Originally Posted by
cubewheels
I simply put a sheet of newspaper in the lower part of the wheel behind the cassette. No need to wrap the wheel. Only takes around 5 seconds to do it.
In your description, you say that you pedal backward rapidly to fling the oil off. Flinging oil means it goes everywhere. There are far better ways of cleaning that don’t involve any flinging at all.
Your whole bike (not just the drivetrain) is clean compared to my bike. My riding conditions is mixed wet and dry (tropical climate with all-year round wet/muddy road sections) so have no choice but to use wet lube.
Yes. My bike is cleaner
because I don’t use oil. There’s no oil for the dirt to get trapped on so it doesn’t stick to the frame or drivetrain and thus stays cleaner. That bike is also my winter bike so it sees a fair amount of slop in the winter months. It still stays clean.
As for needing oil in wet conditions, that’s a misconception most people have. Yes, you drivetrain might
seem better lubricated but that’s a misconception. The oil mixes with water and separates out in the chain just like oil and water usually does. The water is trapped against the metal with the oil sitting on top. It does the same damage as if the chain weren’t lubricated or if a wax lubricant were used. It’s just muffled by the oil.
Did you actually read my first post in this thread? I feel rather insulted for you to assume I'm running with drivetrain with excess oil. Nobody wants oil getting flung into the wheel, frame, and into you! Nobody does that unless they've lost their minds!
I wipe off the excess oil with rug. I have written it in my first post in this thread
Your description indicates that you have a whole lot of oil on the drivetrain. You are using it as a solvent so you need a lot. You even say “
Apply liberal (lotso) amounts of ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) on the drivetrain (chain and derailleur)” and “...backpedal fast to fling away excess ATF and finally wipe off excess ATF with rug from the chain and derailleurs...”. That’s a lot of oil. And, as with most oil lubricants, there is a constant drip of oil from the chain that makes it a maintenance nightmare in my opinion. That’s for everyone, not just you.
I’ve used oil in the past. I work on bikes all the time that are lubricated with oil. I even used Phil Tenacious Oil in the past that is similar or perhaps a bit more viscous than ATF...it’s thick enough that the oil strings between the chain and the jockey wheel when you pedal backwards. I hated the constant cleaning that oil required and found a way that requires a lot less work.