Originally Posted by
BCRider
The synthetic stuff is nice but if it's just a borrowed bike it's pricey. And as you're finding out oiling more often and wiping off the excess is sort of a partial way of cleaning the chain. With that in mind get a quart of cheap 10-30 car oil from the local autoparts place and just use that. If you keep a little squirt bottle of it handy and lube every couple of days after the ride and blot off the excess by backpedalling the chain through a wad of paper towel you may well find that you never need to clean it at all. The oil itself is actually an excellent "solvent" if it's used often enough in this manner.
Mind you while I truly believe this last bit of advice and have always intended to try it I'm guilty of procrastination and neglect and have yet to actually put a bottle of oil and paper towels in the bike parking spot and try it.
You are cheap. A quart of Mobil 1 is pricey! A quart should last years.