Do you oil your chain?

[JonoB]

Chain lubes.

Before lubing the chain, boil it in aviation kerosene ( on a low heat )

I'll just nip to the airport and ask to borrow a litre or so.......

 

[jimboalee]

You don't have to JonoB, you can do with a 50/50 mix of paraffin and white spirit.

"Now were cooking on ga........"

 

[gbb]

Several points....

I tried WD40 as a lubricant on a 9 speed chain on my old Bianchi. Looks lovely and clean ...the chain didnt last anywhere near as long as it should.
I mistakenly thought if i applied it often enough, it'd be ok....no way. I knew WD40 couldnt be as good as proper oil, but thought it was worth a try....never again.
My 10 speed chain, lubed with normal oil has aleady outlasted the 9 speed, and is only showing minimum wear.
(i used WD40 because i had access to limitless supplies of it BTW.)

ANY metal components that run against each other should have a lubricant on them. The sole purpose of a lubricant is to STOP metal to metal contact. That includes the chain / cassette. No lubricant..and you'll get increased wear.

I work with chain driven industrial conveyors...if i lovingly and carefully oiled the inner pins of the chain, and didnt oil the rollers and sprockets...the sprockets would wear. Thats not my opinion, thats a fact based on experience.
Its better to apply too much lubricant...and clean it regularly, than apply too little...

 

[mickle]

ON YER BIKE

• Protects bicycle chain
*From what? Fricking space aliens?

• Cleans bike chains
*So does vodka.

• Lubricates and protects unicycle seat post
*Who 'lubricates' the seat post of their unicycle and why?

• Protects bike frame from salt water corrosion
*No that's paint that is.

• Cleans rust off sprockets
*Wow it removes rust! Not. Really not.

• Drives moisture from bicycle gear shifting cables
*Woopee do. So does proper lube.

• Drives moisture from bicycle chains after washing
*Yes it does. It drives lube from chains after lubing too.

• Drives moisture from bicycle bearings
*Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Spray WD40 into your bearings and watch them die!

• Drives moisture from tyre air nozzles after washing
*Great. I hate having moisture in my 'tyre air nozzles'.

• Removes unwanted decals from bicycle frames
*True. Very good at this indeed. Easier to avoid sticking unwanted stickers on in the first place though....

• Loosens swivel on bicycle handlebars
*WTF is a 'swivel'? There is no swivel on any of the 750 bikes which I am responsible for nor any of the thousands of bikes I have encountered.

• Prevents rust on bicycle spokes
*Possibly. If you're getting rusty spokes you're riding a shitter, buy a new bike with stainless spokes.

• Prevents rust on bicycle brake threads
*Brake 'threads'?

• Prevents rust on bicycle frame
*Didn't we do this already?

• Prevents rust on bicycle brake cables
*Just like oil. Except worse.

• Lubricates bicycle shocks
*Ha ha ha. The day I spray that shoot anywhere near my Black Box SID World Cups is the day I wibble wibble hatstand gurn

.

 

[mickle]

Chain lubes.

Before lubing the chain, boil it in aviation kerosene ( on a low heat ).
Hang it to drain and fan it with a HOT hair dryer.

Now lay your chain on a spread of the Sun newspaper.
Spray liberally with chain wax. Castrol, Putolin or Wurth are as good as each other.

When nearly dry, pick chain up and wipe with cloth thoroughly to remove excess.

Hold chain at arms length and blow through each link with compressed air. ( don't do this at home ).

Put back on bike.

Hang on a minute Mr Clever. What are the effects of breathing the volatile compounds released into the atmosphere by this whole process? What health and safety measures do you employ. What level of PPE to you recommend. How long does this process take and have you done a cost-benefit analisis factoring in the cost of your time, the materials and equipment required, the potential damage to your health and to the environment versus the cost of a new eight quid fecking chain.

Arial looks like Anal if you don't dot the i.

 

[jimboalee]

All.

Use whatever method you like for your push bike chains - their cheap, but that's how we cleaned and lubricated a Motocrosser chain.


Anyway, there IS a method for determining if you have enough lube on the chain.

Stand the bike against a wall with the right hand side facing you.
Squat down and grasp the R/H pedal in your right hand and turn your head to the right.
Turn the crank counterclockwise at 60 rpm.
With your left hand, hold your wristwatch to your left ear.

If you can hear the chain meshing on the sprockets above the sound of your Rolex, the chain is too dry.

 

[Steve Austin]

I've oiled my Rolex, so it doesn't make that damn infernal ticking

 

[Downward]

Ooops going on the 1st link it says clean your chain etc after ever trip - I have never touched mine, Should I clean it, It's covered in that Black road grime and gunk.

 

[dodgy]

This thread is bonkers, I can only imagine the confusion it's generating for newcomers to our sport.
Chains need cleaning and oiling, WD40 is great to have in your toolbox for driving water away from appropriate parts of your bike, but it is not an effective lubricant.
Everyone seems to have their own way of cleaning the chain, almost any technique must be better than never cleaning it! FWIW, I simply wipe with a rag after a ride and apply new finish line pro road lube. This technique takes about 45 - 90 seconds after every ride and my chain is always spotless and quiet. If you're interested, I have a nice trick for cleaning between sprockets on the cassette, wrap part of an old T Shirt around an old credit card and insert between each gap while spinning the cranks backwards.

And finally - http://bicycletutor.com/no-wd40-bike-chain/

 

[ufkacbln]

Yep -

AS the great (late) Sheldon Brown pointed out...

Similarly, there's no way to apply correct lubrication to an assembled chain, since the rollers have different lubrication needs than the link articulation pins do!

..........simply make sure you clean your chain properly

 

[jimboalee]

So what about this...

 

[jimboalee]

It looks like a Nexus 8 hub, but I can't be sure. The cable fitting looks like the Carerra Subway 8.

 

[velocidad]

So what about this...

very interesting! do you have a link to the site you got that picture from? i had a strida folding bike with a belt drive.
cheers, velocidad.

 

[jimboalee]

Its difficult to get a robust link.

Google :-

sea otter classic

 

[Steve Austin]

thats an alfine hub. i got one.

belt drives are getting a lot of inetrest and development form some pretty good frame companies and now there are a few gear hub systems they could be the future!