Chain Lube: Oil based or wax?



PeterF

New Member
Sep 13, 2004
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I have been using an oil based lube for the past couple years and have found that I have to clean my drive train quite frequently. There seems to be a large build up grime, especially on the pulleys. I have some wax lube that I received as part of a kit and am tempted to try it out. I live in the Northeast and get stuck riding in wet conditions quite often (especially lately). Please let me know your preferences/thoughts. Thank you.
Pete
 
I have only used oil so I cannot comment on the wax issue. Typically I find that the less oil I put on the better. To much attracts dirt like a magnet. My chains feel almost dry to the touch. What I want is just a thin coating. I found that this attracts less dirt and makes cleaning easier when I have to do it. Often I can get away with just a wipe down with a cotton rag and a relube about every 300 miles or so. No escaping the weather though and if you in it expect to do more cleaning its just the nature of nature.
 
PeterF said:
I have been using an oil based lube for the past couple years and have found that I have to clean my drive train quite frequently. There seems to be a large build up grime, especially on the pulleys. I have some wax lube that I received as part of a kit and am tempted to try it out. I live in the Northeast and get stuck riding in wet conditions quite often (especially lately). Please let me know your preferences/thoughts. Thank you.
Pete
Try a dry chain lube, such as Pedros or any dry spay on lube. A dry teflon works great. You can pick it up at hardware stores.
 
On CNN this morning: Only five days of sun this month in the North East States. Ouch well there is always June. Sounds like a good recipe for chain dirt up there.
 
I agree with Alpha, get some teflon. Its easy to use, just spary it on and it doesnt pick up too much dirt because it is dry.
 
i have used both extensively, wax-types flake of and lead to (where is that squeak coming from? the pulleys? bb? pedals? argh!) a dry chain.
the best i have used is finish line century wet chain lube. used to be even better years ago when it used highly toxic tce type solvent base.
as for cleaning, i just use oil and an old terry athletic sock. if this no longer works the chain is near needing replacement i find.

PeterF said:
I have been using an oil based lube for the past couple years and have found that I have to clean my drive train quite frequently. There seems to be a large build up grime, especially on the pulleys. I have some wax lube that I received as part of a kit and am tempted to try it out. I live in the Northeast and get stuck riding in wet conditions quite often (especially lately). Please let me know your preferences/thoughts. Thank you.
Pete
 
i read diesel (fuel) oil is used by pro euro team mechanics for cleaning the chain.
one of the vet rider i know uses 30 wt motor oil for chain lube.


PeterF said:
I have been using an oil based lube for the past couple years and have found that I have to clean my drive train quite frequently. There seems to be a large build up grime, especially on the pulleys. I have some wax lube that I received as part of a kit and am tempted to try it out. I live in the Northeast and get stuck riding in wet conditions quite often (especially lately). Please let me know your preferences/thoughts. Thank you.
Pete
 
i prefer the dry teflon lube.

wax doesnt last very long so your chain will tend to get noisey, more exposed to water unless you relube a lot, and i'll guarantee harder to clean.
 
oops, lennard zinn was chastised for reccomending this diesel, for enviromental concerns. turns out, we end up dumpin or evaporating it.

citrus solv to the rescue!


Hypnospin said:
i read diesel (fuel) oil is used by pro euro team mechanics for cleaning the chain.
one of the vet rider i know uses 30 wt motor oil for chain lube.
 
I've used a wax lube on my chain & after 30 miles it looks as if it's not lub'd at all...... Just looks dry. Is this normal ?
 
gorris1 said:
I've used a wax lube on my chain & after 30 miles it looks as if it's not lub'd at all...... Just looks dry. Is this normal ?
I know in the directions for Pedro's Ice Wax they recommend re-applying after each use. From what I understand, it will flake off during normal use keeping the drive train clean. I'm not sure if this is b.s. or not, which is why I'm hoping to get more feedback. I have a new drivetrain that I want to last as long as possible and I would prefer to not have to clean it every week, which lately seems to be the case.
 
I personally don't care for the waxed based chain lubes. I think they work fine on cables and such but not on the chain. I've also tried dipping my chain in melted parrifin but didn't care for that either. This year I'm giving Boeshield T-9 a try and by the end of Summer I'll know if I'm going to stick with it or not. So far so good.

For an oil based lube I actually like 3in1. It's basically a light weight machine oil or sewing machine oil. I've tried Shimano's Slippery Spitt Wet Lube. I seemed to have about the same viscosity as a medium weight gear oil and required more cleaning than the 3in1. I've tried motor oil and it just gunked up too easily.

Many seem to like ProLink for a dry lube.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?...rand=&sku=9539&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=
 
Wax is not much good as a lubricant and is pretty much useless on a roller chain. All wax is good for is shedding dirt which of course is a good thing but your chain needs proper lubrication.

Where your chain needs lubrication is inside the rollers where you can't see and where wax doesn't get to. You can't tell whether your chain is lubricated or not by looking at it. You can tell by the sound it makes though and this is why the wax users all have squeaky chains after any kind of distance. A properly lubricated good quality chain in good condition should make almost no noise even after its done hundreds of kms.

When a roller chain is working hard, the points where the pins, rollers and plates contact each other are subject to extreme pressure and temperature and need proper lubrication to limit wear and operate with minimum drag.

Clean your chain in diesel. Do not use solvents or degreasers. Diesel is thin enough to clean and is a reasonable lubricant in it's own right and what's left on the inside will provide protection for a start.

Lubricate sparingly with proper oil. I use 70w synthetic gear oil which is very slippery, has extreme pressure properties, mixes with the remenant diesel and provides very good protection on the inside. Make sure you wipe all the excess oil off the chain after you lubricate. Don't drown the thing in oil there's no need, you just need that vital film of the good stuff on the inside. Enough of it will sneak out onto the outside of the rollers to provide some lubrication there but this is not as important as the inside of the rollers and too much just picks up dirt.

Gunk build up is caused by too much oil (or wax) and not enough cleaning.

Teflon does have a very low friction coefficient but limited resistance to the levels of pressure generated inside the rollers. If is works it's more likely the oil based carrier that's doing the job and the teflon part may well just be a slick gimmick.
 
I use ProLink Chain Lube which is neither wax or teflon. It's a metal treatment technology which both cleans and lubricates. It's easy as pie and gives me a quite silky pedal stroke for 100's of miles.

It seems that when I put it on the chain wet and let it stand for a few hours or overnight the lube invisibly bonds to the chain, giving the links a really smooth surface. I then wipe off any excess and I'm good to go.

Even after a 100mile ride if there is any dirt on the chain, I just pour some ProLink on a rag and wipe it through the chain and it strips off all dirt/grease in 5 seconds flat.

I'll never go back to teflon or wax based lubricants. I had read what other people had said about this lube and I had my doubts before using this stuff, but it is very good.
 
I just use "homebrew" every 2 or 3 rides and wipe it down good. (75%-80% mineral spirits/20%-25% synthetic motor oil that I use in my car engine).

Put it in an old squirt bottle so you can direct the stream into the rollers while spinning the pedals backwards. It'll be thin like water, so squirt it right into the chain rollers for a few revs then stop squirting. Keep spinning the pedals for a minute, shift a few gears up or down, and then let the stuff drain out of the chain for a few minutes. You can lay a newspaper on the ground to catch it, and up against the wheel under the rear der. to keep it from getting on the wheel. Let it run off for a few minutes then take a rag and spin the pedals while running the bottom of the chain through the rag to dry it off. The mineral spirits washes the dirt out of the rollers, then it evaporates and leaves a thin coat of oil. If I've been on a wet or dusty/dirty ride, I'll do this again before my next ride. Plus I keep the cassette pretty clean. I get great shifting and great life out of the drivetrain that way and no gummy wax lube build up.