an old topic: chain care

[Joe]

groans aplenty? cycling media and forums frequently return to this topic usually with the claims of the latest wonder spray.

i must admit to be utterly confused by all the jargon connected to the various competing lubes.

flecc tried and tested method with hub bikes, grease seems refreshingly straightforward. a google search turned up no real interest in grease and for me at least did not point to the best single way of chain care.

so what do you use?

 

[flecc]

That's indeed my personal choice, but oiling with a light machine oil or specialist cycle oil, lithium or teflon based, is just as good if not better when done regularly.

I like grease simply because it's the lazy option, minimal effort with good enough results.

Of course with derailleurs, oil is the only option. Quite a few with derailleurs use the thin spray release oils like WD40. The lubricating proerties are poor, but the chain and derailleur mechanisms stay clean, so more frequent replacement is a cleaner and more pleasant job.
.

 

[Ian]

I take the view that as many specialist lubricants cost more than replacement chains they don't make economic sense, even if they do extend the chain life slightly. My own choice is a home brewed cocktail of paraffin, motor gear oil, and semi-synthetic motor oil, the idea being that the paraffin carries the oils inside the chain, the gear oil resists the pressures trying to force it out and the motor oil has good water resisting and general lubricating properties. The reason for choosing those particular ingredients was simply that I already had them in sufficient quantities to avoid having to buy anything.

Of course it's always wise to bear in mind that if a chain is allowed to wear excessively it can have expensive consequences in terms of chainring and sprocket wear.

On most hub motor bikes the chain gets an easy life and can be expected to last a very long time but conversely on crank drives the chain is transmitting all of the drive forces and will have a correspondingly shorter life and will benefit more from regular care, especially given the desirability of reducing wear on the expensive specialist chainwheels and sprockets used in some systems.