New chains – what do they come per-lubed with

What is it that comes on new chains, it’s like a sticky thick grease.

Is it any good as a chain lube?

Never been able to get a chain anything like it once degreased and lubed again. I’ve used a lot of different chain lubes over the years and nothing comes close to it.

this is the closest you can get.

chain wax

I run the factory lube on a new chain till its gone, then I degrease and use Squirt wax lube.

I clean that horrible sticky stuff off straight away. I’m not convinced that it is even a lubricant, just a waxy coating to keep the chain looking fresh in storage.

I’ve always thought it was thick grease to prevent corrosion or other issues in the packaging and not a lubricant. If you rub your fingers together with it on you finger tips it doesn’t have good slippery lubrication properties. I usually give the chain a good dousing with WD40 and wipe it off.

Some info here towards the end of the interview.

Interview with Shimano[/url]

Yup,I always thought it was a preservative more than a lube.
Great dust magnet though.

Sheldon thinks it’s a brilliant lubricant and you shouldn’t remove it. (Search for Factory Lube in the middle of the page.)

Clean it off or suffer black marks and dirty sprockets forever more

It might be a good lube but it’ll cause premature wear due to the dirt that it attracts

Never cleaned it off, never had issues even when riding in dusty conditions.

I mentioned that the chain wears because of friction as the chain moves to wrap around a gear. Well, that friction is reduced if there is lube on the chain. If there is dirt mixed in, the lube makes a bigger difference in reducing friction. If there is water mixed in, the lube helps displace the water. The grease that comes on a Shimano chain is applied at the factory to the individual pieces before the chain is assembled. The grease does a better job of reducing friction than aftermarket chain lubes and it lasts longer. The main reason we use liquid chain lube, whether it is one that stays liquid or a dry lube that has a solid lubricant in a liquid carrier (like a PTFE lube) is because we need to get the lube on a part that is not accessible without disassembling the chain. So the best thing to do when installing a new chain is to leave the factory grease on, not apply any other lube, ride until it wears out and then start applying liquid chain lube. In dusty conditions you can wipe off the outside of the new chain with a rag that is wet with a gentle degreaser to keep dirt from sticking to the grease. The factory grease also keeps the chain nice and quiet. After soaking a chain in degreaser and then lubing the chain with liquid lubricant the chain gets noticeably louder.

From the Shimano Interview. I believe if you degrease it you get all the lubrication out of the bits that they get it into when they make the chains, it’s hard to then get lube back into those places.

Ah,so it might be a bit like the motorcycle’boil your chain in a tin’ stuff.

Always cleaned it off, never had a problem either

Plus I don’t leave black marks on everything the bike touches

🙂

Factory lube is the best you’ll ever have. As I understood it they bake on stuff on the rollers and pins during manufacture before assembly. I assumed that would be wax based.

Remember, chain wear is roller wear inside. That’s where they lube is important.

The sticky grease on the outside is debateable. I’ve run with it and it’s been fine for me, then as it wears down I’ve applied oil based lubes and gone through the black chain cleaning routine.

However since, I’ve switched to Squirt. Wax based and gets inside and sets. Not as good as factory, but is bloody good stuff. The outside of the chain doesn’t need anything and can appear like it’s got no lube at all. There’s a film of wax in the surface though.

However as the quote from Shimano says, it does make it noisier. I do wonder if a grease like stuff on the surface of a Squirted chain would be better. But then it would draw in the dirt and chain wouldn’t look shiny all the time as I find Squirted chains do.

I should add with Squirt, as I understand it, the surface wax flakes off with the dirt, and over time will need reapplication on the surface. Though I find it lasts a while in dry conditions. I guess it’s better then than sticky stuff that will hold the dirt in.

Not convinced its any good a all. Had a brand new shimano chain fitted during a service a few weeks ago. Less than one ride, maybe 20 miles, on the road, but in rain, chain was squealing like a hungry baby.

The stuff Sram use is called Gleitmo.

I like to run it out of the box. I used to get quite a few rides out of it before it needed re-lubing but the last one only made three rides before it started squealing. I guess it could be described as a hungry baby – I serviced the bottom bracket, jockey wheels and hub before I realised it was the bloody chain. A simple lube with Squirt sorted it, after a proper clean and dry, obviously.

+1 for Squirt. It doesn’t work with anything oily on the chain though and doesn’t seem to like subzero.

Best applied to a new drivetrain that’s never seen a conventional chainlube in my experience.

Shimano, SRAM and KMC all reckon the stuff they put on the chain is better than the stuff you put on afterwards. You can always wipe off any excess on the outside of the chain if it displeases you.

this is the closest you can get.

chain wax

This is also close, and less messy:

KMC chain lube

although if you’ve had any degreaser near your chain I suspect the wax-dipping method is the best way to get the lube back where it’s needed.

Use to find that the sticky stuff SRAM put on caused loads of chain suck on one bike. Was fine when cleaned and re-lubed.

Just checked back, thanks for all the replies and sorry for the typo in the thread title.

The reason I asked about this is when new a chain is silent and all the pins/rollers feel extremely well lubed.

Once it’s worn off I degrease and use squirt.
I like squirt chain lube but I find it needs re-applying every ride and the chain can still sound under lubed, especially under heavy load you can hear a slight noise as though the chain is dry. Some one described it sounds like a hungry baby lol, but its not that bad what I’m referring to.

It is noisier with Squirt I find. Though I’m often told you shouldn’t be needing to apply the stuff every ride, though some do.

Main thing I have found is I get a chain clatter noise more now, and I think it’s the chain rattling on the chainring. I have a narrow/wide ring and clutch mech, and before I went with Squirt it was quite quiet. Now it’s a bit noisy when bumpy, though does seem to vary which I think in part is down to how well the clutch is engaging (not always it seems, even with a new mech).

The chain wear you get is really on the inside though, so while the outer seems dry (it does have a wax layer on it), it’s not wearing the chain, but also isn’t a goo that silences it.

I’m liking the shiny chain and lack of black muck though.