Chain lube of choice?

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Vantage

Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
3 in 1 is too thin as is WD40 and GT85.
I tried FinishLine Ceramic but thought it was crap and gets dirty real quickly. FinishLine Cross Country wet oil did a good job did a good job during the years I used it.
TF2 I also thought is a load of s**t and wears off too quick. Maybe OK for summer use
The best stuff I've used is White Lightning Wet Ride oil. Brilliant stuff. Lasts forever in wet or dry conditions and gives a nice quiet drivetrain.
 

Vantage

Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
I was under the impression that GT 85 was ok for bike chains ?

I use it on my Road and MTB's.

There's a guy on the cycling UK forum called Brucey. He's a materials scientist and up there with the likes of Sheldon Brown on bicycle knowledge. If a million people say one thing about something regarding cycling mechanicals and he says differently, I'll take his version every time.
GT85 and similar aren't thick enough for chain lubrication according to him. That's good enough for me.
Having tried it myself though, I could feel the chain grinding on the cogs with that stuff. Not good.
 

youngoldbloke

The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
Progold Prolink applied with a hypodermic syringe, one drop per chain roller. Also use it on all other pivot points on the bikes.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
Allegedly one popular (and raved-about) chain lube of the 1990s was repackaged Mobil 1 engine oil. It's a good enough lubricant - most engines have chains in them, after all - but tends to wash off too easily.

Got some engine oil in the shed left over from previous inhabitant. Might start using that, probably will last me the rest of my life- there's quite a bit of it.
 
Location
London
There's a guy on the cycling UK forum called Brucey. He's a materials scientist and up there with the likes of Sheldon Brown on bicycle knowledge. If a million people say one thing about something regarding cycling mechanicals and he says differently, I'll take his version every time.
GT85 and similar aren't thick enough for chain lubrication according to him. That's good enough for me.
Having tried it myself though, I could feel the chain grinding on the cogs with that stuff. Not good.
Didn't know he was a materials scientist but I have long had the impression that he operates from an underground bike laboratory. Seems to have taken every bike bit in existence apart. I rate him as you do. Very helpful.

On the lube front, having tried lots of supposedly miraculous lubes I have settled on weldtite's performance:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/weldtite-tf2-performance-oil/rp-prod5960?

and I rather suspect that one of wilco's lubes is the same thing. Just get a smal;l funnel and you can funnel the big packs into the small.

It is a bit on the liquid side but the esteemed brucey reckons that liquidy can be good for clearing chain debris. Everything running sweet with it on my favourite bike at the mo.

And as far as I'm concerned yet again proves that with bike stuff you don't necessarily have to spend a lot.
 
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MrGrumpy

Huge Member
Location
Fly Fifer
GT 85 is great for cleaning and it smells good :tongue: . Anyway update thus far on the Chainsaw oil, is that its certainly doing its job ! I applied with a small paint brush and then wiped of the excess. Will see how it stands up to rain.
 

Alan O

Über Member
Location
Liverpool
I use GT 85, but not really as a lubricant. If a bike's drive chain is dry and not too dirty, I just clean with a rag and relube with oil.

But if a bike comes home very wet, or dirty and gets a hosing down, I then spray generously with GT 85 as a water displacer - then when the solvent has pretty much evaporated, lube again with oil.

The big beauty of GT 85 for this use is that it's very cheap if you stock up when Aldi has it for just £2 for a 400ml can - but these days I've stockpiled so much of it I have to actively resist buying more whenever I see it.

Oh, and yes, it does smell good!
 
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