Great plan, poor execution

[PCeBiker]

Even the Boeshield T9 says it's best to clean the chain before applying the lube, so I would have cleaned the chain anyway.

I'm pretty sure that my homemade concoction will work fine.
Now I don't have to remove the chain to lube it up again.

 

[PCeBiker]

And?
The day I spend more than 30 seconds measuring my chain is the same day Taylor Swift uses it as a microphone to sing the national anthem at the superbowl.

Who's Taylor Swift??

 

[indianajo]

I get 5000 miles to 70% wear on a park gauge, 75% of the distance unpowered. I use sus 46 hydraulic fluid, the $6 a gallon version of the 3-in-1 oil my father showed me to use. I apply every 3-4 weeks with a pump oiler. I only clean the chain if it gets string or grass stems in it. The dirt gets washed to the center of the takeup sprockets, where I scrape it off with a screwdriver whenever I have the bike upside down. KMC bright chain or sunlite, 6-7-8 speed. Because of the extra length of the stretch frame I have to use 2 master links.

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. The dirt gets washed to the center of the takeup sprockets, where I scrape it off with a screwdriver,..

That's the part that I didn't want to deal with anymore.
An oiled chain is messy and the grit sticks to it.
I've been scraping crud off my takeup sprockets since I was 12 years old.
Not anymore.

,.. even more tedious to scrub grime out of my cuffs. That's why I use a lube that keeps the chain lubed and clean.

Or when you have to put your chain back on after it fell off.


This is my ebike with 4000 km on it.
(4000 on the tires anyway,.. About 40 km on the chain. )
Everything is clean and rust free,..

I did see some rust though,..

 

[mschwett]

chain lube is one of those things some people
who ride bikes REALLY care about. and some don’t give a F.

here is one of the more definitive studies :

Lubricant Testing - Zero Friction Cycling

zerofrictioncycling.com.au

the wear rate varies MASSIVELY, especially with wet contamination. i can’t be bothered to use real wax (too many steps and pots etc) so i use ceramic speed UFO drip. super easy and clean to apply, takes like 30 seconds, makes no mess whatsoever and you can touch the chain without getting all greasy and black.

this drivetrain has around 1,000 miles on it, last cleaned well maybe 300 miles ago and nothing since other than a wipe down with a gear wipe.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

chain lube is one of those things some people
who ride bikes REALLY care about. and some don’t give a F.

here is one of the more definitive studies :

Lubricant Testing - Zero Friction Cycling

zerofrictioncycling.com.au

the wear rate varies MASSIVELY, especially with wet contamination. i can’t be bothered to use real wax (too many steps and pots etc) so i use ceramic speed UFO drip. super easy and clean to apply, takes like 30 seconds, makes no mess whatsoever and you can touch the chain without getting all greasy and black.

this drivetrain has around 1,000 miles on it, last cleaned well maybe 300 miles ago and nothing since other than a wipe down with a gear wipe.

View attachment 171090

Pretty darned clean! What's a gear wipe?

 

[mschwett]

Pretty darned clean! What's a gear wipe?

Gear Wipes Canister (110 sheets)

A game-changing bicycle cleaning product. This two sided wipe is safe on hands, will clean any oil/grease, and is safe on paint without causing streaks.

silca.cc

nice for quick cleaning, and since you’re squeezing it with your fingers around the chain while you turn the cranks, it cleans both sides equally and then ditto the top and bottom. doesn’t even take 30 seconds.

(they mean gear in the general sense, not as in cogs)

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. That was how I discovered I hadn't been shaking it nearly enough.
,..Properly shaken, it will provide great lubrication and rust protection indefinitely, and not just for bicycle chains.

It turned out that I didn't add enough naphtha and the wax in my dropper bottle turned to mush.
I squirted the mush into a glass jar and added more naphtha.
That way I can see if all the wax is dissolved before I use it.
I also put a bit of naphtha in the dropper bottle to see if it evaporates out of the bottle.

It's kinda fun making my own, and it's basically free. I've got half a gallon of naphtha and a pound of wax, so I don't have to worry about being wasteful.
I just need to get the consistency right. I assume it needs to be quite thin so it works its way into the pins?

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

I've ridden my Haibike long enough, worn out enough chain rings and stretched enough chains to learn some things along the way.......

1. No matter how dedicated you are or are not in keeping your chain lubed, it means nothing when it comes to the physical stretching of a chain. And once the chain is stretched, it begins a cycle of wearing out the front chain ring, especially if it is aluminum (which is most modern bikes). And I was dedicated. Before each ride, I'd break out my lube of choice and lube each chain link, starting with the master link. After that was done, I'd wipe the chain with a harbor freight shop rag to catch any extra drops and be on my way. Result? Shifts were much, much smoother than say, starting out with an un-lubed chain. Anal? Yes. No doubt of that! But at the end of the day, if my chain was newish or stretched out to worthless, the chain was always clean and looked new.

2. I began using my old standby from the late seventies/early eighties: TriFlow with Teflon. Good enough, but it picked up all kinds of grit and dust and kept it there, so I began reading up on the next great thing.....

3. Boeshield T9: I immediately saw how it kept the chain clean of dirt and dust. And if it's good for the aircraft industry, it's certainly good for our bicycles

4. DuPont Chain Saver, Aerosol: I've used the liquid and the aerosol and can't recommend the liquid cause it's so thin, there is alot of waste. More control in the aerosol. I actually like it better than Boeshield but reality says it's probably as comparable to the T9

5. Finish Line Liquid with Teflon: Basically just like the liquid version of DuPont ChainSaver. The label says it's even made under license to DuPont. For controlling this ultra think liquid, I use a needle oiler. Drop for each link.

But again, I believe using personal experience, that no matter what lube I used, chain stretch on a mid drive is one of those things that happens. And no matter what oil or wax you use is irrelevant. This is a pick of my Full Speed Ahead front chain ring after about 5 thousand miles of use and doing my fastidious chain lube method prior to each ride. That thing could be registered as a lethal weapon! That pic was taken in June of 2020. That new ring? That's been long replaced due to similar wear.

I've since scrapped the aluminum FSA front chain ring for an all-steel Shimano Alivo 44 tooth front chain ring. Although the inner front chain ring is the OEM unit, 99% of my riding time is spent in the big front ring. So now, front ring, rear cassette and chain are all steel and will wear equally.

LT Colombo moment: One more thing: don't forget to inspect your derailleur jockey pulleys for wear, too. Keep 'em clean too, for good, clean shifts.

 

[PCeBiker]

I have a hub drive and I almost never pedal, so my drive train should last 100 years.

I do like to have a clean, rust free chain though, and when I do pedal, it's nice to have smooth shifting.

I only clean and lube my chain once a year, but now I can quickly and easily wax it up again with my liquid wax.

 

[PCeBiker]

LT Colombo moment: One more thing: don't forget to inspect your derailleur jockey pulleys for wear, too. Keep 'em clean too, for good, clean shifts.

Should I put a few drops of wax in my derailleur pulleys?

 

[tomjasz]

That stuff is expensive.
$36 plus tax.

It cost me about the same and I have some left from a dozen builds and routine maintenance.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

Should I put a few drops of wax in my derailleur pulleys?

View attachment 171106

Can't hurt, can only help. But do inspect those teeth for wear. On my Shimano XT derailleur, the pulleys are made of some kind of plastic or nylon.

 

[PCeBiker]

Now after applying lube, I squirt what's left back into the impermeable Finish Line Polyethylene Terephthalate bottle.

I'll just squirt it back into the glass jarr after I use the dropper bottle.

Just an FYI, You can thin out silicone with naphtha as well.
I dissolved some silicone in a jar with naphtha and I put a waterproof coating on my tent with a paint roller.
Super cheap, and it lasts way longer than the silicone spray bombs where you have to do it every year.

 

[PCeBiker]

Can't hurt, can only help. But do inspect those teeth for wear. On my Shimano XT derailleur, the pulleys are made of some kind of plastic or nylon.

I shouldn't have any wear with only about 40 miles on the chain.
Mine are plastic too. I don't think I've seen metal pulleys since the 70's?

I do want them to spin freely though.

 

[circuitsmith]

My chain hygiene:
Take chain off bike, swish in jar of 50/50 acetone & paint thinner.
Remove and link into loop, run through cyclone cleaner with water and orange citrus cleaner.
Spray thoroughly with garden hose, dry in old toaster oven at 250F.
Fit to bike and lube with dropper bottle (old Finish Line Cross Country), one drop per link.
For lube I'm currently using Honda Manual Transmission Fluid.
Had a qt left over from my 1988 Accord.
Its a low viscosity gear oil.
Before that I used chainsaw bar oil, which lasted longer but attracted more dirt.

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. If I could find a transparent impermeable bottle with an airtight cap over the nozzle, I'd be all set.

Duhh,..
I've got transparent impermeable (I think?) bottles.
I've keep acetone, oils, alcohols, acids, soap, etc,.. in Visine bottles since forever,..

The hole in the dropper was a bit too small, so I stuck a pin through it to make it bigger.
The paint label on the bottle didn't dissolve with a acetone, so I scraped it off with a razor blade. I wanted to see inside.

Then I sucked the liquid wax into the bottle from the jar.
I caught a couple chunks of wax and had to squirt them out.

So for anyone trying to find a sealed dropper bottle, I think Visine is the way to go?

PS,.. Visine is kind of expensive, but the also have saline solution for eyes.

I bought a couple bottles for a buck a piece at Walmart just to get the dropper bottles. (about ten cents American money)

It cost me about the same and I have some left from a dozen builds and routine maintenance.

That's the typical price... Pretty much $10 for any brand 4oz chain lube

I'm sure that I could spend another $35 and get some T9 that would last me ten years, but I'd probably lose it or forget where I put it within a month.

My way is funner, and I won't forget, and if I do I'll just make more.
I've got a gallon of Camp Fuel and a pound of wax.
Ten cents a bottle.

 

[Gionnirocket]

I've read that chains don't stretch. The holes for the pins become elongated through wear. Chains made to shift between sprocket wheels flex sideways, so how can one tell the difference?

In 1965 I had an experience where a bicycle chain didn't stretch operating under an estimated 432 pounds of tension. I owned an old A B Jackson, which was a Raleigh smuggled in a box classified as motorcycle parts. It had internal shift: 93, 70, and 52 gear inches. (The tallest of my Abound's 7 gears is 73 gear inches.) I lived at the bottom of a 10% grade 1,000 feet long. I guess I weighed 170 and the bike 30, so that hill required 20 pounds of thrust just to match gravity. I'd end up in low gear, where I needed a mean pedal force of 75 pounds and, as a rule of thumb, 112 pounds peak, just to meet gravity. I hated low gear because it was so slow.

One evening I got impatient. I stood up, shifted to high, and by pulling up hard on the bars like a weightlifter, put more than my weight on each power stroke. To my amazement, I accelerated sharply at 93 inch pounds on a 10% hill. My exhilaration was brief. In 5 seconds I'd torn the teeth from the rear sprocket.

If I sped up 5 mph in those 5 seconds, that would have required 9 pounds of thrust in addition to 20 pounds to match gravity. That would mean an average pedal pressure of 192 pounds and a peak of 288. Strain on a chain is about 75% higher than force on a pedal, or 432 pounds peak in this case. That explained how I'd torn the teeth off the sprocket wheel, which hadn't shown wear.

Under 432 pounds of tension, had the holes for the pins elongated? No. A chain for bikes without derailleurs was designed not to flex laterally. Like a new chainsaw chain, this one still had no flex. Had the rails stretched? No. The front sprocket had no apparent wear, and the chain still fit it perfectly. It also fit the new rear sprocket perfectly.

You chose a fitting online handle.
You're definitely a tool.

 

[Gionnirocket]

And there you have it... Contamination is far more detrimental.
Lubrication though provides some anti wear it's far more necessary to flush out contaminates and facilitate a slippery quiet shift.
It's been figured out already, no need to reinvent the wheel or should I say sprocket.

 

[mschwett]

to the semantic debate, the plates of the chain do not stretch. the rollers get worn, and as their diameter gets smaller, under tension their centers move further apart.

it’s an important difference, i suppose, since it helps one understand that reduced the friction/abrasion on the rollers would reduce “stretch.” if it was just the plates actually elongating the only answer would be reducing load. as it is, both matter, since the amount of wear is force x friction, or somesuch.