Real dinosaur juice

[johnridley]

I've been lubricating my bike chain with various dry or semi-dry lubes; mostly DuPont teflon+wax, and I tried a can of Boeshield recently. It was $14 for a tiny little can of Boeshield, but hey, folks swear by the stuff, they say it's wonderful and it lasts a long time and is quite waterproof.

Rubbish. It's hardly better than the DuPont stuff, which is $5 for a huge spray can.

Yesterday I put actual 30 weight motor oil on the chain again. It feels SO much better now. I think I will probably just stick to plain old oil, since I've pretty much given up on riding the gravel roads around here. I can stay on the pavement and even though it's 2 or 3 more miles each way it only takes about 5 more minutes because I can ride it so much faster, and it isn't trying to shake my bike apart.

Comments

[forestweather.livejournal.com]

Does one have to take the chain off the bike to put 30-W oil on it? Is that why one might choose DuPont spray instead? Can one spray the chain while it is in place?

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

No, the only reason to remove the chain is to clean it, if you don't have one of those on-bike chain cleaners. And I wouldn't bother cleaning it unless it was quite dirty. Most people who ride around on pavement will probably never have to clean their chains.

When I use the DuPont spray, I just put the little hose along the top of the chain, start to spray and pull it along quickly, like about 3 to 5 seconds to go down the top length of chain. Then do the same on the bottom, then turn the chain so the part that was hiding on the gears is now exposed, and repeat so you've now done the whole chain.

If the bike is up on a stand, you can just hold the can steady and turn the crank to get the whole chain.

The easiest way to apply just plain old oil is with a plastic bottle with a narrow squirt lid. I use an old contact lens saline bottle.

If you really feel ambitious, you can cut the motor oil with mineral spirits, about 1 part mineral spirits to 2 parts oil. This helps the oil get inside the chain, then the mineral spirits evaporate. This is what I use. You have to shake it up on every use though.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I will say that the dupont spray is a heck of a lot faster and less messy. I can lube a chain with it in about 10 seconds. With oil I hit each roller and put a drop of oil on each one, taking probably 2 or 3 minutes.

The "less messy" is when riding - a chain lubed with oil is essentially black pants smudges waiting to happen, but it's fairly neat to put on, with no drips (the way I do it). The Dupont spray kind of goes all over but mostly on the chain when applying, but it doesn't attract as much dirt and is more like a grey pants smudge waiting to happen.

Unless you ride a bike with a chain guard, pants smudges are just par for the course.