Wild GT 85 questions?

[G3CWI]

My tip for applying chainsaw oil is to use a syringe. You use hardly any.

 

[Crankarm]

My tip for applying chainsaw oil is to use a syringe. You use hardly any.

Remove chain. Clean and dry, bone dry. Then pour chainsaw oil into a small container so about 1.5 inch deep. Then dip chain fully submerged into container starting at one end working along length of chain so oil gets into rollers and inside plates. Repeat if you feel it necessary. Then hang chain up with container beneath to collect excess oil dripping off chain. Witin an hour and definately over night the chain is ready to refit to bike using the Quick link you so conveniently bought to make chain removal so easy. Wearing nitrile gloves is also a good idea. £10 for a box of 100. Simples.

 

[Milzy]

Remove chain. Clean and dry, bone dry. Then pour chainsaw oil into a small container so about 1.5 inch deep. Then dip chain fully submerged into container starting at one end working along length of chain so oil gets into rollers and inside plates. Repeat if you feel it necessary. Then hang chain up with container beneath to collect excess oil dripping off chain. Witin an hour and definately over night the chain is ready to refit to bike using the Quick link you so conveniently bought to make chain removal so easy. Wearing nitrile gloves is also a good idea. £10 for a box of 100. Simples.

Amazing, I will do this.

 

[Steve Donovan]

Remove chain. Clean and dry, bone dry. Then pour chainsaw oil into a small container so about 1.5 inch deep. Then dip chain fully submerged into container starting at one end working along length of chain so oil gets into rollers and inside plates. Repeat if you feel it necessary. Then hang chain up with container beneath to collect excess oil dripping off chain. Witin an hour and definately over night the chain is ready to refit to bike using the Quick link you so conveniently bought to make chain removal so easy. Wearing nitrile gloves is also a good idea. £10 for a box of 100. Simples.

I've had my bike a week, 50 miles done, and thinking it might need a bit of a clean and lube.
Now this chainsaw oil process, do you do this as your only method of chain lubing, or do you do anything else to the chain or cassette ?
I was convinced in to buying some GT85 and Pure dry lube when I was in Halfords - but I'm just trying to get my head around what sort of typical maintenance/cleaning schedule is required.

 

[Crankarm]

I've had my bike a week, 50 miles done, and thinking it might need a bit of a clean and lube.
Now this chainsaw oil process, do you do this as your only method of chain lubing, or do you do anything else to the chain or cassette ?
I was convinced in to buying some GT85 and Pure dry lube when I was in Halfords - but I'm just trying to get my head around what sort of typical maintenance/cleaning schedule is required.

Yep, only chainsaw oil. Avoid GT85 and WD40. They act as cutting agents, stink and end all over your bike's rear wheel rim. Bin the dry lube you have bought as it will likely be waxed based which is crap at staying on your chain and frankly awful at lubrication in comparison to oil. You know why bike lubes are all wax based now? Cost. Wax is cheap and mixed with persuasive marketing the mark up for manufacturers is huge. I have used wax lubes - White Lightening which was crap, Finish Line wax lube which was better but still not brilliant, Finish Line Pro Cermic which was good but mega expensive £9-10 for a small bottle. Chainsaw oil is far better and a fraction of the price of bike "lubes", plus it's designed to lube ........chains.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I've had my bike a week, 50 miles done, and thinking it might need a bit of a clean and lube.
Now this chainsaw oil process, do you do this as your only method of chain lubing, or do you do anything else to the chain or cassette ?
I was convinced in to buying some GT85 and Pure dry lube when I was in Halfords - but I'm just trying to get my head around what sort of typical maintenance/cleaning schedule is required.

Nobody's said ''mickle it'' yet but it's become a cyclechat verb among the cog-noscenti: recommended http://www.cyclorama.net/viewArticle.php?id=349&subjectId=9

 

[tiswas-steve]

You know what ? I'm a proud mickler (that word looks so cool) but I keep reading about chainsaw oil on CC, I'm going to give this alien product a go....... Still gonna mickle the stuff

 

[compo]

When sea fishing you can give your bait a squirt of WD40 and it is a fairly efficient fish attractor and a lot cheaper than the stuff tackle shops sell. GT85 doesn't attract the fish. Totally irrelevant but what the heck!

 

[Boris Bajic]

When sea fishing you can give your bait a squirt of WD40 and it is a fairly efficient fish attractor and a lot cheaper than the stuff tackle shops sell. GT85 doesn't attract the fish. Totally irrelevant but what the heck!

Not completely unconnected... There is a long history connecting fish and cycle chains.

When I was very small, my mother told me that when re-connecting the chain, I should always set the king link* up so that "fishy swims with the river".

This meant that the closed end led as the chain rotated. I have little recollection of any of the other sage words she passed on about bike maintenance and do not know whether there was a reason behind these ones, but on bicycles and motorcycles I always made sure I put the king link on the 'right way round' until technology seemed to make them redundant.

* Master link or some other name these days, but I was told at eight that it was a king link, so that's what it is.

 

[Andy_R]

Not completely unconnected... There is a long history connecting fish and cycle chains.

When I was very small, my mother told me that when re-connecting the chain, I should always set the king link* up so that "fishy swims with the river".

This meant that the closed end led as the chain rotated. I have little recollection of any of the other sage words she passed on about bike maintenance and do not know whether there was a reason behind these ones, but on bicycles and motorcycles I always made sure I put the king link on the 'right way round' until technology seemed to make them redundant.

* Master link or some other name these days, but I was told at eight that it was a king link, so that's what it is.

your mum was Sheldon Brown??????

 

[Milzy]

When sea fishing you can give your bait a squirt of WD40 and it is a fairly efficient fish attractor and a lot cheaper than the stuff tackle shops sell. GT85 doesn't attract the fish. Totally irrelevant but what the heck!

Well I'll go to foot of stairs!!!!!!! :O

 

[Kev Deeley]

This is really interesting. Is there anything negative to say about GT 85 before I empty a can over my new carbon Boardman.
Also I like this dipping your chain in chain oil concept which I'll be adopting after using up my tin of Muckoff dry chain lube £9.99
Now I've never removed a bike chain how hard can it be once you bought the special tools. I'm sure there are plenty of useful tutorials on YouTube.

 

[Dusty Bin]

Not sure what you mean by 'empty a can' over your bike. Removing a chain in order to clean it is completely uneccesary. Both WD and GT are more useful as chain cleaners and general surface protectants rather than as a chain lube, but both will lubricate a chain - albeit not very effectively. But in both cases there are far better choices for chain lubes out there. The 'mickle method' is actually a fairly standard way of maintaining a chain in a very straightforward and uncomplicated way - just do that.

 

[Rob3rt]

Not sure what you mean by 'empty a can' over your bike. Removing a chain in order to clean it is completely uneccesary. Both WD and GT are more useful as chain cleaners and general surface protectants rather than as a chain lube, but both will lubricate a chain - albeit not very effectively. But in both cases there are far better choices for chain lubes out there. The 'mickle method' is actually a fairly standard way of maintaining a chain in a very straightforward and uncomplicated way - just do that.

i.e. the rubbing it with a rag method.

 

[morrisman]

In my non-cycling hours I fix accordions for people, I've just had one in my workshop that the owner said "I've sprayed the mechanisms with WD40 a number of times over the years to lubricate it, but it seems really stiff now". Well after three hours of stripping down the mechanisms and scraping off gooey WD40 encrusted with dust/filth and reassembly it is now much better. Bit of gentle dry graphite lube and it's as good as new.

So don't lubricate stuff with WD40 or your accordion tech will hate you