[abusivemonk]

Hi peeps,

Just canvassing opinion on what lube to use through winter. I’ve been using squirt for a few years now, and its great until the gritters come out. I find it just doesn’t cut it when the road is salty, and the chain rusts pretty quickly. Especially when commuting as I don’t have time to clean it at work. As a summer lube though, its fantastic and my chain has done 3500 miles with only 0.5 stretch. Now onto winter lube recommendations.

A mate of mine swears by gearbox oil, saying it does 50k miles in a car, so why wouldn’t it be good on a bike. It is tempting as 1 litre is about £7, and this amount would probably last a lifetime. Anyone any experience of it, or any other lube recommendations? I’ve tried muc-off wet lubes, and the c3, but found they didn’t last long either.
Thanks in advance

Topic

[Simon E]

Mudguards will help, as will

I’ve used Green Oil year-round, applied sparingly with an old toothbrush to the inside run of the chain. Clean it up with a squirt of WD-40 on an old t-shirt then reapply the lube. Regular lubing, and not putting the bike away soaking wet overnight, seems to keep rust away through the winter. But I might try olive oil now, or even petroleum jelly…

[Welsh boy]

abusivemonk wrote:

abusivemonk wrote:

I’ve just done a check of the amount of lubes I’ve tried and used in the past. It’s safe to sat I won’t go without this winter. I have 8 more of less full bottles of lube to go at. I have a mixture of dry, wet, wax and ceramic to have go at. I won’t buy any more until I’ve used these up.

Mix them all together and you have one lube which does it all!  Put it in a very small bottle, give it a stupid name and charge a stupid amount of money for it and we are both (yes, I want a cut of the proceeds) rich beyond our wildest dreams.

[abusivemonk]

I’ve just done a check of the
I’ve just done a check of the amount of lubes I’ve tried and used in the past. It’s safe to sat I won’t go without this winter. I have 8 more of less full bottles of lube to go at. I have a mixture of dry, wet, wax and ceramic to have go at. I won’t buy any more until I’ve used these up.

[drjohn]

I just rebuilt a bike as a

I just rebuilt a bike as a 2×8 speed commuter for the winter. New chain fitted (KMC Z8, about £6) so I’m starting from new and I’m having great success with a 500ml tub of petroleum jelly from Poundworld and an oily rag.

This should come as no surprise though. A new chain comes soaked in hot paraffin wax, AKA petroleum jelly. The chain manufacturers will tell you it’s the best lube you’ll get and why would they pay more? It does attract dust but that’s not such a problem in winter. 

But here’s the best thing, it’s a pure product with no soaps, perfumes or solvents. So it doesn’t irritate my skin, which is important to me because I get contact dermatitis. Apparently you should wipe your chain after every ride. I’ve never fancied that before now but actually the new regime keeps the chain ridiculously slick and easy to run through aforementioned oily rag, which is now free of light solvents. Previously I’ve used white spirit (hell’s own solvent) and WD40 or GT85 (mist of doom).

Who knew?

 

[hawkinspeter]

kevvjj wrote:

WD40 every few rides. 

Heretic!

[Anonymous]

WD40 every few rides. 

WD40 every few rides. 

[PRSboy]

A chain lube is doing quite a

A chain lube is doing quite a specific job… it should provide protection by carrying the dirt away from the chain, which means it should disappear and be re-applied regularly (which I understand is the whole point of Squirt).

A sticky oil which remains attached to your chain will provide anti rust protection, but also will attract dirt into a paste which grinds away at your drivetrain.

So its a bit of compromise.

Gearbox oils presumably are designed to work well at higher temperatures and pressures, and as a sealed unit, corrosion should be less of an issue in a gearbox.

[CXR94Di2]

I use chain saw oil, after

I use chain saw oil, after first clean from new.  I drop my chain into a tub of gunk and use a small ultrasonic bath to agitate all the road grime out of the inner surfaces, clean in fresh water whilst again ultrsonic action.  so far 4 mins of work.  I then dry chain with a rag and drop it into 1 litre container of fresh chain saw oil, hang dry, 10 mins now.  Wipe off excess and fit chain to bike, wipe down again and leave over night.  Next day oil has gone sticky and doesnt fly off.  Ride several hundred miles, repeat.  End of year buy new chain and do it again.

[abusivemonk]

Looks like I can use pretty
Looks like I can use pretty much anything over winter then, and there is no miracle snake oil that will both keep the drivetrains clean and keep of lubed. Better invest in some elbow grease and use the various lubes I’ve accumulated over the years. At least elbow grease is free

[Helmut D. Bate]

beezus fufoon wrote:

beezus fufoon wrote:

Helmut D. Bate wrote:

Pah, I’ve used olive oil on my best bike’s chain on long summer rides. My chain didn’t disintegrate and I wasn’t 2% less efficient or whatever the claim of the lube manufacturers is. It felt as smooth as their snake oil. All things considered, I’d choose something designed for the job, but you’re going to accumulate shit on a chain in winter. As others have said, it’s about keeping it clean: then there are loads of lubricants up to the job of keeping a clean chain moving.

extra virgin?

Natch: I always go for the first pressing.

[beezus fufoon]

Helmut D. Bate wrote:

Helmut D. Bate wrote:

Pah, I’ve used olive oil on my best bike’s chain on long summer rides. My chain didn’t disintegrate and I wasn’t 2% less efficient or whatever the claim of the lube manufacturers is. It felt as smooth as their snake oil. All things considered, I’d choose something designed for the job, but you’re going to accumulate shit on a chain in winter. As others have said, it’s about keeping it clean: then there are loads of lubricants up to the job of keeping a clean chain moving.

extra virgin?

[Helmut D. Bate]

Pah, I’ve used olive oil on
Pah, I’ve used olive oil on my best bike’s chain on long summer rides. My chain didn’t disintegrate and I wasn’t 2% less efficient or whatever the claim of the lube manufacturers is. It felt as smooth as their snake oil.

All things considered, I’d choose something designed for the job, but you’re going to accumulate shit on a chain in winter. As others have said, it’s about keeping it clean: then there are loads of lubricants up to the job of keeping a clean chain moving.

[Woldsman]

A fair few folks swear by

A fair few folk swear by chainsaw oil, although I’ve never tried it myself. Oh, but you do need a proper bike with mudguards. And flaps, of course. 

 

[Canyon48]

Its an interesting one, this.
Its an interesting one, this.

I commute year round by bike (ok I do tend to drive if it’s truly awful, as I can’t dry my clothes). I have to clean and relive my chain once a week- more if it’s been raining.

Still not sure I’d choose engine oil though.

[davel]

Welsh boy wrote:

Welsh boy wrote:

I have used engine oil in the past and found it to be great for staying on in bad weather but it does get messy.

Yep: I’ve also used engine oil plenty of times on my commuters; I occasionally run out of chain lube but I’ve generally got a container of engine oil kicking around.

Sure it does the job for lubrication (not sure about water/rust protection?) but it gunks up pretty quickly. I haven’t found a lube that doesn’t, during winter commutes, though.

[Author]

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