Motor Oil On My Chain. Am I A Bad Person?

[reed scott]

I've got the waiting-for-that-ebike-delivery blues and twitches. So I got my Specialized XC down off the wall where it's been hanging for 3 years. O L D got a holt on me and my dog can only run so far so I quit riding. Idiot. So I cleaned it up. Degreaser, hose sprayer, lots of WD 40, wiped down, dried in the sun in 100 degree temp. No real chain oil around so I used Rotella 15w40 for the chain. Smeared it on with a rag both directions. After the gunk quit coming out of the chain I wiped it with a clean rag lightly. Now I will use a sparing amount of light oil on derailleur parts.

Have I effed up a lot or a little?

 

[fooferdoggie]

no it will just be messy and attract a lot of dirt. that can be the hardest on a chain.

 

[ruffruff]

nay, you are good! everybody did that before boutique chain lubes became common.

 

[Dallant]

Depends on how often you want a clean chain.
We also used to ride analog bikes before boutique electric jobs became common.

 

[indianajo]

The detergent in motor oil sucks moisture out of the air. Never used it on bicycle so don't know what result is. Steel & moisture usually are incompatible. In a motor the heat of combustion drives out the moisture from the crankcase. A bicycle chain, no such heat.
I'm using the follow-on product of the 3-in-1 oil my father taught me to use on chain- Type F or A automatic transmission fluid (the kind without detergent, no dexron/mercon allowed) or SUS46 hydraulic fluid from the farm store. The generic hyd fluid, not the better fluid compatible with JDeereJICaseIHNewHolland specs, that has detergent. I'm getting about 5000 miles on a chain, haven't changed my 8 speed sprocket cluster either at 6000.

 

[bikeman242]

Bike lube is like 5 dollars...any lube is fine if you aren't overly concerned...

 

[arcom]

Vegetable oil is better than no oil. I think you’ll be fine.

 

[6zfshdb]

As long as you have a chain guard or don't put too much oil on the chain, you'll be fine. As has already been stated, "wet" lubricants tend to attract dirt so chain cleaning should be done more frequently.

I prefer Teflon or wax based products. Yes, they cost more but are less messy and don't attract dirt. To me, the time I save cleaning the chain is worth the cost of the "designer" lubes.

 

[PDoz]

Back in my uni days I knew a guy who ran used motor oil on the chain of his rg250. Never cleaned it, just kept adding oil. 100,000 km out of a non o ring chain on a motorbike !

How many revolutions does the average camchain inside a motor do whilst being lubed by engine oil?

If you can live with the mess, that chain might outlast the ceramic lubed pampered shinny thing on most of our bikes. Go for it and report back in a few years.

 

[FlatSix911]

These reviews provide a good baseline overview... just match the lube to local conditions.

The Best Bike Chain Lubes for 2020

How to choose the right bicycle chain lube Finding the best bike chain lube for the riding you do can be daunting. There are so many bike lube options now that you can reach the breaking point just from searching for it. With options ranging from dry, wet, ceramic and wax - it's hard to tell...

reviews.mtbr.com

The Best Bike Chain Lubes in 2023

Buying a chain lube, but can't decide which one to get? Dry, wet or ceramic lubes? Finish Line, Muc Off or White Ligtning? Here are our top 11 picks.

www.thegeekycyclist.com

 

[ElevenAD]

dont mean to hijack the thread but i was just wondering what you guys recommend for lubing the cassette/freewheel?
would lithium grease spray be okay?

 

[Gionnirocket]

dont mean to hijack the thread but i was just wondering what you guys recommend for lubing the cassette/freewheel?
would lithium grease spray be okay?

No need to...a lubed chain is all that's needed on the outside.
They are greased internally which should last the life of the freewheel. Though I have brought a somewhat stiff freewheel that sat for years back to life by adding a few drops of oil between the center mount and sprockets


@reed scott
I often use Mobil 1 just because I have some left over from oil changes. It works well but I agree it can be messy. It takes an extra minute to wipe it down.

 

[DouglasB]

If you heat the oil and dip the chain in it, the excess oil will run off and leave only a light but adequate coating.

 

[Gionnirocket]

If you heat the oil and dip the chain in it, the excess oil will run off and leave only a light but adequate coating.

That seems like way more work than I'm willing to do

 

[TimJohn]

Yeah I did the same. A bit dirty and flinging all over the place but wiped it down a couple of times and we are OK.

 

[FlatSix911]

dont mean to hijack the thread but i was just wondering what you guys recommend for lubing the cassette/freewheel?
would lithium grease spray be okay?

If you are referring to the outside of the cassette or freewheel then no lube is necessary beyond the chain.

However, if you are referring to the inside of a freewheel where it meets the hub, a little grease is recommended.

if you are referring to the inside of a cassette, just grease the lockring threads on the top of the cassette... details below.

Cassette (and freewheel) Removal & Cleaning

Cassette (and freewheel) Cleaning There are two types of rear gears (and so wheel hubs) found on MTB’s; The freewheel is a one-piece cluster of sprockets which also contains the freewheel mec…

steveukmtb.wordpress.com

Cassette Removal and Installation

How to remove and install cassette cogs on derailleur-type and freehub single-speed bicycles.

www.parktool.com

Freewheel Removal and Installation

How to remove and install threaded freewheel systems as well as single-speed BMX/freestyle bikes.

www.parktool.com

 

[Gionnirocket]

If you are referring to the outside of the cassette or freewheel then no lube is necessary beyond the chain.

However, if you are referring to the inside of a freewheel where it meets the hub, a little grease is recommended.

if you are referring to the inside of a cassette, just grease the lockring threads on the top of the cassette... details below.

Please note that the grease suggested in those videos are during installation and to aid in future disassembly, not lubrication for function

 

[teskow]

Detergent motor oil tends to get sticky and form a varnish like texture. Use cheap non detergent motor to prevent that. Non detergent works well on electric motors and other machinery with sleeve bearings. It is cheap and has a lot of wax base to it.
Synthetic motor oil will not get sticky. It works well on my Howard Miller mechanical pendulum clock as it doesn't gum it up and it seems to run forever without further oiling.
Personally I believe the best and longest lasting chain lubricant one can find for a chain is transmission gear oil. It is an extreme pressure lubricant. Very stinky and messy though.

 

[DouglasB]

How often are you willing to clean your chain? I do mine about onece a month. I take it off, place it in a large plastic bottle that has a wide mouth, with solvent. Put the lid back on, give it a martini shake for about five minutes and voila! Clean chain. I don't care for oily lubes as they tend to attract dirt. I'm filthy right now from handling my chain that I lubricated with some standard oil.

 

[teskow]

To me cleaning a chain in solvent may be a detrimental thing to do. The way I see it one is dissolving the lubricant from the internal sliding parts of the chain and possibly washing some abrasive dirt into those internal sliding parts.
If it is brushed of dirt on the outside and oiled I don't believe it will carry abrasives to the internal chain parts as the lube soakes in.
Chains on chain driven equipment are not normally taken off and washed but just oiled.
An actual test would be interesting to do.