Best Drive Train Oil?

[SkipdiverJohn]

Whatever lube regime you follow, the important bit is the lube needs to coat the surfaces that actually move relative to each other. Those are mostly the bits you can't see, whereas the most visible bits of the chain, the outward-facing sideplates are subjected to a tensile load but not movement. The pins and bushings are where the lube needs to be along with the rollers that engage the sprockets. The outside of the links can be wiped off with a rag to stop too much dirt sticking to them and it will make no difference to the lubrication effectiveness.

 

[Lovacott]

Whatever lube regime you follow, the important bit is the lube needs to coat the surfaces that actually move relative to each other.

That would be where the pins go through the links and as they wear away at each other, the chain gets that little bit longer until only one or two pins are bearing on the sprocket teeth causing them to wear away until they become useless.

My current strategy is a weekly clean followed by a squirt of WD40 to get right into the tiny gaps. A couple of hours later, I back pedal and drip 3 in 1 onto the whole chain over the freewheel. I also use my chain wear checker to see how things are.

The whole job takes me less than ten minutes (cleaning, WD40 then 3 in 1 and chain checking).

I don't mind spending ten minutes a week and a few pence on the job but with my freewheel and chain combo coming in at less that £30, spending any more time and money on protecting it doesn't seem worth the effort.

My theory is that my very cheap chain checker (everyone should own one), will tell me when to replace my £7.98 chain and if I have to do it once every six months, it's still a lot cheaper than spending a fortune on fancy lubes and the hours of my time it would take to apply them.

I bought two new chains last week and pre shortened them so that they are ready to go next time I need to swap.

I am coming around to the idea that a chain is a consumable much like a brake pad and should be treated as such.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I am coming around to the idea that a chain is a consumable much like a brake pad and should be treated as such.

They are consumables, but I only bin chains that are rusted solid or are knackered, and I mean absolutely knackered not less than 1% elongated.
My strategy is to run everything into the ground before it gets scrapped. Bikes with decent mechanicals deserve decent chains, to slow down the wear rate, but if i need a replacement chain for a hack bike that is already well worn in the freewheel and chainring department, I always use a secondhand one that I've kept hold of. No point putting a new chain on a tired drivetrain, the reclaimed part-worn chains actually seem to run better!

 

[MichaelW2]

WD40 is only a lube in extremis. It is a solvent and washes out easily. I have used it to revive dead rusted chains. My spray of choice for convenience is GT85. On very cold, wet days it gets inside the links better than viscous oil. Where I can use oil I do. I think my current bottles are from aldi.

 

[Lovacott]

They are consumables, but I only bin chains that are rusted solid or are knackered, and I mean absolutely knackered not less than 1% elongated.
My strategy is to run everything into the ground before it gets scrapped. Bikes with decent mechanicals deserve decent chains, to slow down the wear rate, but if i need a replacement chain for a hack bike that is already well worn in the freewheel and chainring department, I always use a secondhand one that I've kept hold of. No point putting a new chain on a tired drivetrain, the reclaimed part-worn chains actually seem to run better!

On an MTB with 21 gears, chain slip gets pretty bad on the smaller cogs to the point where the bike becomes almost useless on anything other than a flat road at a gentle pace. If I let it go on, the freewheel gets knackered pretty quickly.

I use a cheap Clarks chain with a quick link. £7.99 on Amazon and I bought a cheap chain checker as well.

I bought a few chains and reduced them in length at the same time ready to be popped onto the bike as soon as I get near 0.75%.

My route is pretty muddy and I have put in a lot of mitigation like mudguards and flaps and a fairing to protect the drive train. But some still gets through and although I give it a weekly clean and oil up, the chain still wears pretty quickly.

I'm now keeping track of my mileage in excel and I am noting when I replace parts so that I can see in future how many miles I get from each component. I've just gone through my receipts and I can see that I bought a chain splitter on 4th July which is when I installed the last chain. I got just over five months or 1757 miles out of that one.

When I was in London though, I had a five speed racer for about six years and never once changed any part of the drivetrain. I'd only oil it up about twice a year and it was left outside against a wall with just a carrier bag over the seat to keep it dry.

 

[Gunk]

On an MTB with 21 gears, chain slip gets pretty bad on the smaller cogs to the point where the bike becomes almost useless on anything other than a flat road at a gentle pace. If I let it go on, the freewheel gets knackered pretty quickly.

I use a cheap Clarks chain with a quick link. £7.99 on Amazon and I bought a cheap chain checker as well.

I bought a few chains and reduced them in length at the same time ready to be popped onto the bike as soon as I get near 0.75%.

My route is pretty muddy and I have put in a lot of mitigation like mudguards and flaps and a fairing to protect the drive train. But some still gets through and although I give it a weekly clean and oil up, the chain still wears pretty quickly.

I'm now keeping track of my mileage in excel and I am noting when I replace parts so that I can see in future how many miles I get from each component. I've just gone through my receipts and I can see that I bought a chain splitter on 4th July which is when I installed the last chain. I got just over five months or 1757 miles out of that one.

When I was in London though, I had a five speed racer for about six years and never once changed any part of the drivetrain. I'd only oil it up about twice a year and it was left outside against a wall with just a carrier bag over the seat to keep it dry.

Interesting you say this, my most troublesome bike is my mountain bike with its 3x10 drivetrain, it seems to constantly need attention and reindexing

 

[Lovacott]

Interesting you say this, my most troublesome bike is my mountain bike with its 3x10 drivetrain, it seems to constantly need attention and reindexing

My old five speeder wasn't indexed other than the top and bottom gears and selection of the other three was done by feel.

With "many geared" bikes like a 3x7 etc, getting everything to marry up in harmony is pretty exacting. A tiny bit of cable stretch and the whole thing goes out of kilter.

I use my control end barrel adjuster quite a bit on the fly, especially when it goes from 1 or 2c in the morning to 15c in the afternoon. That little bit of expansion / contraction can be taken out with a quick quarter turn.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

When I was in London though, I had a five speed racer for about six years and never once changed any part of the drivetrain. I'd only oil it up about twice a year and it was left outside against a wall with just a carrier bag over the seat to keep it dry.

That sounds a lot like the way my hack machines get treated, although I am rather more frequent with the lube regime. Outside with a plastic bag over the saddle is exactly how they are kept though! I don't believe in molly coddling beater bikes. They are there to be used and abused, not washed and polished every Sunday - and all they get is a pump of air and a squirt of something oily.

 

[Lovacott]

That sounds a lot like the way my hack machines get treated, although I am rather more frequent with the lube regime. Outside with a plastic bag over the saddle is exactly how they are kept though! I don't believe in molly coddling beater bikes. They are there to be used and abused, not washed and polished every Sunday - and all they get is a pump of air and a squirt of something oily.

I live in one of those Devon terraced cottages with a front door which opens straight onto a narrow public footpath next to a single track road.

So when I get home, I have to carry my bike through the house and out the back door to my lean to shed.

I wanted to fix some hanging brackets in the living room but the missus won't let me .

 

[figbat]

I 'think' the polymers they've built into the oil, but I'm guessing tbh.

https://muc-off.com/products/hydrodynamic-lube

I took a look into this. They claim it contains “no petroleum” which I infer means no mineral oil, so presumably uses a synthetic hydrocarbon like PAO. I found an old safety data sheet which listed zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate as a hazardous ingredient - this is a common anti-wear component used in engine oils, and others. However it is, in my opinion, not suitable for chain use since it requires a reasonable temperature to ‘activate’ and start working. I wonder if this oil is simply a repackaged oil from another industry, perhaps a hydraulic oil; cheap to make/buy but punt it out in little bottles for lots of £/ml.

The inevitable pedant in me also smirks at the name of it. In the lubricant world, the word “hydrodynamic” has a specific meaning - it defines a particular lubrication regime. It is the regime you achieve when two surfaces are fully-separated by the oil film as a consequence of high relative speeds, low applied loads and/or high viscosity. It is the very opposite of the lubrication regime I would expect a chain to operate in - very low/zero sliding speed, high local load and low viscosity leading to something resembling “boundary lubrication” - that being significant surface-to-surface contact with little load borne by the oil film.

 

[Lovacott]

The inevitable pedant in me also smirks at the name of it. In the lubricant world, the word “hydrodynamic” has a specific meaning - it defines a particular lubrication regime. It is the regime you achieve when two surfaces are fully-separated by the oil film as a consequence of high relative speeds, low applied loads and/or high viscosity. It is the very opposite of the lubrication regime I would expect a chain to operate in - very low/zero sliding speed, high local load and low viscosity leading to something resembling “boundary lubrication” - that being significant surface-to-surface contact with little load borne by the oil film.

Lubrication of a drive train is a trade off of a solid grip between meeting metals and wear reduction of those meeting metals.

Whatever oil you use, it will compromise one for the other.







It is the regime you achieve when two surfaces are fully-separated by the oil film as a consequence of high relative speeds, low applied loads and/or high viscosity. It is the very opposite of the lubrication regime I would expect a chain to operate in - very low/zero sliding speed, high local load and low viscosity leading to something resembling “boundary lubrication” - that being significant surface-to-surface contact with little load borne by the oil film.
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[Paul_Smith SRCC]

I dare say many have their personal favourites; some like wax based, some prefer more traditional style lubricants; by the same token many will have their own preferred cleaning then lubricating regime.

I have personally used ProGold Pro Link for years, their 4oz chain lube to be precise and I use it all year round. My preferred cleaning then lubricating regime is little and often, keeping the transmission clean as apposed to letting it get dirty and then having to resurrect it back to clean. I believe little and often saves time overall and I much prefer both how a clean transmission feels, and looks, versus a dirty one. At the end of a ride I drip lube onto the chain, back pedalling for a full rotation with a rag under it to catch the drips, after one 'pass' I wrap the rag with the overspray/drips around the chain with my fingers and back pedal to work it into the side plates then a few 'passes' top and bottom, plus a few to clean the jockey wheels; I then repeat that with a clean bit of rag to remove residue. Less frequently I use the 8oz Aerosol to squirt some into the jockey wheels bushes and into both mech' pivot points to keep everything clean and running freely.

I get about 5 thousand miles before my chain wear necessitates replacement.