Which chain lube?

Need to buy some new stuff, what does everyone recommend?

Is there any good all year stuff or do I need Winter/Wet and Summer/Dry type?

Cheers

Prepare for a million differing opinions 🙂

For me
finish line
green top = winter
Red Top = summer

Chain L No 5

motorex wet and dry

finishline pro-road. keeps the chain super smooth and grime free, all conditions.

green-oil

started using pro-road a while back, seems to do OK.

chainsaw oil – cheap and very effective.

Finishline pro road is ace.

Pro Link Gold

chainsaw oil. bike shop laughed, then his chain snapped on a climb. mine is grubby as hell but going strong.

should really replace chain to match new bike but can’t be fuzzed.

Fin Super as sold by Reg at Stuart’s Cycles. It’s expensive but keeps your chain super sweet and shiny

GT85 has always done me fine

Finishline Green for me at this time of year

Finish Line green all year round, and until its dry for more than 3 days i won’t be changing to anything else

The only one, all year round.

ASDA or TESCO multi oil, thinned with a quick spray of /GT85 and wiped almost dry with an old towel.

a bit Pikey but works just as well as finishline wet but costs 65p a bottle.

I seem now to have settled on White Lightening Epic which I have used all year round for about 2 years.

Previously used the finish line Red and Green – although I never liked the stuff thought it was very messy but didn’t have any reason to believe any others would be that different.

I was using that Purple Extreme stuff that the mags were raving about not that long ago…absolute cack! Washes off after the slightest encounter with dampness.

Motorex 622 (Motorcross lube) sticks to the chain without collecting too much c**P

I’m with Swiftacular – Green-oil[/url] for me too.

Crisp ‘n Dry

Used to be Finish Line Green in the wet but I got some RocknRoll Extreme in the CRC flood sale and I’ve been impressed so far – does the job without attracting any gunk, so the chain is really easy to clean post ride (if you’re into that sort of thing)

Purple Extreme is rubbish.

Finish line green is messy, attracts crap and wont last through big wet rides.

White lightning waxy whatever chain needs to be utterly clean before application otherwise rubbish, then only OK.

RnR Extreme does seem good but you need a bit to clean chain so seems expensive.

I’m with thepurist here, Been using Rock n Roll Gold for the past year and its fantatsic in all conditions! IME finish line’s okay as long as you never intend to ride near mud!

sawchain oil for me at £12/gallon

Joes wet lube seems to be good.

I’m suprised no-one has suggested the engine oil / paraffin mix which is what Finish Line appears to be. I use synthetic motor bike oil (because that is what is in the garage) 10/40 and mix with a little paraffin until you get the right consistency. Stays on for most rides and washes off easily. Even if you have to buy oil at £10/litre it works out much cheaper than any proprietary brand. Maybe I’m just tight fisted? For dry rides, I’m sure that GT85 will be as good as anything.

I’m suprised no-one has suggested the engine oil / paraffin mix which is what Finish Line appears to be. I use synthetic motor bike oil (because that is what is in the garage) 10/40 and mix with a little paraffin until you get the right consistency. Stays on for most rides and washes off easily.

I agree, that’s what I use and have found it much better than the multitude of bike chain lubes I’ve used. I simply add more paraffin for drier conditions and wipe off all excess.

Green Oil every time. Works as well or better than the other stuff I have tried and you save the planet too.

chainsaw oil. bike shop laughed, then his chain snapped on a climb

Lube has nothing to do with whether or not your chain snaps. Snappages happen on the plates, which aren’t what wear when you are riding in crud.

I was searching for a chain lube that would not leave my chain covered in crud. In the summertime, only the white lightening dry stuff would do that BUT it only stayed on the chain for about 2 hours, which is shite really. Some pedros stuff in a spray can wasn’t bad but still didn’t last very long.

For wet rides, I was using WL wet stuff but I’ve discovered that finish line is way better and lasts longer.

And I really think finish line is thicker and stickier than engine oil. If you want to be creative with home-made lube, try PTFE grease (the jelly-like stuff) mixed with a bit of oil and a good dollop of vulcanising rubber solution, to make it sticky. It works very well 🙂

Finish Line Green Cap stuff all year round. Lube chain – wipe off excess. Smooth running and a clean chain.

Finish Line Green or White Lightening Epic.

Motorex Dry in summer works well unlike Finish line Krytox.

My bottle of Green oil has been solid for about a month now (cos it’s cold) so I haven’t tried it yet. I’ll try it when the temperature is above 7oC (when it melts…).

There is a very good reason to not use engine oil, it flings off. Sawchain oil has anti-fling snot added to prevent this happening.

If you mix your chosen oil with white spirit rather than parrafin it will act as a moisture repelent and can be added to a wet chain.

It flings off motorbike chains, agreed, but if used sparingly on a bike, the chain doesn’t really travel fast enough I suspect. I’ve certainly never seen any oil splattered on my bike. Like the idea of white spirit though.

Lube has nothing to do with whether or not your chain snaps. Snappages happen on the plates, which aren’t what wear when you are riding in crud.

wrong. Another armchair expert, no doubt! If you clean and lube your chain regularly it’s less likely to snap. fact.

when you’re riding in crud and you get a bad shift yes your plate may bend and break – it’s happened to me. BUT on a microscopic scale cleaning/lubing regularly will mean less wear overall and the strength of your chain is less likely to be compromised. less wear on the rollers = less play between linkages = less chance of chain twisting during a bad shift = less likely to break and more likely to shift.

i’m not saying that lubing your chain is the be-all-and-end-all, but i think a well looked after chain certainly helps.

on that note i use RnR extreme. if i think it’s time for a degrease and re-lube i’ll dissolve all the crap by soaking it in white spirit, let it dry, soak it in light oil (i use sewing machine oil) at room temperature, wipe off all the excess and then proceed with RnR extreme. That’ll see me through for a couple of months of really bad weather.

Rock N Roll Extreme does me all year round