Chain oil

[OVERKILL]

I had recently bought a (used) Gary Fisher Wahoo bike from a buddy of mine. He had bought it at the beginning of the season, drove it a couple of times, and then moved. I hadn't owned a bicycle in over a decade and so this is my first "new" bike in ~15 years at least.

I had previously, on my old bikes, just used whatever random oil my dad had kicking around. I had been experimenting with Castrol motorcycle chain lube for a bit (mid 90's) but this bike....

It had something that looked like a light grease on the chain? Or it could have just been dirty, thick oil.

I had .5L of M1 0w40 kicking around, so I put it in a baby vitamin D dropper bottle and cleaned my chain with dawn and a toothbrush. I cleaned the sprockets as well.

Used the dropper and lubed everything with the oil. Nothing was dripping. Brought the bike inside and parked it.

Woke up this morning to find FILTH puddles on the floor beneath the chain. Black as TAR. The chain looked clean. I am assuming this is whatever gunk was inside the links that I couldn't get with the toothbrush and the oil has displaced it.

Went for a nice long ride today. The bike shifts smoother, there is no audible noise from the chain, and the bike just seems easier to ride. Obviously, whatever was on the chain was not performing well.

What does everybody use on their chains?

 

[wantin150]

Here is what I would do if you're concerned about it:

Buy a new chain and start from scratch!

The oil probably did clean out the gunk. You can get a product called "White Lightning" which is an EXCELLENT degreaser (but expensive). Or, you can get a bottle of Dawn dish detergent. With oiled chains, I liberally drip the Dawn on it and use a scrub brush. I will drip it all over the cassette and chain rings too. Rinse away from the BB and hubs. Dry it really well and then apply the lube of choice. Here are some common types:

Dry - usually a wax type lube. White Lightning is a common brand (one I use for road). It is supposed to shed dirt as it builds up. Works well for many miles. It goes on wet. The carrier evaporates, leaving the wax.

Wet - Normal spray/drip type lubes. Tri-Flow is popular and pretty good. Haven't found it to be as durable as dry types.

Extreme/Race - Sticky, sticky stuff. Usually for wet conditions. VERY difficult to remove, even with Dawn. Not so great for dusty/sandy conditions as it will attract everything.

 

[huffmuds9320]

I usually use a degreaser like Simple Green and spray the chain, chain rings, derailer then scrub with toothbrush and rinse it clean.

I use Rock N Roll chain lube for the chain and Tri Flow for the derailer.

 

[OVERKILL]

wantin150: Dawn was exactly what I used, with a toothbrush

 

[IndyIan]

I use bar oil for chainsaws, I have lots of it around. If you ride in sand alot I wouldn't use it but otherwise it works good. 1 gallon costs about the same as 3 ounces of bike chain specific lube.
When chains are new they come with grease on them so maybe your bike didn't get used enough to use that up? I would check your chain for stretch though. If it is stretched it will wear the sprockets quickly assuming you ride alot. If you aren't going to do 100's of km then just ride it and enjoy!
Ian

 

[OVERKILL]

The bike is almost brand new, it was only driven a couple times. So I would imagine you are correct about the grease then. The oil really seemed to free it up.

 

[RD400]

Yeah, the stuff on new chains is mainly a protector to keep them from rusting. I always clean a new chain by soaking in simple green or orange whatever, rinse, and dry. Then use your lube of choice. In my case, currently it's ProLink.

 

[Johnny]

I've been using ProLink for years and it has worked well for me.

 

[Papa Bear]

I use my 2 cycle gas mix to clean the chain, then spray Castrol chain lube.

 

[tdi-rick]

Another vote here fro Rock N Roll.
Used quite a few types over the years (Prolink was good) and keep using Extreme for the MTB and Gold for the roadie.

 

[BrocLuno]

Originally Posted by Papa Bear
I use my 2 cycle gas mix to clean the chain, then spray Castrol chain lube.


+1

Yup, no water/soap based cleaning. Just solvents and lubes. This is BITOG. Where did soap and water come from ...

I use motor oil and over oil, wipe down. But I'm not doing much in the way of dusty trails. Use Kawasaki chain lube on motorcycles.

 

[Surestick]

I'm a big fan of dry lubes. I'm currently using Squirt or Smoove depending on which I have around at the time.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by BrocLuno
Originally Posted by Papa Bear
I use my 2 cycle gas mix to clean the chain, then spray Castrol chain lube.


+1

Yup, no water/soap based cleaning. Just solvents and lubes. This is BITOG. Where did soap and water come from ...

I use motor oil and over oil, wipe down. But I'm not doing much in the way of dusty trails. Use Kawasaki chain lube on motorcycles.

We're talking pushbikes here

Shimano advises only "neutral" degreasers can be used on their chains, cassettes and chainrings - unless you go to a janitorial supply shop and get a Spartan/Diversey/Ecolab industrial neutral degreaser, all water-based cleaners are alkaline but I see bike shops use Simple Green all the time which is pretty alkaline.

I'm a believer in stoddard solvent/mineral spirits or biodiesel to clean my bike chains. It will remove all traces of chain lube. Afterwards, I use Boeshield T9 or WD-40's Bike series chain lube.

 

[totegoat]

WD-40 Bike: All-Conditions Lube works well.

 

[buck91]

Chain lubrication on a bike isn't rocket science. The goal is to keep grit and corrosion out and provide some lubrication to reduce chain "stretch" (which is actually wear on the link:roller surfaces). For me, I prefer something that sets up a little bit, such as Boeshield T9... or even better, and cheaper, liquid wrench chain & cable lube.

 

[NYEngineer]

I have been using Finish Line's wax lube lately. Works well. I was riding my fat bike on the beach last weekend and noticed sand wasn't really sticking to my chain.
It was very high tide and I was riding a very narrow section of sand when a wave came up suddenly and got me up to my knees. Wet my bike up over the axles... The entire drivetrain, my brakes, my Sidi shoes. Anyway, I disassembled the entire bike and cleaned and lubed everything. I put the chain in a container of Simple Green and shook it good. Then gave it a good heavy treatment of wax lube. Surprisingly, it came out looking perfect.
I had the bike greased up pretty good so I had very little water infiltration.

I also use Phil Wood Tenacious Oil on my chain when riding in the snow. Works really well also but wouldn't use that on the sand.

 

[NO2]

DuPont Chain lube works great - lasts for about 250 mi before it needs to be re-applied
https://www.amazon.com/DuPont-Teflon-Chain-Saver-Self-Cleaning-Lubricant/dp/B00KMMFE8Y

 

[wander2039]

I've used a combo of ATF/MMO for years and still do on the cassettes. On the chain I got some wet lube from Walmart, seems to a little less messy than the MMO/ATF (thicker).