from transmission newbie to sprocket specialist

So, regular wipe and re-lube, Mickle method weekly (or weather/mileage dependant) and don't worry about the sprockets, just clean if they get gritty and then leave dry. Got it

 

[mickle]

mickle, sorry NO - my routine is (as said) clean & degrease. I missed out the final lube from a bottle of red or green line.

At the moment I'm not doing enough miles to need much more than KerryGold Butter as a chain lube but my paraffin clean before lubing helps a 1000cc motorbike chain get past 18000 miles of all weathers.

Interesting John, does the parrafin evaporate out do you think? I would be concerned about the parrafin diluting or otherwise reducing the effectiveness of the finish line lube but your experience would seem to imply that it doesnt.

 

[John Ponting]

mickle

The parafin seems to evaporate off leaving a slight oily surface. Chain side plates and rollers don't surface corrode rapidly afterwards.

I must admit that I recently ran out of paraffin and topped up with a can of diesel to do the same job. I expect a greater level of oil residue from diesel but my chains do seem to last so something is working.

 

[Chigley]

How clean does the transmission need to be kept on my road bike?


On my first MTB, I managed to destroy the transmission in 5 months because I was religiously lubing the chain, but not cleaning it. The resulting grinding paste made very short work of it.

I've just spent half hour thoroughly cleaning the transmission on my SCR which has done 176 miles from new as it seemed to have a fair bit of Black gunk on it.

Does it need to be kept very clean or can I just oil the chain after every other ride ?

Pro-link

http://www.progoldmfr.com/products/prolink.html

 

[Panter]

Thanks for the link.

I must admit though, reading the blurb has stirred the sceptic in me

What does everyone else think?

 

[mickle]

Looks like a chain lube to me. Im sure it works very well.

Scottoiler discussion anyone?

 

[Panter]

fairy nuff

Scottoiler discussion anyone?

Can you get these for pushbikes then ?

EDIT: Well, I'll be blowed

 

[mickle]

I was joking! Dont go there!

 

[John Ponting]

I was joking! Dont go there!

I really hoped you were joking.

I believe in the use of an auto chain oiler - but not on a 2 leg power bicycle where 100 miles is (generally) considered a long way.

But they can extend the life of a (£200 chain & sprocket) motorbike chain by 50% or more - with the added bonus of a clean(ish) back wheel after a 600 mile schlep to Millau.

 

[Panter]

Sorry, just can't resist



I used to use a scottoiler on my Yamaha R1.

I stopped using it as I got very bored with it spraying oil over the edge of my back tyre causing "some stability issues" when cornering, ahem, how shall I phrase it, briskly.

I assume its the same with a bicycle, but with the added bonus of coating the rim with oil which also serves as the braking surface?

 

[mickle]

Oh Christ what have I done?

 

[spandex]

The thing to do is just get a good chain oil and follow mickle's method and get your self a chain wear gage. If your chain is over .75mils get it off your bike as it will kill your drive train.

 

[Panter]

Thanks for that

I do have a shiney new chain checker from park tools which I use on it and on the MTB's after wrecking my last MTB

Rest assured, as soon as it hits that first wear indicator, the chain will be binned