Ebike Chain Lubes

[Stefan Mikes]

It pretty much says, use whatever you want

It is a gorgeous sight when your drivetrain is shiny and noiseless!
I've always wondered why brand new e-bikes looked so good... Oh my, a clean cassette and chain!

 

[Johnny]

Believe or not, contamination does work its way into the bushings. When you clean a chain, if it was just the metal on metal wear then all the gunk should have been magnetic but it is not, only a portion is magnetic.
More importantly in the controlled experiments where chain is sprayed with contaminants, chain wears out much faster than the experiments where no contaminants are present. If that is not enough evidence then I don't know what is.
Wet lubes not only attract dirt but most likely they also carry it inside the bushings as the chain moves.

By the way when I looked into the differences between cheap and expensive chains, I saw that higher quality chains come plated with ptfe like coatings all the way to the pins that prevents wear and increase chain life (and the price). Once that coating deteriorates the chain wears out at a faster rate. The added dry lubricants in paraffin wax create a similar low friction layer which is probably the reason why it works so well.

 

[Marcela]

I have yet to see a test where someone took a chain apart and showed us the debris inside, or cleaned the outside of a chain then recleaned it again and showed the debris inside a chain, all which sounds like almost impossible. Now I ride on pavement, if my chain ever got to the point of looking like the test chain I'd be disappointed in my maintenance. I'll still take the extreme pressure gear oil for longevity. Still too easy to garden hose it when it needs the dirt knocked off.

Making generalities is like watching a dog piss on my car tire yesterday, and today the tire is flat, now I'm looking for that dog

 

[Gionnirocket]

I have yet to see a test where someone took a chain apart and showed us the debris inside, or cleaned the outside of a chain then recleaned it again and showed the debris inside a chain, all which sounds like almost impossible. Now I ride on pavement, if my chain ever got to the point of looking like the test chain I'd be disappointed in my maintenance. I'll still take the extreme pressure gear oil for longevity. Still too easy to garden hose it when it needs the dirt knocked off.

Making generalities is like watching a dog piss on my car tire yesterday, and today the tire is flat, now I'm looking for that dog

You realize that you are an island of one.
It's well established in all industries that contaminates in lubrication causes wear.
Maybe instead of looking for the dog you should google.
"A multi-industry study published by the National Research Council of Canada showed that particle contamination was the root cause of 82 percent of wear-related failures."

How to Identify and Control Lubricant Contamination

Many people are aware that lubricant contaminants cause wear in machines, but all too often that knowledge does not translate into action. It is surprisingly common for plants to go to great lengths in monitoring the condition of their equipment and their lubricants, but to do very little to...

www.machinerylubrication.com

 

[DDBB]

You can garden hose off heavy gear oil?

 

[Marcela]

You can garden hose off heavy gear oil?

Don’t think so. Just stirring the pot . I do think there are s lot of generalities being made though. One being there is one best lube for the job.

 

[DDBB]

I don't think anyone said there is one "best lube" but I'd definitely chose one of the top 5 in testing even though the testing is inherently flawed

 

[Johnny]

Now matter how much you clean outside of the chain, it won't do anything for the accumulated debris inside this is not even a matter of debate. If one is so skeptical all needs to be done is after cleaning outside of the chain dropping it in a jar of degreaser and shake it. After that run a magnet to attract the ferrous debris and the remaining gunk is the external contamination.
Yes I did this test myself too

 

[Marcela]

I did a 50 mile wipe down of my chain after the EP gear oil application to get an idea of how much stuff it was attracting. Didn't notice any real accumulation of dirt though I suppose there was some. I think the thing to do is wipe it down after the application to remove any extra that doesn't migrate into the rollers and side plates, and to use something with the extreme pressure additive that bonds to metal like the gear oil.

The Role of Extreme Pressure Additives in Gear Oil

What does it do? In most slow, highly loaded, geared applications there exists a lubricating condition that is ultimately responsible for most failures due to adhesive wear. This condition is known...

www.machinerylubrication.com

and interesting

Extreme pressure additive - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Gionnirocket]

I did a 50 mile wipe down of my chain after the EP gear oil application to get an idea of how much stuff it was attracting. Didn't notice any real accumulation of dirt though I suppose there was some. I think the thing to do is wipe it down after the application to remove any extra that doesn't migrate into the rollers and side plates, and to use something with the extreme pressure additive that bonds to metal like the gear oil.

The Role of Extreme Pressure Additives in Gear Oil

What does it do? In most slow, highly loaded, geared applications there exists a lubricating condition that is ultimately responsible for most failures due to adhesive wear. This condition is known...

www.machinerylubrication.com

and interesting

Extreme pressure additive - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I don't know what planet you preside on, but it's not in this solar system and I get the feeling that you're an example of a highly educated person but with zero common sense who doesn't know how to apply information gathered in the real world.
Your 50 mile wipe down is very scientific..
and yeah.. a bicycle is an example of extreme pressure, highly loaded gears.

 

[Johnny]

That experiment makes no sense(50 miles, wipe down ?).

Btw the WS2 while being a dry lubricant is also used as an extreme pressure additive in wet lubricants such as motor oils.

https://lowerfriction.com/dry-solid-lubricant-powders/tungsten-disulfide-ws2-powder/

However even in dry from it sticks to the metal surfaces very well. That's probably why it works so well in combination with paraffin wax. Wax carries it inside the bushings and ws2 tends to stick to the metal surface very well even after the carrier wax is gone. I had to use boiling water and brush the surface to get it off.

 

[PSm]

FYI, great related podcast about this at

https://www.roadmancycling.com/recent-episodes/josh-poertner
Josh Poertner joins Anthony for today's Roadman Podcast. Josh is one of the most respected figures in the area of aerodynamics and cycling engineering. Today Anthony picks his brain about how to squeeze every last bit of speed out of your bike, from chain lubes and tyres to drive train ratios.

Btw, Roadman Cycling Podcast is one my favorite podcasts on cycling and performance