What is the best chain lube ?

[waxbytes]

TriFlow is my fav.

 

[kaikane]

Anybody use Boeshield T-9?

Been using it for about 4 weeks now. Very happy with the results: chain is staying pretty clean, no build-up. I like that it is the chain cleaner and the chain lube, saves a step. I was using white lightening before, but it gunked up too much.

How do you clean a chain that's been lubed with a wax product? Does it clean up with degreaser?

 

[karries]

I use squirt for both the road and mtb.Cleans easy with soap and water.Works well for me. Don't know if it is a local or intl .product.For more info go to www.squirtlube.com

 

[Rideastrong]

Anybody use Boeshield T-9? I'm looking for a very maintenance free lube. I've been using Shimano's Spit Lube and it gets a bit gunky in a short while.

I have used Boesheild on the Mtn Bike is wet muddy coniditons and it works fine. I like it on the frame pivots and derailers to keep everything clean and gunk free when the weather turns nasty. Never used it on the road bike though. I use rock and roll there. And old school chain wax on the bad weather road bike.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

I have used Boesheild on the Mtn Bike is wet muddy coniditons and it works fine. I like it on the frame pivots and derailers to keep everything clean and gunk free when the weather turns nasty. Never used it on the road bike though. I use rock and roll there. And old school chain wax on the bad weather road bike.

My last post on this thread was July '04 so I've had a chance to give Boeshield a fair try. Used it on my road bikes and 3in1 on my MTB. As a fair weather only rider I didn't see any advantage to the Boeshield and will probably go back to using 3in1 next season or whenever I do a thorough Sheldon Brown styled chain cleaning.

I agree with you though that it does work well at pivot points and such so I'll continue to use it there. Just not on the chain.

By the way, if you can get your hands on a syringe it makes a great applicator for Boeshield. The needle fits right into the rollers of a chain. If you just cut the tip off the bottle it tends to drip all over the place when trying to apply it. Kind of expensive stuff to waste.

 

[531Aussie]

I ditched all my fancy lubes and I now use Singer sewing machine/all purpose oil

It's 2 bucks AUS a pop, I can get it from the supermarket at 3am, it goes on thinner than bike lubes, is not at all tacky, and therefore attracts less goo.

 

[Adam-from-SLO]

Years ago, I used White-lightning... but it seemed to chunk off/ and get my rim/spokes really dirty... and just not last much past 20 miles.

As of 1999-2000 , I've been using Pedro's Ice Wax ...... it works well. Every 30-40 miles, I do wip off the chain very good, and reapply.

I've also recently used Finish Line X-country(extreme conditions/wet) , and teflon plus......... they also work well.

I need to try that home brew , of mineral spirits + Mobile1 , 3 parts to 1 mixture.... sounds swell ! I'd rather make my own, save some $$ along the way........ and not buy into all that packaging BS

 

[mrowkoob]

For dry weather:
Finish line teflon plus, White Litening or Ice Wax does the job equally well I think.
For the wet I have not yet found a better lube than the Finish Line Cross Country.

 

[pm7771]

I ditched all my fancy lubes and I now use Singer sewing machine/all purpose oil

It's 2 bucks AUS a pop

531 Aussie - Thanks, found at my local WalMart today $1.74US I've tried Finish Line dry, Pedros Extra Dry, 3inOne, and I'll try this. They;re all pretty good; so far I think the Pedros might last a little longer, and I find the 3inOne with the pullout straw tip nice for getting in tight spots. From all I've read its more important to keep lubed (every 100-200mi) and wipe it down periodically. I have taken my SRAM chain off & done the Simple Green Cleaning, fwiw.

Peter - Plymouth MA

 

[roadgoat]

I just came across a new chain lube I've never hear about - A.T.B. Don't laugh - it's an acronym (of sorts) for "Absolutely The Best." Supposedly it was formulated by an ex petroleum company chemist (Union 76). Anyone else using this lube?

The carrier evaporates quickly. A warning label on the container states it's combustible. Lovely.

-Wm.

A.T.B. chain lube is Absolutely the Best bike chain lube. It's available only in some indy bikestores mostly in the west, and I sell it on eBay now. Search: A.T.B. lube. Once you use ATB lube, you won't use anything else. It has lubricant components that withstand 65,000+ psi pressure unit load. No other high end lubricant uses the lubricant components contained in ATB. Try it, you'll like it.
Geoff

 

[pm7771]

A.T.B. chain lube is Absolutely the Best bike chain lube. It's available only in some indy bikestores mostly in the west, and I sell it on eBay now. Search: A.T.B. lube. Once you use ATB lube, you won't use anything else. It has lubricant components that withstand 65,000+ psi pressure unit load. No other high end lubricant uses the lubricant components contained in ATB. Try it, you'll like it.
Geoff

Roadgoat - sounds like a commercial message. Do you know what "pressure unit load" is and how it relates to the stresses in a bike chain? You're the first one I've found who claims to know the ingredients (lubricant components) of a bike lube.

 

[Trainingwheelz]

I am using the Prolink home brew (3to1 mineral spirits to mobile 1). For my road bike it seems to keep the chain very clean and it runs virtually silent. I use it after a wet ride and approximatly every 2 weeks.

Yeah I had a buddy that used 3 to one aliphalic naptha and gear oil. Was inexpensive and did the job. He is a mechaincal engineer that swore as long as you used a cutting agent to get the oil into the tight spaces of the pins and their casings that any ole' oil works just as good as the next. I guess the debate is longevity and messiness. There also seems to be new additives like graphite and teflon and schtuff all of which seem like over kill to me.

Ian

 

[Orpheus]

I'm probably a little dense, but is that 3 parts mineral spirits or 3 parts mobile one?

Thanks

Years ago, I used White-lightning... but it seemed to chunk off/ and get my rim/spokes really dirty... and just not last much past 20 miles.

As of 1999-2000 , I've been using Pedro's Ice Wax ...... it works well. Every 30-40 miles, I do wip off the chain very good, and reapply.

I've also recently used Finish Line X-country(extreme conditions/wet) , and teflon plus......... they also work well.

I need to try that home brew , of mineral spirits + Mobile1 , 3 parts to 1 mixture.... sounds swell ! I'd rather make my own, save some $$ along the way........ and not buy into all that packaging BS

 

[531Aussie]

I'm probably a little dense, but is that 3 parts mineral spirits or 3 parts mobile one?

sounds a bit like Seinfeld:

Woman: "Nice shirt."

Jerry: "Think so?"

Woman: "Yeah, what is it?"

Jerry: "Half silk, half cotton, half linen. How can you go wrong?"

that's gold, jerry


I was reading some bike mechanic's site, and he said he mixes half and half

 

[Orpheus]

Thanks I'll try a 50-50 mix.

But I have to tell you, I don't even see the humor in the Seinfeld bit you quoted. That's why I like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm." It's more obvious for guys like me.

sounds a bit like Seinfeld:

Woman: "Nice shirt."

Jerry: "Think so?"

Woman: "Yeah, what is it?"

Jerry: "Half silk, half cotton, half linen. How can you go wrong?"

that's gold, jerry


I was reading some bike mechanic's site, and he said he mixes half and half

 

[531Aussie]

But I have to tell you, I don't even see the humor in the Seinfeld bit you quoted. That's why I like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm." It's more obvious for guys like me.

eh......"1/2 cotton, 1/2 linen, 1/2 silk"...it's just silly, and it's obviously a bit funnier seeing it in context.

I wouldn't say Curb Your Enthusiam is all that obvious. For a start, it doesn't have a laugh track, so I bet there's people watching it thinking it's a documentary. I guess it can get a little slapsticky

"Frasier": now that's obvious, corn-ball, overrated, 'slip on the banana peel' stuff

I thought I had sophisticated taste in sitcoms (don't most people -- just like we all think we're great drivers), but I gotta say, I reckon "The Office" (the Brit version) is a one joke show: the personality of the main guy. He's amusing, cringe-worthy, and possibly hilariously close to the bone for some 'office' people, but that's about it for me.