Any recommendations for buying bulk quantities of chain oil? I am tired of buying 100ml for extortionate prices.

Is this enough for you ?

Get a tin of putoline wax. Its a kilo for under £30 will last you years and is far better than any other chain lube.

I keep meaning to try some chainsaw chain oil on the bikes but not got around to it yet. Can get that in 1L or 5L sizes.

Last autumn, 1 litre Muc Off C3 wet for £8 IIRC from PX, sorted for the rest of my life, possibly. 😆

Chainsaw lube is sticky

But cheap

Just use left over car oil , my last motor was 10 -40 semi synthetic my current is 5-40. I still have 2 ltrs of the latter and If I clean my chain after every ride Im sorted.

Im sure some STW regulars will be spitting their tea out in disgust . 😀

A bottle of Purple extreme lasted me 3 years 7500 miles. How much are you using?!

Wouldn’t bother trying chainsaw chain oil, sticky layer all over the combi cans and on the barrel at work. Damn stuff won’t even pump out the barrel when it’s cold. Gums up the saw pumps and everything sticks to it.

On the upside, it comes in 200l barrels, think the last one was about £195.

Even the Finishline gallon works out at £14 a litre. I can buy synthetic racing two stroke oil for less than that per litre!

It’s mostly wet in the Lakes and the chain needs cleaning and listing after every ride and I have a daily commuter plus wife and kiss bikes so it all adds up.

Putoline wax in a cheap small fat fryer. Lifetime amount. (just like Tjagain)

Have to say the MucOffC3 wet I tried a couple of winters ago was the dirtiest, hardest to clean off chain lube I’ve ever been anywhere near. It did keep things quiet, but when the drivertrain gets that filthy I have a hard time imagining I’m not getting increased wear from muddygrittydebris stuck to the filth.

I was a huge fan of waxes (Squirt until it froze on me in winter and then WL Clean Ride which was great but got a bit sick of the white dribbles down sidewall of back tyre) and right now I’m on Epic Ride which seems to pretty much do what it says on the tin. It’s fairly light, doesn’t get too sticky mucky and lasts reasonably well if you’re aiming to clean the drive regularly. The Purple Extreme I’ve only had once but seemed ok. I’ve never seen the White Lightning lubes in bigger bottles than a couple of hundred ml (8floz?) but if anyone knows of family size servings I’d love to know… 🙂

Ive often wondered what they actually make the finnish line lube from…..unicorn spunk apparently.

Halfords often sell Progold Prolink in big bottles at cut price, 759ml or 1litre ones, at around a tenner. The extreme version is very good for winter muck and the regular progold pretty clean all year.

special buy this week in aldi

just need the tin of Putoline now

This winter I’ve been making my own special mix of chainsaw oil and white spirits. It’s cheap and works very well even in the wet.

About two thirds oil to a third spirt.

Tastes great too 😉

It did keep things quiet, but when the drivertrain gets that filthy I have a hard time imagining I’m not getting increased wear from muddygrittydebris stuck to the filth.

Don’t be too sure. Crud works its way out, what you need is a thin film of oil on the metal inside the chain. If the chain is still oily then the gritty water doesn’t stick as much so it’s going to wear less.

If it’s hard to clean off then I reckon it’s going to be good for your chain.

Re the op, I clean my chain every ride, I am out twice a week on average ish and a small bottle of lube lasts me easily a year. Sounds like you are using too much.

Rock and Roll Blue in the bulk bottle for me.

I looked at bulk buying but IIRC a gallon of oil was going to last me and the next generation of my family.. so instead I asked my @ my LBS, they let me fill from there bulk container (have to supply a funnel) & charge a lot less..

I’m a big fan of Stihl’s BioPlus lube in my saw (346XPG) & on my bike chains. ~£20.00 for 5Ltrs.

I find it a bit less ‘sticky’ than a lot of bar/chain lubes (but it’s still stickier than a straight bike chain lube).

100 applications from 1 bottle molgrips?

Maybe not 100 then.. 50 or so easily. 1cc per application.

I don’t think I’ve bough any chain lube for about 10 years. Apart from free samples and prizes I just use whatever I’ve got lying around that’s plain-ish oil, and not too sticky. So car/motorbike engine oil, Scottoiler oil, suspension oil, whatever. On most bikes it’s better to use something that’ll clean off easily when you was he the bike IME.

FFS DO NOT use chainsaw oil or motorcycle spray chain oil. It makes the most dreadful mess of your bike and it’s flippin’ impossible to get off.

Otherwise get this:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Finish-Line-Cross-Country-Wet-Chain-Lube-3-8-Litres_60233.htm

“Wouldn’t bother trying chainsaw chain oil, sticky layer all over the combi cans and on the barrel at work. Damn stuff won’t even pump out the barrel when it’s cold. Gums up the saw pumps and everything sticks to it.”

I use nothing else, and experience none of the above. Stihl Synthetic.

Another vote for left over motor oil, specifically 5/30 fully synth vw spec but not sure tht matters.

Best chainnoil I’ve used and theres been a few.

TBF the chainsaw oil I bought was screwfix…

Why spend hundreds or more likely thousands on a bike and scrimp on a bit of decent lube?
Squirt lube everytime for me and I don’t get a load of crud stuck to my drive train like you’ll get with engine/chainsaw lube.

Shimano wet lube is much better than finish line IME.

Why spend hundreds or more likely thousands on a bike and scrimp on a bit of decent lube?

How much are you paying for a chain??? 🙂
But to answer the question – Because it’s pointless spending loads of money on lube. Go ahead and throw money away if you like though…
A chain is essentially a plain bearing. Very simple to lubricate, and, as with all plain bearings, having fresh clean lubrication is FAR better than posh lubrication*. So something easy to remove and cheap to apply fits the bill perfectly. Engine oil is also designed to lubricate plain bearings.

*I have a chain oiler on my motorbike which essentially drops light oil constantly onto the chain, keeping it lubricated and washing it clean. It’s well known that chains last far longer on motorbikes with a system like this than a sprayed on sticky lube. It can literally double chain life.

The barrel lasts about a year for 2 or 3 of us cutting, so maybe it is just the sheer volume that gums up the kit.
Still don’t fancy it on the bike.

OCB – What’s the Stihl bio oil like? Tried bio ones in the past and they didn’t do the pumps any favours long term, but that was a while back, it was like a yellow emulsion in suspension. 4x the cost is quite a hit too for us.

We tried the chainsaw oil on the fleet bikes last year as a bit of an experiment. It was shit.

I think I have the answer.
Went to a round of British Super Bike. A mate of mine used to be a big player in one of the teams. Saw the mechanic pouring oil over a chain and enquired what he uses thinking it may cross-over to the pedal bike. Was informed it was LHM. The stuff used for Shimano and some other hydraulic brakes. Cheap, Mineral base, doesnt get effected by temperature, Cheap in bulk. Used it for years and its better than anything I have ever tried. All my mates use it too and no complaints.

Squirt lube everytime for me and I don’t get a load of crud stuck to my drive train

I like Squirt but this time of year I find it has washed off in first 20 mins of ride.

theboyneeds – Member
This winter I’ve been making my own special mix of chainsaw oil and white spirits. It’s cheap and works very well even in the wet.

About two thirds oil to a third spirit.

Tastes great too

This, although I think I was probably closer to 20% white spirit. Thinning it back makes it easier to put less on initially and you get less oil on in total when the white spirit evaporates.

It is sticky and does collect dirt but this is only a problem on my summer road bike and my mountian bike in prolonged periods of dry weather. My summer road bike doesn’t need much lube so I use a dry one. It is rarely dry long enough for it to be an issue on the mountain bike. Through winter I normally lube the chain every ride as the bike needs cleaning.

I have used engine oil in the past as well on my commuter. Works fine but tends to wash off a bit too easily. Cheap for me though as I had some lying around.

This winter I’ve been making my own special mix of chainsaw oil and white spirits.

Yes, mine is chainsaw oil diluted in petrol. Gets the oil where it’s needed, then the petrol evaporates. Clean surplus off the outer surfaces – job done.

Screwfix for the chainsaw oil.

Perhaps this explains my need for oil

Bought one of those 3.8l buckets of finish line many many many years ago now. Have barely made a dent in it. It’s great and I’ve left it too my eldest in my will as well. Problem solved

Has anyone tried out of date goose fat? There’s a lot of it about apparently 🙂

Not tried it yet as my current bottle never seems to run out but heard great things about progold prolink which I get the impression is a solvent and mineral oil blend