|
Lubricants For years my favorite chain lubricant has been Finish Line dry lube with Teflon. It goes on wet, and then get's almost but not quite dry. Being a rather thin liquid when applied, it loosens up any accumulated grime quite well, so you can wipe it off and take the grime with it. Repeat the process until the towel is clean when you wipe the Finish Line lube off the chain. When applied to a brand new chain with the packing oil still on it, the Finish Line lube breaks down the oil so it can be wiped away. The idea is that you use the Finish Line lube in its very wet state to clean the chain of whatever is on it, wiping the junk off with towels. Since it's thin, it easily gets under the rollers of the chain, which is where it has to be in order to lubricate the chain while you're riding. Using this lube and applying it - wiping it down before or after every ride has resulted in my getting several thousand miles on my chains with virtually no wear. The chain stays clean because it always has fresh clean lubricant on it, and virtually no dirt. It's the tiny hard particles of stone that make up road grit and are harder than steel, which actually wears out your chain on the insides of the rollers. Keep the lube clean, and keep it under the rollers, and your chain can last a very long time. But you must do this regularly. For me an average ride is 30 miles or so. Unfortunately many people use Finish Line, don't re-apply often enough, and end up with excessive chain wear. Some people would rather not have to clean their chain after every ride. I only spend five minutes cleaning my chain, but some folks would rather head straight for the shower. So now there's another way. A friend I've known for many years in the bike business has a new chain lubricant called Chain-L #5 Huile de Chaine. If he didn't have a sense of humor, he wouldn't be my friend. ;-) It's a fairly thick oil, the sort of thing that will attract and adhere gobs of the most vile crud imaginable. But here's the deal. You lay the new chain out on newspaper with the rollers exposed, in other words with the plates on the sides. You then drip Chain-L #5 onto the chain, letting it soak under the rollers. It's thick and sticky, so it flows slowly. After letting it sit for ten minutes or so, (while you take a shower?) use a towel to wipe off the lube, leaving only the very thinnest film of lube on the outside to prevent rust. If you ride in the desert, you can even wipe that off since the chain won't rust there. Let the chain sit some more on clean newspaper and wipe it down again as some more lube will undoubtedly ooze out from under the rollers. Now install the chain on the bike. Run the chain through all of the gears and wipe off any lube that transfers to the rings, cassette cogs and derailleur rollers. On the bike, the rollers will now be moving relative to the chain's pins, so expect some Chain-L #5 to transfer to the cogs and rollers. If you don't wipe them off, they will attract dirt. During your first few rides that thin rust preventing film of lube on the chain will attract a small amount of fine dirt or dust, but not much. As soon as the dust has blotted up the oil, it won't attract any more. Small amounts of dust or dirt on the outside of the roller won't wear either the roller or the chainrings and cogs. This is because the roller isn't moving relative to the cog teeth, but only relative to the chain pins. The chain rollers "roll" across the surface of the teeth; they don't slide. All of the sliding happens inside the rollers. And your chain now has plenty of nice clean lube inside the rollers. When some company (Phil Wood?) introduces a chain with sealed rollers, Chain-L #5 will only be used by those miserable wretches who can't afford $3,000 bicycle chains. Every thousand miles or so, take the chain off the bike, clean it very well with the solvent of your choice, and repeat the process. It's critical that you not relube a dirty chain with Chain-L #5. Chain-L #5 must only be applied to a clean chain. And since it holds up so well in the rain, you should never need to. Just clean and lube every thousand miles. So in my view you have two workable scenarios for maintaining your chain. Use a semi dry lube like Finish Line and apply it every ride. You will need to take some with you if you do extended riding in the rain, for example if you ride brevets. But unlike many dry lubes, Finish Line can be applied in a downpour and still adhere to your chain. It's great stuff. The other is to use "Chain-L #5" and apply it every thousand miles or so, rain or shine. If you go the Finish Line route, your chain will always look shiny new. With Chain-L #5 your chain will always look a bit grimy. The end result in terms of chain wear will be about the same. But with Chain-L #5 you'll do a lot less work off the bike. And if you ride in the rain, you don't have to think about your chain lube. Even though you can't see it, you know it's inside all of those rollers, doing its job, rain or shine. And one more thing. Since you use Chain-L #5 only every thousand miles or so, it costs a lot less than Finish Line. Take your pick. Chain-L, 4 oz bottle: $ Finish Line Teflon Pro Lube, 2 oz drip bottle: $ 5.99 Finish Line Teflon Pro Lube, 4 oz drip bottle: $ 8.99 Finish Line Century Lube, 4 oz bottle, $ 5.75 Back to: Peter White Cycles LLC home page Penny is the Lord High Executioner of Email. So please send your email to Penny. Mail to: The email link above uses some fancy javascript voodoo to hide the actual address from spambots. Your browser needs to be set to run javascript in order for you to use any of the email links on my website. If you can't see the links, you can call us. You can also type the address into your email software. First, type the alias, "penny". Then type the "@" sign. It's above the number 2 on your keyboard. Then type the domain, "peterwhitecycles.com". Don't put in the quotes! That should do it. You can also call us at 603 478 0900 It's best to call before 4PM Eastern time since after that we're either running around like headless chickens or at home ready to jump into the pot. Please don't place an order without first reading this. This page updated: Saturday, September 22, 2018 Peter White Cycles LLC
|