Been running cheap bike oil on my chain.

Looked pretty mucky last night so cleaned it + the jockey wheels and applied some pro-link gold lube.

The bike felt a lot faster this morn. Is the speed gain real or all in my mind?

In your mind i reckon.

Well, figures for efficiency vary a lot, but according to Bicycling Science it’s lubrication that matters most – lubing a dry chain can add 5% to the efficiency.

More interestingly (and I hadn’t read this bit in the book before) it varys a lot depending on gear ratio – bottom gear (22-28) is 99% efficient, top gear (42-11) is 88%. That’s a big difference.

I read a test where a clean degreased chain had the same friction as a lubed one.

all in your head I think.

An unlubrictated chain the same friction as a lubricated chain? Hmm, my gut feelng is that’s impossible! But I’m happy to be proved wrong.

But I think the OPs issue is all in the mind. A recently valeted car always seems quicker/smoother.

I read a test where a clean degreased chain had the same friction as a lubed one.

Presume that would be a Clean degreased chain and a Clean lubed chain in the test.

Not a real world comparison to be fair, pretty much everyone will have a chain that is either clean and lubed or dirty and unlubed (or somewhere in between)

Does the effect of the dirt on the chain not make a difference ?

Was wondering about this the other day as I had to reapply lube twice in one “summer” ride

I read a test where a clean degreased chain had the same friction as a lubed one.

From Bicycling Science:

100W power input, used chain (7000km, rusty, no lube) – 88%
100W power input, used chain (8000km, no rust, lubed) – 94-96%

ha ha…

of course a sticky manky chain will be less efficient than a clean lubed one.. “whether you can tell?” is hopefully what Al and Mark meant..

if not, remind us again, which bike shops do you two work in?

More interestingly (and I hadn’t read this bit in the book before) it varys a lot depending on gear ratio – bottom gear (22-28) is 99% efficient, top gear (42-11) is 88%. That’s a big difference

Isn’t the loss on the high gear mainly down to the 11T cog? Small cogs are inefficient due to chain wrap (friction / pull angles? not sure). A 44-22 is a more efficient gear than 22-11.

Clean chains feel better / smoother, whether there’s enough smoothness to add a few W of power I don’t know. Must make some difference, like tyre pressure etc. All adds up I guess.

Was wondering about this the other day as I had to reapply lube twice in one “summer” ride

“Efficiency” in this instance is completely negated by having to stop and re lubricate a chain mid ride surely…

Small cogs are inefficient due to chain wrap (friction / pull angles? not sure)

It’s the articulation under load – one link is moving under tension, the one that’s on top as it leaves the sprocket, and moving something under load creates friction. Smaller cog = bigger movement.

Some companies have tried smaller pitch chains to improve this – more hassle than it was worth I think.

if not, remind us again, which bike shops do you two work in?

Who, me? Kinetics in Glasgow.

A 44-22 is a more efficient gear than 22-11

I was wondering the other day why single-speeders don’t use as small chain-ring as possible at the front, I presume this is why?

Plus, it looks silly 🙂

no Ben, not you.. you seem to know your shit, maybe not your own name tho 😉

I ride faster when my gloves are washed and my shades have had their lenses cleaned!

Like i said.. There are many more other factors that it could have been.

It could have been the chain, sure. But, it might also not have been.

a 5% gain in efficiency could be felt i’d imagine but there may have been other factors (in the absence of a control) that would outweigh that.

Making sense?

“Efficiency” in this instance is completely negated by having to stop and re lubricate a chain mid ride surely…

I’d class efficiency as getting through the ride expending as little energy as possible. and if I’d known how wet the trails were going to be I’d have used wet lube instead of dry 🙂

considering larger drivechain for my SS when it needs replacing but 32/16 parts are readily available and of course there’s more than efficiency when it comes to chainring choice, how much time you spend knocking lumps out of the local stone/wood work for starters.

Well Ben, I guess I read a different test.

Like i said..

Uh? where? 😕

I guess I read a different test.

“where is your evidence”? 😆

Quiet day, Gary? 🙄

usually is on here these days Al 😉

You so make up for that.