Do you oil your chain?

[gbb]

A steel sprocket exposed to water will rust. rust will increase chainwear, sprocket wear etc.

So what substance can i put on my cassette to prevent rust that will also increase the length of time my components last? Its really got me thinking this one... If only i could come up with an answer!

Errr..playdoh, plasticine, lawn cuttings, tomato sauce...sod it. I havnt got any of those. Spose i'll just have to make do with oil for now then....

 

[Chris James]

Oiling the chain also oils the cassette at the same time (also the jockey wheel teeth and chain ring teeth). You can see the black depsoit if you use a lube like Cross Country.

By dripping all over both the chain and the cassette you risk over lubricating and just attracting grit etc. It is also more difficult to clean up the cassette than it is the chain so you dont really want excessive lubrication build up there.

I use my bike in all weathers, have never lubricated a cassette, and my cassette is rust free. Clearly something has been deposited on the surface of the teeth.

 

[fossyant]

Like above - I'm regularly wiping oil deposits off my cassette - just run a rag through the sprocket spaces. Oil the middle rollers of the chain only, and the oil will coat the sprockets.

 

[mickle]

There is little to no wear on the business surfaces of a sprocket because the chain is equipped with rollers. Once a portion of chain is engaged on the sprocket there is no movement whatsoever unless the chain is actually worn out. As a chain wears out the sprocket teeth engage with fewer and fewer links until the whole bike is being propelled by one tooth at a time. This is what causes sprocket wear, the extremely high individual sprocket/ chain interface pressures of using a worn chain. In normal conditions and with a chain in good condition sprockets just don't wear out. So don't need any lube beyond that required to prevent oxidisation.

 

[pinkkaz]

I boiled my Rolex in aviation kerosine, dried it with a hot-air paint stripper and then soaked it overnight in creosote.

It has cured the loud ticking sound it used to make, and I'm pretty sure it won't rust.

But it doesn't now work.

I sent it to Switzerland as a warranty issue, but Rolex told me to sod-off.
They said that because it was a copy made in China, it wasn't covered.

What should I do ?

Sorry, OT, but this made me actually cry with laughter.

 

[02GF74]

.... well everyone has their own idea as to what is best.

Just gonna pop up what I do.

Nowadays I spray may chain with a motorcycle chain lubricant - this stuff flows and once the solvent evporates, it becomes solid. After spraying, I immediately run the chain through a cloth to pick up the excess - the idea is that the lube soak in between the rollers where it is needed, nowhere else.

I did in the past wash the chain in paraffin, all sorts of grit came out but it gelt really floppy as no doube this washed the lube out too.

I could not see any advantage in doing that or maybe got lazy. Chains are cheap and the real chain killer for me is riding through mud, no treatment is gonna help there; only a sealed chain case.

 

[itisaboutthebike]

Chains are cheap

Will people stop saying chains are cheap !

Some are, some aren't (KMC SL10 for instance), altho I guess if you're a hedge boy any chain is cheap..........

 

[PpPete]

Anybody ever try boiling their chains in paraffin wax?

This was suggested quite seriously in an otherwise excellent book on cycle maintenance. The theory was that boiling wax would penetrete to parts that needed it, and on the outside (where no lube needed) the cold hard wax could simply be knocked off. - and supposedly the residue would not attract dirt.

I tried it once....

I have now bought an updated edition of said book - and that advice has mysteriously disappeared.

 

[swee'pea99]

For a while I used hot parafin wax - I think on account of something in Richard's Bicycle Book - but then I discovered it was totally useless and that Prolink Gold was vastly more effective and a lot less trouble.

 

[Maz]

************
So, how do I clean the greasy muck off the chain, please?
Preferably without removing the chain.
************

Any takers?

 

[mickle]

With a rag Maz, wipe it, lube it, wipe it, wipe it, wipe it. Repeat as often as you like.

 

[Maz]

With a rag Maz, wipe it, lube it, wipe it, wipe it, wipe it. Repeat as often as you like.

So does the lube help to displace the oil/muck/sludge?

 

[mickle]

Most of the black gunk will come off with a vigorous wipe-down with a rag, the rest becomes diluted with the fresh lube and comes off easily. Always spend a lot more time wiping than applying lube. By wiping off any excess lube you'll prevent the accumulation of gunk which is just lube with road crap in it. It's the simplest way to maintain your chain. And I think it's the best.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Anybody ever try boiling their chains in paraffin wax?

This was suggested quite seriously in an otherwise excellent book on cycle maintenance. The theory was that boiling wax would penetrete to parts that needed it, and on the outside (where no lube needed) the cold hard wax could simply be knocked off. - and supposedly the residue would not attract dirt.

I tried it once....

I have now bought an updated edition of said book - and that advice has mysteriously disappeared.

Not wax, but used molten vaseline once or twice on back when I had a 10 speed bike. I remember the advice and it might well have been in the early edition of Richards's Bicycle book, it was my bible in the early '80s and where I first read about fixed-wheels and other weirdness. The chain on my Turbo-mule fixie is I believe still running a molten Vaseline'd chain.

Nowadays I'm Mickle method user. Don't need to leave much lube on the chain though, maybe that's a common mistake.

 

[Panter]

You're all wrong. WD-40 is where it's at.



Says so in cycling plus so it must be true