Dry, Wet or Wax Lube for chain and cluster

[crog]

The Sydney bike whilst in good nick will get a bit of a basic service, degresse and oil as well as new brake pads

I have 3 types of Lubricant

Finish Line Dry Lubricant
Finish Line Wet Lubricant
Finish Line Wax Lubricant

For predominately a road bike what do people use. In order of price the wax lube goes about $27 for 120ml, the Dry and wet about $18 for the same amount.

Does this necessarily make the Wax the best.

[sogood]

For dry lubes, ProLink is the one to consider.

[Deanj]

Rock 'n' Roll gold

I think Kalgrm recommended this, bought some from the LBS and its great stuff!

[Kalgrm]

crog,

You may as well shout "Creationism has it all over the Theory of Evolution". Lubes and frame materials are religious debates.

Best bet is to try them all and see which you prefer.

Cheers,
Graeme

(Rock 'n' Roll gold ROCKS! )

[toolonglegs]

White Lightning for the enlightened .

[Kev365428]

needsapush, kalgrm and I are of the same opinion on this one. Can't beat the R&R Gold.

Also, I like al frames, Shimano drivetrains, citrus degreaser, red wine, Darwin was right, and I'm an athiest.

Kev.

[crog]

I think the point of the post is missed, I have the 3 types of lube listed and various grease's rock and roll super web and the like from the cecil build, as a result I will not be buying any others

So of the three what should I use, should I use wet after a degrease and then in a few days finish with wax. Or use dry only.

I know what the advantages of wet and dry are but wax??

[Kalgrm]

The wax goes on like a wet lube, but the solvent dries out shortly after application, leaving a film of wax. (That's what R&R Gold is).

Since I'm biased (and an atheist) I'd say use the wax lube after you've degreased your chain.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Mulger bill]

Rock and Roll, nuff said.

Stick with the wax Che, best all round performer. Go the wet if you know it's gonna come down hard... Oh yeah, Sydney, get two chains, one for wax and one for wet

Shaun

[MountGower]

I am a grub. I spray Castrol Chain Oil on there and wipe off the exess. This stuff is awesome and goes all over everything. I love cleaning my chain........and my bike.

[Bnej]

The Sydney bike whilst in good nick will get a bit of a basic service, degresse and oil as well as new brake pads

I have 3 types of Lubricant

Finish Line Dry Lubricant
Finish Line Wet Lubricant
Finish Line Wax Lubricant

If you avoid the rain and like a clean chain, use wax. Use dry if you want to save some money and don't mind it looking a bit dirtier.

If you only ride on the road, don't mind a dirty, greasy chain, and want something that works in the rain, use wet and wipe off the excess completely.

[Kid_Carbine]

The part that bears the load, & therefore needs the lube is the pins & rollers. Unfortunately this is the most difficult part to get lube into.

The most successfull would be something like WD40. It gets in there, but the lubricating qualities & longevity are less than ideal.

As the viscosity rating of the lubricant gets higher, so does it's ability to stay there & do it's job, but the likleyhood of it finding it's way into the pins & rollers, conversely, diminishes.

Anything with teflon or molybdnum that goes on wet but dries to a waxy or heavy viscosity would seem to offer some decided advantages.

Whatever is used, if it can't get right into the rollers & pins, ... it aint worth squat.

[Kalgrm]

The part that bears the load, & therefore needs the lube is the pins & rollers. Unfortunately this is the most difficult part to get lube into. <snip>

As the viscosity rating of the lubricant gets higher, so does it's ability to stay there & do it's job, but the likleyhood of it finding it's way into the pins & rollers, conversely, diminishes.
<snip>

Whatever is used, if it can't get right into the rollers & pins, ... it aint worth squat.

That's why the wax ones seem to be okay. Wax is disolved in solvent which carries the lube into the pins. The solvent evaporates away, leaving the waxy coating.

Well, that's what the marketing blurb says, anyway. Works for me, but one day I'll try lubing with molybdenum chain lube.

Cheers,
Graeme

[tallywhacker]

Wax doesn't flow. You may be able to get it into the chain and coat the pins and rollers but it is rubbed off easily and then wont flow back to coat them.

[nimm]

I'm pretty sure keeping the chain clean and lubricated (any of them) is by far the biggest difference you can make in terms of smoothness and having your components last longer.

Choosing between the different lubes seems to be more a case of how often you want to clean the thing (wet = more, dry/wax = less), suitability (wet = better in wet conditions, dry/wax = drier conditions), and cost (wet = cheaper, dry/wax = more expensive).

I'm not a fan of cleaning the chain all the time so I think I may change to a dry/wax lube in the future ATM I'm using a wet lube and it's like a magnet to grit. When I get my park tools super duper chain cleaner it might make things easier but for here in Perth, and the fact I avoid riding in the rain, it makes sense to go for the dry/wax...

[nimm]

hah Sogood you may like this one.

In the comments for the Pedros IceWax lube on Chain Reaction Cycles someone claims "Can easily go an extra 5mph if just applied." This stuff sounds awesome

[sogood]

hah Sogood you may like this one.

In the comments for the Pedros IceWax lube on Chain Reaction Cycles someone claims "Can easily go an extra 5mph if just applied." This stuff sounds awesome

OMGosh, I don't have the references or data to argue against that.

It might be true!

[tallywhacker]

thought I'd give thisa go but decided to McGuyver my own. White spirit (kero should work the same) mixed with some bearing grease into a treacle consistency. Clean chain first then drop in the mixture, shake and leave sitting for a while. Remove, wipe and let the white spirit evaporate. Install and lightly oil. Tested this on my wife's bike (not the fixie) and for the past week all is looking good.

[Kalgrm]

Here'sthe threadon BROL in which Keninmichegan sprukes for industrial chain lube with MoS2 in it. As I said earlier, I'll give it a go when I next need to replace my lube.

It seems we have a lot of options available to us. I wonder what the motorbike riders use these days?

Cheers,
Graeme

[HappyHumber]

White spirit (kero should work the same) mixed with some bearing grease into a treacle consistency. Clean chain first then drop in the mixture, shake and leave sitting for a while. Remove, wipe and let the white spirit evaporate. Install and lightly oil.

Sounds interesting, Tally. I might have to give this a go at some point myself - especially knowing the evaporation types are better for the dry, dusty conditions.

I was a big fan of the White Lightening stuff for a while, but then I couldn't get any from any nearby LBS stores and then begrudgingly got forced into using a more wet lubg for a while.

It came down to me getting annoyed with 1) the price you pay for such small quantities of a such a product 2) inconsistencies of availablity... but after a little research I tried similar DIY method with cheaper ingredients.

A litre of chainsaw bar oil = $4. Lightly thinned with a small portion of lighter machine oil in a 150mL oil can has been doing me OK over the last 6 months.

My general technique is clean chain in degreaser or kero; shaking it around in a sealed container. Remove and rinse under water. Dry it by flinging it around, or hang it over something out in the breeze for a little while. Then lightly oil a rag in the above mixture and pul the chain through for a light coating. Reattach to bike (I use master links) and then apply a single drop of to each linkage whilst slowly rotating the crank. Spin things then a bit being careful to clean up excess.

I think the whole process is really personal, though. Some may think I'm being a bit laborious. But after spending various amounts of money on different doo-dads, specialist lubes & cleaners I found the job was just as messy without really being convinced I was doing a better job. My kit these days consists of an traditional little oil can, a sealable container to clean the chain in (an old 1kgHoney bucket) a couple of funnels for recycling degreaser and plenty of rags

[tallywhacker]

on the FGG they have a concoction dubbed "forum lube" - mix of 3:1 or 4:1 - mineral spirits to 'Mobil 1' synthetic oil. Other versions use petrol (an exciting alternative to mineral spirits), 90-weight gear oil, and paraffin. The paraffin dissolves. The petrol carries the stuff into all the nooks and crannies, then quickly evaporates, leaving the wax/oil mixture in where it's needed. A good wipe of the outside leaves the chain clean where you want it clean and lubed where you want it lubed.

[HappyHumber]

A good wipe of the outside leaves the chain clean where you want it clean and lubed where you want it lubed.

Ok, I'm intrigued. Sounds like the finished product - or the chain ready to be remounted - is lubed very much like a brand new, out of the box chain. I recall Sheldons page stating the best lube is that on a new chain.

I guess the downside to this, is that you probably need to mix up the goods each time - unless you can keep a quantity in a sealed container?

[crog]

I recall Sheldons page stating the best lube is that on a new chain

It worked great on the cecil until it got dusty, dust sticks like sh*t to a blanket on the lube I got on the Durace chain I put on the cecil.

A de grease and soak in transmission fluid then let dry and a wash with wax lube worked great.

Che

[Hawkeye]

I recall Sheldons page stating the best lube is that on a new chain

It worked great on the cecil until it got dusty, dust sticks like sh*t to a blanket on the lube I got on the Durace chain I put on the cecil. <snipped>

Exactly the problem with those lubes. If you're running on a dust-free velodrome then I suppose it would be practical to leave it there, but I found my chain was pretty disgusting and had attracted heaps of grit after just three rides. Not great for chain life.

[Mr888]

The wet and dry will work well for your purposes IMHO. The Wet is better for older chains as it gets into all the nooks and crannys and frees up stuck links better, but tends to result is a dirty chain quickly (i.e 3-4 days on road riding). The drys I find better on newer chains and stay reasonably clean for a while.

Wax however is best suited for MTB/dirt riding applications. Any dirt/mud/grit that gets on the chain drops off, but in the process the wax wears out quite quickly. The wax needs reapplication quite regularly (i.e. after every ride). It also dries and flakes off quickly too and I wouldn't recommend it for a road bike especially over long distances (unless you like cleaning and lubung your chain often)

...and that's me 2 cents worth for the moment...