Where to put the oil

[lulubel]

OK, this probably seems like a stupid question, but I'm moving over to trying to maintain my bike myself, rather than taking it to the LBS every 5 minutes. I don't speak much Spanish, and the man who runs our LBS in town doesn't speak any English, so I think maintaining it myself might be easier!

I know I need to oil the chain. When we came to Spain, I cleaned off the old wet lube, which I used all the time in Cornwall, and now use a Shimano dry lube (from the LBS) that has both the little tube fitting, and also an aerosol type spray. I give the cassette and the chain itself a few sprays with the aerosol about once a week, wipe it all down with baby wipes once a fortnight, and that seems to be working fine.

But I think there are other moving parts that need oiling, like brake and gear cables, and probably other things I don't know about .....

Can anyone give me (or give me a link for) any really detailed instructions on which bits of the bike need oiling and how much to use? And is the one I have suitable, or do I need something else as well?

 

[Angelfishsolo]

This article may help you.

OK, this probably seems like a stupid question, but I'm moving over to trying to maintain my bike myself, rather than taking it to the LBS every 5 minutes. I don't speak much Spanish, and the man who runs our LBS in town doesn't speak any English, so I think maintaining it myself might be easier!

I know I need to oil the chain. When we came to Spain, I cleaned off the old wet lube, which I used all the time in Cornwall, and now use a Shimano dry lube (from the LBS) that has both the little tube fitting, and also an aerosol type spray. I give the cassette and the chain itself a few sprays with the aerosol about once a week, wipe it all down with baby wipes once a fortnight, and that seems to be working fine.

But I think there are other moving parts that need oiling, like brake and gear cables, and probably other things I don't know about .....

Can anyone give me (or give me a link for) any really detailed instructions on which bits of the bike need oiling and how much to use? And is the one I have suitable, or do I need something else as well?

 

[Alun]

You wont go far wrong if you give everything that moves apart from the brakes and the chain a regular squirt with WD40. The chain would benefit from the dry lube that you have rather than WD40. Cables can get sticky due to the dust getting inside, if this happens you might need to disconnect the outer cable at an end to expose the inner which you could clean with a green pan scrub or wire wool and WD40 or similar.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

I must disagree - WD40 has no place near a bike. It strips away oil and makes re-lubing very difficult as it leaves a silicon coating on anything it touches.

You wont go far wrong if you give everything that moves apart from the brakes and the chain a regular squirt with WD40. The chain would benefit from the dry lube that you have rather than WD40. Cables can get sticky due to the dust getting inside, if this happens you might need to disconnect the outer cable at an end to expose the inner which you could clean with a green pan scrub or wire wool and WD40 or similar.

 

[Alun]

Hasn't done my bikes any harm in the years that I've been using it!

 

[Angelfishsolo]

That's rather like the smoking argument. I know of no bicycle mechanic who would touch the stuff as a lube.

Hasn't done my bikes any harm in the years that I've been using it!

 

[swee'pea99]

No offense but that article makes it all look a bit daunting, to me at least. Mostly bikes don't need lubricating, apart from the chain, which you seem to have pretty well under control. Other than that...

It makes sense to oil cables every now and then - by which I mean every six months, give or take. That just means trying to get oil to run down the 'cable housing' - the tube the cable runs down. You can help by getting gravity to help, by turning your whole bike upside down or whatever other way is necessary to get the bit of tubing you're trying to run down as vertical as possible, and by working (applying/releasing) the brakes, or shifting the gears up and down while you oil. Also, look under the bottom bracket, where the cable (probably) runs 'around a corner' - and make sure you oil there too.

That's really about it. Unless you hear squeaking or feel stiffness, in which case, try to figure out where two bits of metal are rubbing together, and how to get some oil in there.

Lubricating other bits like headsets or bottom brackets is an every-few-thousand-miles job, if that, and unless you become a fettler, probably best left to the LBS, even if they do only talk foreign.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Trouble is by then the damage can be done. Rather like relying on the Low Oil Pressure light on a car telling you when to top up the oil.
[quote name='swee'pea99' timestamp='1309183704' post='1724235']
NUnless you hear squeaking or feel stiffness, in which case, try to figure out where two bits of metal are rubbing together, and how to get some oil in there.




[/quote]

 

[Alun]

It's very different from the smoking argument, there is a lot of evidence to show that smoking damages health and none that I am aware of to show that WD40 damages bikes.

I've used WD40 for many years without any problems, it's oil.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

The WD in WD-40 stands for Water Displacement.
It is more of a solvent than a lubricant.
It works great for cleaning old grease from bearings and protecting the inside of a steel frame but that's about the only thing it should be used for IMHO.

It's very different from the smoking argument, there is a lot of evidence to show that smoking damages health and none that I am aware of to show that WD40 damages bikes.

I've used WD40 for many years without any problems, it's oil.

 

[battered]

WD40 is principally a mixture of light oil and a solvent, naptha. Naptha is essentially the lighter, cleaner bits of petrol and it's just a carrier for the other ingredients. WD40 works well as a lubricant, just as light oil does. It won't strip away any existing lube unless you bathe the bike in it. As such it's a very effective bit of anyone's toolkit, it will carry the oil ino the parts you spray and then the solvent will evaporate to leave the oil behind.

Typing "WD40 MSDS" into Google gets you a detailed rundown from a Health & Safety perspective, basically it's 2 parts naptha (petrol) and 1 part oil in a can. A more valid complaint is that it's a rather expensive way of buying light oil dissolved in petrol, but it's easy and clean to use.

 

[battered]

In answer to the original question, the dry lube you are using on the chain and cassette will do a great job where you are, Just clean the grit off periodically so that it doesn't grind the whole thing to a pulp. You don't have to go mad here, a hose with your thumb over the end will do fine. I would also use some light oil (3 in 1, sewing machine oil, or the wet lube you may still have) on cables etc. WD40 or GT85 will also do a good job and it's easy to use. Essentially a quick weekly squirt where cables inners go into outers, use a rag to catch excess, then have a look at your gear change mechanisms. The derailleur and front shifter both have a parallelogram arrangement, try shifting gears and watching the things to see how they work. A spot of oil or our new friend WD on the pivot points (you can see them moving when you shift gear) will do the job.

Things like pedal bearings, the crank bearings, headset (steering) and wheel bearings are beyond your ken and should be left alone as others say. In any case they are filled with grease and need no maintenance other than say an annual strip and clean. Possibly less, my commuter just gets ridden about with the odd splash of light oil when I'm feeling flush and I only regrease bearings when they get gritty. The last wheel did 5 years/5000 miles apprx. between greasings and only stopped working when the rim wore out under braking.

 

[henshaw11]

WD40 is principally a mixture of light oil and a solvent, naptha. Naptha is essentially the lighter, cleaner bits of petrol and it's just a carrier for the other ingredients. WD40 works well as a lubricant, just as light oil does. It won't strip away any existing lube unless you bathe the bike in it. As such it's a very effective bit of anyone's toolkit, it will carry the oil ino the parts you spray and then the solvent will evaporate to leave the oil behind.

Typing "WD40 MSDS" into Google gets you a detailed rundown from a Health & Safety perspective, basically it's 2 parts naptha (petrol) and 1 part oil in a can. A more valid complaint is that it's a rather expensive way of buying light oil dissolved in petrol, but it's easy and clean to use.

The problem with it is that any lube in it is *very* thin, and the net effect of the solvent on any decent grease is that it dissolves it. It (or GT85) is good for cables - and I guess you could use it on mech pivot points - but keep it away from anything that relies on previous greasing. Many years I ruined a perfectly good headset over a winter from taking a cue from a mate - after every wet ride I'd liberally spray WD40/GT85 around the headset to remove water. Opened it up at the end of winter and there was no grease left ! Definitely keep away from hub/headset/bottom bracket or any other grease-packed or oiled bearings.

 

[battered]

Yes, grease bearings should be greased and let alone, I agree. Oil or WD doesn't help. The only exception I'd make is if a sealed BB is full of water and gunge and on its way out - in that case you can keep them on life support by standing it on its side and filling them with heavy oil overnight. It buys you another few months till the creaks and cracks become embarrassing or worrying. It's a bodge though.

 

[Zoiders]

If it's hot and dry I would caution against running the chain "wet" as it just picks up dust.

GT85/WD40 is thin and dries quick and will leave the minimum amount lube you can get away as they are both have Teflon/PTFE in them these days or you can use dry lube like the others said which does the same job, with the GT85/WD40 option though it's going to need the little and often routine to keep wear down, also keep thinned out penertrating lubes like GT85/WD40 away from bearings as others have said.

If you only have the plain old bike oil to hand just oil the chain as normal but then leave it to "sweat" for a bit in the heat and then wipe off the excess, keep sweating the chain and wiping it down until you have the bare minimum of oil you can get away within the rollers of the chain.