Originally Posted by
pdlamb
Not disagreeing with the last part of this (truncated) quote. However, unless you can show that there's a different distribution of particle sizes across the oil distributed over the surface of the chain, your arguments on particle size and composition are irrelevant. My strong suspicion is that the particle composition and size distribution are effectively uniform. Ergo, the more oily lubricant you wipe off, the more particles you'll remove. Of what's left on the chain (in the valleys around the outer plates and pins), you'd have to show that (a) there's more grit in that than was wiped off, and (b) all of that grit eventually works its way into the innards of the chain, to prove that as much gets into the chain as you wipe away.
Good luck.
You are mistaken about the size distribution being uniform. There is nothing in nature that is sorting the particle size where we typically ride. Water does some sorting but it usually brings in as much of the small particles as it takes away. Wind sorts a bit but it moves smaller particles more than larger particles and would deposit the smaller particles into the similar places and ways as water would. There are some soils that have a higher percentage of particle larger than 100µm (twice the diameter of a human hair and easily seen) but even those soils have a significant percentage of smaller particles. Gravel, for example, has a large percentage of particles much larger than 100µm but there's still a lot of smaller particles between the larger one.
Wiping the chain squeegees off the large particles but the large particles aren't what do the damage. They sit on the surface of the chain and would never get inside. Nor would they be carried by the oil. They are just too large.
The small particles, on the other hand, have a different dynamic. When you wipe the chain, some of the small particles are going to be squeegeed off the chain but they are just as likely to do the same as the oil and get squeegeed back into the chain. The way to think of it is like grouting tile. You spread the grout all over the tile and then wipe off the excess. Part of the grout comes off during the wipe but most of the grout gets shoved into the spaces between the tile.