Wd-40
05-26-15, 10:02 AM
#26
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I found a bike a few weeks ago that someone had put out as trash. It had brand new tires, but a mildly rusty chain and inoperative rapidfire shifters. I bought a bottle of WD-40 to use to free up the shifters, which it did in about two squirts and a few clicks each, then sprayed the chain to get it ready for a proper lube. The bike now works at least as good as when it was new, and the chain looks like I installed a new one. As others have said, it isn't the most durable chain lube, but dammit, what it does it does well.
05-26-15, 11:16 AM
#27
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05-26-15, 11:58 AM
#28
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Here we go.. Back in the '70's before all the designer chain lubes came out, I just used wd40. I remember it worked just fine although after a few hundred miles the chain would appear to be gummy, although it didn't squeak or seem to drag. When it finally got too icky for me I would wash it out with solvent and start over. My chains lasted for thousands of miles with no problems.
The WD part of the name stands for "water displacement" and boy does it do that! If you have an old car and the distributor gets wet and it wont start, just spray wd40 in there and you are good to go. I've done that many times.
So here's the deal. I've gone to the "wax" lubes in recent years (Rock and Roll brand, mostly) and they work fine and don't seem to build up. However if I forget to lube for a few hundred miles, or if I get the bike soaked, which seems to be happening lately I start getting squeaky links. I tried White Lightning brand and I can barely get a hundred miles before it goes dry.
The other day I got caught in a downpour and got soaked and filthy so after I washed the bike I decided to try wd40 for the chain knowing it would displace the water inside the chain rollers. On today's ride it was noticeable how smooth the chain was running. 80 miles and it just purred. I may convert back although I would never tell my riding buddies!
What say ye?
The WD part of the name stands for "water displacement" and boy does it do that! If you have an old car and the distributor gets wet and it wont start, just spray wd40 in there and you are good to go. I've done that many times.
So here's the deal. I've gone to the "wax" lubes in recent years (Rock and Roll brand, mostly) and they work fine and don't seem to build up. However if I forget to lube for a few hundred miles, or if I get the bike soaked, which seems to be happening lately I start getting squeaky links. I tried White Lightning brand and I can barely get a hundred miles before it goes dry.
The other day I got caught in a downpour and got soaked and filthy so after I washed the bike I decided to try wd40 for the chain knowing it would displace the water inside the chain rollers. On today's ride it was noticeable how smooth the chain was running. 80 miles and it just purred. I may convert back although I would never tell my riding buddies!
What say ye?
Your rollers don't need water displacement, they need lubrication. WD40 is not lubrication.
05-26-15, 12:09 PM
#29
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
I use homebrew... 1 part 10w30 and 2 parts solvent (mineral spirits or WD40).
Wiping down the chain after lubricating it is the most important thing, there should be almost no residual lubricant on the outside plates and you should be able to run your finger over the rollers and only pick up a trace amount of oil.
WD40 is a pretty useful product and for cleaning up and drying out soaked chains and freeing up sticky mechanisms it is great, since I buy it in bulk quantities it has become my usual solvent base when I mix up lubricant.
Wiping down the chain after lubricating it is the most important thing, there should be almost no residual lubricant on the outside plates and you should be able to run your finger over the rollers and only pick up a trace amount of oil.
WD40 is a pretty useful product and for cleaning up and drying out soaked chains and freeing up sticky mechanisms it is great, since I buy it in bulk quantities it has become my usual solvent base when I mix up lubricant.
05-26-15, 12:16 PM
#30
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on the instructions for a new ceramic coated frying pan I bought, it said not to use extra virgin olive oil. oh wait what were we talking about?
05-26-15, 12:23 PM
#31
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Lol ... I use White Lightning, and have good luck with it. But as you say, it's good for 100-200 miles and that's it. And if it rains, you're toast.
I have a buddy that RAVES about Purple Extreme. I got a little dropper with a free sample some time ago ... I'm gonna give it a shot. If nothing else, I'll use the little dropper to carry some White Lightning with me.
BTW ... I had pair of old Tiagra brifters that gave up the ghost some years ago. A bike mechanic friend of mine advised me to soak the inside of them as much as I could with WD-40 until it was dripping with the stuff. If that didn't fix 'em, they were toast as they could not be rebuilt.
It worked like a charm, and no problems with those (now 15 year old) brifters since then.
I have a buddy that RAVES about Purple Extreme. I got a little dropper with a free sample some time ago ... I'm gonna give it a shot. If nothing else, I'll use the little dropper to carry some White Lightning with me.
BTW ... I had pair of old Tiagra brifters that gave up the ghost some years ago. A bike mechanic friend of mine advised me to soak the inside of them as much as I could with WD-40 until it was dripping with the stuff. If that didn't fix 'em, they were toast as they could not be rebuilt.
It worked like a charm, and no problems with those (now 15 year old) brifters since then.
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Last edited by Biker395; 05-26-15 at 12:27 PM.
05-26-15, 12:37 PM
#32
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My .02 cents. Not here to argue the best way to lube a bike, just give my experience. I am 75 and have been riding bikes since I was old enough to. I have owned TT, Road, and MTB bikes and have used WD 40 ever since it came out (can't remember when, but a loonng time ago). Note: I do not ride long miles, but short and fast (like intervals). This said I use WD 40 on everything on the bikes, such as chains, derailers, brakes, cables, etc., and have never had a break down. I only replace when they wear out, which is usually longer then some of my riding friends.
05-26-15, 12:45 PM
#33
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I use homebrew... 1 part 10w30 and 2 parts solvent (mineral spirits or WD40).
Wiping down the chain after lubricating it is the most important thing, there should be almost no residual lubricant on the outside plates and you should be able to run your finger over the rollers and only pick up a trace amount of oil.
WD40 is a pretty useful product and for cleaning up and drying out soaked chains and freeing up sticky mechanisms it is great, since I buy it in bulk quantities it has become my usual solvent base when I mix up lubricant.
Wiping down the chain after lubricating it is the most important thing, there should be almost no residual lubricant on the outside plates and you should be able to run your finger over the rollers and only pick up a trace amount of oil.
WD40 is a pretty useful product and for cleaning up and drying out soaked chains and freeing up sticky mechanisms it is great, since I buy it in bulk quantities it has become my usual solvent base when I mix up lubricant.
So what's so special about thinned 10/30? Why not just use a 3-IN-ONE oil, also made by WD40? Seems like that would be about the same as your concoction and so much easier.
05-26-15, 12:52 PM
#34
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05-26-15, 12:59 PM
#35
Beicwyr Hapus
I use any oil I have going spare in the workshop on the chain and pivot points on gears and brakes, and have never had any problems as long as they are kept clean. IMO we can be too precious about the choice of oils. It's a bike we're maintaining and not a precision Swiss watch - even at the top end of components.
05-26-15, 05:14 PM
#37
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WD40 contains lubricants but the lubrication has to match the job and as you've noted, that's not the case for bicycle chains.
I like clean stuff but am amazed that where cyclists are confident to clean all sorts of things with soap or biodegradable degreaser, they have such a strong aversion to clean a chain similarly. I'm surprised that more folks aren't following a global trend towards the eliminating of the unnecessary use of petroleum solvents.
I like clean stuff but am amazed that where cyclists are confident to clean all sorts of things with soap or biodegradable degreaser, they have such a strong aversion to clean a chain similarly. I'm surprised that more folks aren't following a global trend towards the eliminating of the unnecessary use of petroleum solvents.
05-26-15, 05:37 PM
#38
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I use spray grease from an aerosol can (available at Walmart, and other fine stores). It contains solvents that helps it penetrate the rollers. If you put on a little excess, the solvent makes it easy to wipe off and leaves a clean, nearly dry, chain, with no danger of washing out the lubricant. The solvent dries quickly and leaves behind the thick grease which doesn't readily attract dirt. The thickness of the lubricant helps seal the chain against penetration of dirt particles.
05-26-15, 05:44 PM
#39
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You're a wippersnapper. When I was a boy we never had to walk uphill because the earth was still flat.
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My greatest fear is all of my kids standing around my coffin and talking about "how sensible" dad was.
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05-26-15, 06:22 PM
#40
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Back in the '70s and early '80s, when I did most of my tens of thousands of miles of riding, I carried a small 2-3oz spray bottle of WD40 in my seat bag, for those times when I'd get caught in the rain... Otherwise, it was regular old motor oil. every 500-1000 miles or so it would come off and washed in kerosene, then lacquer thinner, then soaked in motor oil again... The longest I went without cleaning the chain was a 1500-mile, three week cross country journey, but I DID use 3-in-1 a couple of times...
I've tried more modern lubes, and they just don't seem to last. Or maybe it is the newer thinner chains that don't last.
I've tried more modern lubes, and they just don't seem to last. Or maybe it is the newer thinner chains that don't last.
05-26-15, 06:38 PM
#41
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05-26-15, 08:57 PM
#42
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I am building a bike for a buddy at church and i found a db at a garage sale that was lubed with wd and man what a mess! I would not get that stuff anywhere near my bikes! It was a bear to clean and made a mell of a hess!
05-26-15, 10:27 PM
#43
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Been using the 'Hot Wax' paraffin method since the mid-1970s.
Worked great then, and works great now!
No fuss, no muss, no chain tattoo and . . . re-usable!
Worked great then, and works great now!
No fuss, no muss, no chain tattoo and . . . re-usable!
05-26-15, 11:09 PM
#44
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
What are you maintaining? A fleet of bikes with your case purchases? All your homebrew is a lightened 10/30. There's nothing magical about using WD40, as you noted, and the mineral spirits are frequently used to thin oil.
So what's so special about thinned 10/30? Why not just use a 3-IN-ONE oil, also made by WD40? Seems like that would be about the same as your concoction and so much easier.
So what's so special about thinned 10/30? Why not just use a 3-IN-ONE oil, also made by WD40? Seems like that would be about the same as your concoction and so much easier.
When you have WD40 and oil in the shop it is easy to mix up lube, the high solvent in the WD40 carries the oil where it needs to go and also works great for lubricating small fittings and screws as it penetrates well.
We have been mixing up home brew at the co-op for decades, the cost is less than half that of commercial lubricants (which are oil and solvent) and we have observed excellent results on our own bikes and our customer's bikes.
05-27-15, 10:15 AM
#46
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I use chain lube for chain lube. I agree that it's ridiculously expensive per fluid ounce but, the way that I use it, even one of those tiny bottles will last me at least a couple of years.
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My greatest fear is all of my kids standing around my coffin and talking about "how sensible" dad was.
My greatest fear is all of my kids standing around my coffin and talking about "how sensible" dad was.
05-27-15, 05:28 PM
#48
Full Member
Jeez! An oil thread on a bicycle forum? 
You want to see some REALLY involved oil arguments? Log onto ANY car or motorcycle forum. They have specs, testimonials, recommendations from aliens, you name it! Oil's good--- put some on there! 
(I could point out that internal gear hubs can eliminate most of these doubts, but that would be cheating...)
You want to see some REALLY involved oil arguments? Log onto ANY car or motorcycle forum. They have specs, testimonials, recommendations from aliens, you name it! Oil's good--- put some on there! (I could point out that internal gear hubs can eliminate most of these doubts, but that would be cheating...)
05-28-15, 11:57 AM
#49
Senior Member
05-28-15, 04:40 PM
#50
Full Member
Yeah, but not as often. 
(I generally use whatever the manufacturer recommends, if for no other reason than possible warranty claims.)
(I generally use whatever the manufacturer recommends, if for no other reason than possible warranty claims.)
Last edited by Needles; 05-28-15 at 04:58 PM.