Well, I decided to do a post on I think my final chain lubricating process. Since I started riding around 2016 I have tried all kinds of different oils/waxes and such. My last thread here on chains was a question about roller wear and why it was happening to my chain. Never really got a good answer until I ask a gentleman who rides our local Greenway/MUP. He is kind of a legend around our city. Riders even donated a bench to him on the Greenway. Here is a link to our local TV station doing a segment on him. Actually, the second as he just broke 200,000 miles, the first was at 100,000 miles.
https://www.wral.com/video/tar-heel-...bike/21346782/
I found out that he teaches a bicycle maintenance course for the city, so I signed up. I did the course a few months ago and now have some real results on his process of lubricating a chain. Here is what he taught.
1.) He uses White Lighting Clean Ride:
https://www.whitelightningco.com/pro...nts/clean-ride He talked about hot waxing a bit, but said it was to much work. He said there are other wax based lubricants on the market but he finds White Lighting to be the cheapest.
2.) Never use an oil based lubricant for the chain. It will attract dirt and then make a grinding paste.
3.) Roller wear is not a problem and in his opinion a good thing. The wax can get into the inside of the rollers and that is where it should be for the pins. If you look at the chain it will show the wax as white in the pin depressions. He said that is what you want, it hardens like paint.
4.) A new chain needs to be stripped of the factory grease. He uses gasoline but recommends odorless mineral spirits. You never need to clean the chain again as the White Lighting will do that as it is applied.
5.) He taught to take an empty Sterno can or equivalent and fill with about a 1/4 inch of White Lighting. You then use a small paint brush and go all along the chain catching the drippings in the can. You will see black coming off and that is ok. He stated that if you take this and rub it between your fingers it is not gritty. It is molecular metal that is coming off. Wipe off the excess and do one final wipe off before the next ride.
6.) He does this every 100 miles. I do it every 150 miles or after three rides. Also, he said it works best when the temperature is above 75 degrees. My basement never is that warm, so I warm up the White Lighting before using.
7.) In checking your chain he was not into any fancy measuring devices, he actually just puts the chain in the large front chain ring and pulls on the chain, you should not see the top of any tooth. He explained about using a ruler also. He stated he has bicycles that he has never had to replace the chain with thousands of miles on them.
For myself, I am now at around 5000 miles using his technique and am showing no wear. I used to use odorless mineral spirits in a chain cleaner before lubricating but do not have to do that now, saving mineral spirits.