I’ve ran out of chain lube and have been looking at the price of some new stuff.

I can’t understand how chain lube can retail for £6.99 for 100ml, the equivalent of nearly £70 a litre when top end engine oil like Mobil 1 only costs about £11-£12 per litre.
How on earth can they justify that kind of price?

Packaging factor? Bulk is always cheaper for everything?

You can get 3 cans of TF2 (450ml each) for £9.99 on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-TINS-OF-Weldtite-TF2-Spray-Oil-With-Teflon-Bike-Chain-Lubricant-/230758537302?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item35ba47d856

Went into a shop at the weekend for some mid-ride lube. Cheapest / smallest was 8 quid for something posh.. DIY shop round the corner had tf2 oil at 3 quid. Same size bottle.

Agree – its a rip off!

And then they take the pish by suggesting we also use the stuff to wash the chain with…

Excerpt from a ‘leading brand’ use instructions…

Apply the lube on the chain, over the top of the cog. Let a nice flow of lube go onto the chain (don’t be cheap). Remember you’re going to clean and lube the chain in one step

Particularly like this bit…

don’t be cheap

Oh the ironing!

Its just companies trying to find ways of making more money out of us bikers. Resist!

Because we want the moon on a stick. A lube that sticks to the chain but does not attract muck.

Buy a litre of TF2 from CRC – abot 12 quid if I remember, fill up the small bottle you currently have.
Or just use engine oil…

Decathlon do a chain lube for about £2 for 100ml which is ok but it is little better than 3in1 which is available from all good pound shops at err £1 for 100ml. Might not have the magic staying on but not turning to gloop formula but you could always add your own fairy dust.

Is that TF2 any good? Might stock up if its that cheap for 3 cans.. normally ride my mtb at Woburn so cant really use anything that gathers too much dirt otherwise my drivetrain will sound awful!

Its made from the tears of fairies. Its the next scandal waiting to erupt. They keep them in terrible conditions. Like battery hens

Engine oil works poorly on a chain as it flicks off, and is still very expensive compared to sawchain oil which is designed to stay on a chain and is about £10/gallon.

Engine oil works poorly on a chain as it flicks off

No it doesn’t, the excess may “flick off” if you lather the chain in it (as it does with most lubes), but where the lubrication is needed it will stay there. That said chainsaw oil is good too, as is transmission fluid. The only downside I have found to any of the aforementioned oils is that they don’t smell as nice as some of the ‘bike’ lubes, transmission fluid in particular smells nasty if you store your bike inside.

I reckon I’ll be giving chainsaw oil a go next.
I remember loads of people recommending it to lube motorbike chains with.

Viking lube – RRP £10 for a small bottle, though great stuff….

Not sure if it works out better value in the long run though? Time will tell.

DrP

Just done mine with some left over two stroke oil.
Soaked overnight then wiped off excess.
Simms fine will see how it goes.
Just remember that some oils are more expensive because they don’t attract dirt and dust but repel it instead.
Wd40 attracts dirt and dust like a Hoover. (AND NO, I DON’T USE IT ON MY BIKE)

How about these green bio-degradeable bike lubes that have cropped up? Are they just repackaged vegetable oil?

Chainsaw oil works fine for me, although I do use one of the “dry” Teflon lubes if I’m riding in dry, dusty conditions and he only time I do that is in Greece.
It’s never that dry on the Ile of Man………

Has anyone any thoughts on using Vaseline?
I used it recently as an emergency lube on a long trip.
Bad? Good?

If you run E13 chain guides or similar guides with plastic parts watch out for lubes that use Mineral Spirits as a base or constituent – it will damage/weaken the plastic. eg. WD-40, T-9, Prolink Pro Gold, Purple Extreme etc are ones not to use.
See for more info:
http://bythehive.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/02/lubricant_summary_web.pdf

Putoline chain wax (£25/kg tin) , just don’t do it anywhere near the house, or a patio you like the look of, or whilst wearing anything other than black clothes you want to throw away.

Only lubed my chain once last summer and it usualy lasts a month or so in winter even if it’s wet, just not if it’s really pissing it down constantly in mud (i.e. when no lube works) 🙂

Downside is your chain and gears don’t look ‘clean’ as it’s a thick black wax, but it doesn’t fling off and nothing sticks to it.

kayak23 – Member
Has anyone any thoughts on using Vaseline?
I used it recently as an emergency lube on a long trip.
Bad? Good?
POSTED 36 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Sounds like a crazy trip!

I’ve used olive oil and sunflower oil on chains. I prefer olive oil. In fact I might refill my 3 in one can with olive oil right now. Yes indeedy.

top end engine oil like Mobil 1 only costs about £11-£12 per litre.

What a rip-off – you can get used cooking oil for about 20p a litre, filter the bits out and there’s nowt wrong with it.

Okay, serious answer – because it’s not the same as car oil, it’s got a very different job to do (the inside of your engine doesn’t usually get full of mud and sand), and it’s made in small quantities.

The stuff I use in the workshop is Profi Drylube – I import it specially from Germany. Not cheap, but it’s the stuff I’ve found to work best on bikes in the Scottish climate.

I’ve tried car oil, was fine on the road/commuter bikes as long as reapplied frequently but no use on a mountain bike ime.

Experimenting with putoline chain wax as mentioned above just now, TJ made a good case for it… it’s more of a hassle to apply but it needs done less often. I’ve not had the “opportunity” to test it in proper grimness yet though but it’s been good with half-frozen mud, innerleithen slop, pentlands sheep-poo…

Whilst on the subject of lube, does anyone know where you can buy Chain-L No5 from? Google turns up nothing.

I don’t really use a lot of lube, just a bit here and there. A bottle seems to last ages.

In the grand scheme of things riding a £2K plus bike with no gears or suspension is a bit more of a rip off than a £6 bottle of lube.

Experimenting with putoline chain wax as mentioned above just now, TJ made a good case for it… it’s more of a hassle to apply but it needs done less often. I’ve not had the “opportunity” to test it in proper grimness yet though but it’s been good with half-frozen mud, innerleithen slop, pentlands sheep-poo…

More tenacious than anything else, but not invunerable was my conclusion.

Someone suggested melting it into an old chip pan and getting it seriously hot, apparenlty it’ll reach the viscocity of water and much more of the excess runs off.

can not beleave how tight some people are ,used cooking oil…..
i’m using brunox on numerous bikes and a couple of off road motorbikes can was £8.00 and it’s lasted 6 month+ ,so good i hardly have to use it.
tf2 is like water and you have to use it every ride,actually suprised someone’s not suggested that ..spray it with water.
who buy’s 4k bikes and uses cheap lubes .

Oils and waxes – pah!

I’ve seen the future of drivetrain lubrication, and it’s pencil lead 😯 well, sort of…

Solid chain lubrication involves a compact graphite-based material shaped like the jockey pulleys of the derailleur. All you need to do is replace the bottom jockey pulley in the rear derailleur.

The abrasion of the lubricant that occurs through contact with the chain while pedaling transfers the lubricant to the chain, where it is further distributed to the entire drivechain

Linky to their web site…

Lubricant’s just there on a chain to stop things squeaking too much. I have a feeling that the abrasive quality of soil outweighs the lubricant qualities of an oil by an order of magnitude.

I was ready to order one of those Jockey wheels for 19 euros but at 14 euros shipping it’s not gonna happen!

who buy’s 4k bikes and uses cheap lubes

Not me. 😉

Been using chainsaw oil for over a decade.

Top tip – Forget the ‘environmentally friendly’ stuff – I tried it & ended up with a completely stiff unusable chain that looked like it was coated in resin if left unattended for a few days !

But, the ordinary stuff works just fine.
Chris

If you buy a 960ml bottle of White Lightning for around £30 that makes it about half the price of buying individual 120ml bottles.

One of these large bottles lasted me a year (WL Cleanride).

thisisnotaspoon – Member

Someone suggested melting it into an old chip pan and getting it seriously hot, apparenlty it’ll reach the viscocity of water and much more of the excess runs off.

I think I’m getting this effect already tbh, I was expecting it to be thick and, well, waxy… But it’s very thin when I do it. Might be using too high a heat, but it works really well.

(i’m always slightly nervous the tin will melt through and cause a fireball, mind. You don’t get that with Finish Line.)

Is there anything wrong with just using cheap GT85?

GT85 is similar to WD40, and so everyone makes out doesn’t have good load properties. I think it also dissolves grease.

More of a water dispersant than a serious chain lube

A mate recently gave me an aerosol can of some serious Molybdenum based spray lubricant. Apparently its a high temp, high load dry lube that sets before you use it. Interestingly it is jet black so could be useful for that stealth look!
Have a new chain on order so might try it out and see if it works.

The 3.8L bottles of Finish Line aren’t too badly priced, bought one a while ago for sub-£50. Not anticipating needing to restock for a good few years 🙂