Formulating the ultimate bike chain lube.

Originally Posted By: BalorNG
No solvent washing, no careful lubing - only dunk into liquid paraffin, agitate, remove, cool, on the bike it goes. . . . By the way, applying a solution of wax as most 'dry' lubes is NOT a good idea, because lubing it on the bike would drive the surface dirt into the rollers and trap it there, negating all the benefits of paraffin. This is why, I guess, 'dry lubes' are not as good as pure paraffin 'hot bath'.
I think you are contradicting yourself here. If you aren't cleaning the chain and you are applying more lube you are contaminating the lube in the chain. I'm a fan of dry wax-based lubes too. The climate I live in is very dry, sandy, and dusty and any oil based lube quickly turns into grinding paste. I've tried the hot paraffin-wax bath method and while it works I don't find the wax lasts as long as people claim. My take on this is that the different angles the chain takes as it runs in different gears (even being careful not to cross-chain) wears the wax out faster than it would on a singlespeed or hub-gear bike. I struggle to get more than 3-4 hours before I can hear the effects of a "dry" chain and shifting starts to suffer. Because of this the paraffin wax method is annoying and basically impossible with a lot of the ten speed chains having non-reusable quick-links. I used to like the original White Lightning formula but when they changed their formula (maybe 10 years ago?) it didn't dry as hard and I was less of a fan. Over the past three years I've been using Squirt chainlube and really like it. It dries a bit harder than White Lightning, lasts as well as Parrafin wax and seems to perform a better in wet conditions than other dry lubes. Supposedly it's a wax in a water-based carrier. I've thought of trying to mix some moly powder in with the parrafin wax I have left to use on the 8 and 9 speed bikes I have but I like the shiny clean look a waxed chain has and don't want to turn it black (vanity outweighs sanity on this one I guess).
 
Originally Posted By: Surestick
I think you are contradicting yourself here. If you aren't cleaning the chain and you are applying more lube you are contaminating the lube in the chain. I've tried the hot paraffin-wax bath method and while it works I don't find the wax lasts as long as people claim. My take on this is that the different angles the chain takes as it runs in different gears (even being careful not to cross-chain) wears the wax out faster than it would on a singlespeed or hub-gear bike.
Well, eventually the wax gets murky with contaminants, but you can clean it like solvent by sedimentation, or simply change - it is cheap stuff, if used with no additives. By the way, I agree that wax starts to get noisy pretty quickly, but like I said - this is not a noise of metal on metal grinding inside the chain, but simply metal rollers hitting chain teeth without a layer of fluid (or, I should say, grinding paste :)) to dampen the impact. The noise of completely dry, unlubricated chain is different and cannot be mistaken for anything else, trust me. Btw, ten-speed chain not having reusable links is just marketing by Shimano and Sram. I use KMC chain, they all come with reusable link (10 or 11 speed chain, no matter). 20+k kilometers, no issues with chain links at all. KMC chain shift better than Sram and Shimano chains, too, especially when outside layer of paraffin wears off like you said. Abolutely flawless shifting. Tiagra 10-speed road chains are especially nasty in this regard compared to KMC. But "vanity outweighs sanity" aspect is pretty valid - so if you just don't like the sound, you can simply apply it more often.
 
Lube's main purpose on a bicycle chain is to displace crud in the pins and rollers. Start with a clean chain, use a thick wet lube (I have used bar oil for many years) sparingly, let it soak in and then wipe off any excess. Don't use too much or you'll have a black grinding paste killing the chain. Wipe the chain clean after every ride until the chain starts to squeal again then repeat the process. I usually have two chains, one on the bike and one cleaned and lubed ready to go. I use KMC master links on my chains (currently 10 speed) with no issues. This works in all conditions, tested in 24 hour races in the SW and nasty wet PNW rides all winter. Lube is only one factor of many for chain longevity so even a perfectly maintained chain for one rider may not last as long as a not so well maintained chain from another rider depending on gear choices, conditions they ride in, size of the rider, etc., etc.
 
There was a guy (Garth)on Bicycle Magazine forum that had a recipe for a paraffin wax and graphite mix chain lube that many people raved about. Look it up. Regarding your comment metal wear from the chain can be seen as black particles-this can be verified by passing a magnet by the chain. If you are correct, then these particles should jump onto the magnet, and you just discovered a great method to clean a chain!
 
Originally Posted By: willbur
There was a guy (Garth)on Bicycle Magazine forum that had a recipe for a paraffin wax and graphite mix chain lube that many people raved about. Look it up. Regarding your comment metal wear from the chain can be seen as black particles-this can be verified by passing a magnet by the chain. If you are correct, then these particles should jump onto the magnet, and you just discovered a great method to clean a chain!
Yea, I'm familliar with adding graphite, but I'm leaving non-soluble additives for later. Plus, I'd stick with MoS2 and/or hexagonal boron. As for metal particles - they ARE metal particles. If you wash you chain in a solvent, the resulting sludge at the bottom would double as a ferromagnetic fluid, I kid you not. I've actually tested this - the layer of metal shavings is actually so thick that HDD magnet sticks to the bottom of the plastic bottle rather strongly.
 
Back in the day I diluted black moly grease with kerosene to lube my motorcycle chains. The lube and chains lasted a long time. One could use gear oil, which as lots of ep additives, or maybe even add some ZDDP to it to make the ultimate chain lube.
 
I used my first bicycle specific chain lubricant a while ago. Until then I used, motor oil, gear oil, motorcycle chain sprays and probably other stuff. While it didnt seem to rust and was quiet- it did get messy. A drop of gear oil per roller is excessive...... .....then I used a specific product. It was pretty neat to see the dirt get flushed out of each link with a drop of chain oil applied
 
Originally Posted By: BalorNG
Any chance of parting with the recipe for your chain formulation, as you did with 'MoleBrew'? Maybe it would work if suspended in wax, too. What about chain life, at least? Or this is not a bicycle, but a motorbike chain?
The formula works well on bicyles chains or motorcycle chains. It would not work suspended in wax. I seriously do not see the infatuation with this liquid wax. The formula contains commercial additives and I have signed an NDA with the additive companies. BTW, I am not into competition biking, I do pleasure biking so my leg muscles compensate for that 0.1 HP.
 
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Would GL5 gear oil have any bad effect on the aluminum parts of the drive ? I'm tempted to use that going forward, maybe with a bit of bar oil for tack.
 
Dunno. The tackiest ever brew I've created is made from Castor Oil, lanolin and carnauba wax (highly polar, huge molecular weight esters). Unfortunately, it is too tacky and will certainly collect dirt, even if it is solid at room temperature (application by hot bath). Right now I'm testing longevity on my trainer. If it is as good as I suspect (hopefully thousand kilometres or more), I may try and bother with 'layering' by freezing the chain with tacky brew, then applying pure paraffin as a surface non-sticky layer.
 
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Have you tried Boeshield T9? It goes on wet, then dries, leaving behind a thin, waxy film. I've used it for years and seems to work well for me. I use the non-aerosol bottle and after cleaning the chain, apply one drop to each side, of each link, then hang the chain up to dry, usually overnight. While tedious, it minimizes waste and assures the product goes into and inside the critical joint. Don't have any objective tests for you though...sorry.
 
My ultimate bike chain lube is a mix of Motomaster gear oil (cheapest you can find in a department store) and Toyota 0w20 (that was a leftover). It would not be the best chain lube, but it's definitely best bang for the buck ($10 for 2 quarts lube) and it works. Easy to wipe (no sludge etc.), easy to apply, and 2 quarts oil is good for 2+ years. I wipe/lube the chain every 100 miles by the way (every week during summer), and I don't ride in the rain on purpose.
 
Eh, everyone simply provides what SEEMS to work for him. But what about total mileage per 1% chain stretch? How can you know that it 'works' if you I've never done an experiment by, say, running the chain with no lube at all and comparing mileage? Maybe it actually kills your chain 3 times as fast? Sure it is noisy, but chain 'lubricated' with diamond grinding compound would be silent too. *sigh*
 
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Ok Comrade! Here is the deal. A chain is a wear item, like a tire. If you want the hardest chain I bet some company can do it, but hopefully wont....because, then your knees might hurt, the cassette and crank wears out, it doesnt shift any good, etc... I learned this when I drove ~100,000 miles on a set of tires rated for that. There was still plenty of tread, but it probably road terrible, was loud (NVH), tore up the road and suspension components, etc........and I dont know how to describes it, but the tread was disfigured and kind of road like mud tires with knobbies. So, some things apparently need to be disposable. Maybe it is the way it is, or it is to save wear on other components. Like some folks want hard brake pads and for them to last forever- but then the rotor disintegrates.....
 
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Ok Comrade! Here is the deal. A chain is a wear item, like a tire. If you want the hardest chain I bet some company can do it, but hopefully wont....because, then your knees might hurt, the cassette and crank wears out, it doesnt shift any good, etc... I learned this when I drove ~100,000 miles on a set of tires rated for that. There was still plenty of tread, but it probably road terrible, was loud (NVH), tore up the road and suspension components, etc........and I dont know how to describes it, but the tread was disfigured and kind of road like mud tires with knobbies. So, some things apparently need to be disposable. Maybe it is the way it is, or it is to save wear on other components. Like some folks want hard brake pads and for them to last forever- but then the rotor disintegrates.....
That would be a good point, shame you missed it completely smile. I do not want a hardest chain (that would be one make of ceramics - it would likely shatter under load indeed) - I want to formulate the best lube to SAME chains serve better. (And, indeed, switching to pure paraffin makes same chains last at least 3 times as much!) Also, your tire comparison is misleading - tires have rolling resistance that is proportional to thickness of thread and hardness of compound. Grip also suffers. Chain that is made of extremely hard ceramics would actually be much more energy efficient and wear out extremely slow, needing no lubrication and protection from rust. Too bad that ceramics costs a fortune and would not work as chain material - too brittle. Maybe as bushings or pins...
 
I like to use a thin coat of beeswax - its cheap, water repellant, does not stick to your pants, does not attract dust, and takes seconds to apply.
 
When I commissioned an MDF factory in the late 90s, there were chain drives in a contaminated environment running 24/7. I used chain and bar lube...by the 50 gallon drum.
 
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