Rex

I like Tri-flow. Yeah, it gets dirty, but most chain lubes do. No way of getting around it. You gotta clean that chain regularly and relube.

khuon

This is sort of a side-question. I recently installed a Wipperman conneX 911 chain with hollow-pins. This is my first HP chain. I've noticed some rust on the inside of the pins. Should I worry about this? I normally just drop lube onto the rollers and have always lived by the rule that the sideplates themselves should remain relatively lube-free. But what about the rust in the hollow-pins?

yak

I decided to try it, being a longtime Triflow guy.

I followed the directions on their website (as there ain't none on the bottle), and used the "4 drops on the tooth brush" method. After cleaning the chain, I lubed it, rode one night, re-lubed as directed, rode a week later, then another week later (ya - I know I gotta ride more often) it was squeaking like hell. My basement is a bit humid but I don't see this with Triflow.

The chain is still really clean though. Maybe it needed an better initial application? I'll try it out again tomorrow.

steveknight

I tried purple extreme but I would get squeaks within a few miles. But it does recommend waiting overnight to use it and the temps have been pretty high.
Right now I mixed the three top lubes together. Purple extreme voodew and one other I can’t think of the name of. Now I will keep track of the miles. Voodew has been my favorite so far atleast when it has not rained. I have not tested it with rainy weather yet.

steveknight

I just put it on like a normal lube drop by drop. never found the brush method to work.

capsicum

When starting with a new or soaked-clean chain(I have a master-link) I apply the dumond one drop per roller as is usual but then I put some on my thumb and finger (that toothbrush method the other guys are useing sounds even better, the bristles can get in the hollow pins) and give a coating to the outside of the links then let it sit overnight to wick and do its thing, the next day wipe it with a dry rag to get the excess and give it that nice clean dryish Dumondtech look. I only do the rollers after that, as the lube on the sideplates is just for corrosion protection and once its had a chance to soak into the pores and lightly coat the bits it doesnt usually wear off, but it certainly needs something on it to begin with.
I'm not sure what to tell you about the existing rust those are small holes for cleaning, Maltby's(spelling? I check it later) penetrant from a good autoparts store it does pretty good at dissolving rust but even then I usualy need a little 000 steel wool or at least a tough papertowel to do a bit of light rubbing before I rinse/wipe the part clean. PIPE CLEANERS! Thats it! Go to a tobacco outlet and get some good stiff bristled pipe cleaners putt some maltby's on one then just a swipe or two in each pin should do the trick.
[edit]maltby's is not a lube don't expect it to, it has some oil but its not lube oil, it is for penatrating rusted on bolts and cleaning light rust.
RUST

lopek77

I will refresh this topic

T9 Boeshield Lube...I'm using it on my Mountain and Hybrid bikes. Chains were ALWAYS quiet, and I cleaned them and reapplied T9 every few rides ( anywhere between every 60-150 miles )
BTW... I don't think that there is a huge difference between lubes. Any lube is better than no lube! Cleaning the chain and reapplying the lube takes 5-10 minutes only....not a big deal.

HillRider

why**********

davidad

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/chain-care.html

jim hughes

It's always worthwhile to re-start the chain lube thread :-)

I'm looking for a better lube for the winter. Last year I used ProLink 'green', a tenacious 'wet' lube that worked well but became a black crawling horror that was harder to remove than a tatoo. It messed up the whole bike. I want something that stands up to the slush but can be removed indoors in the laundry tub with something like Zep Purple. Yes I know it doesn't exist yet. Or does it?

jack002

Try parafin wax.

flanso 

Chain-L

RickLafayette

I can't believe it took three pages of posts before T9 Boeshield was mentioned. I use this exclusively, having worked better than Tri-Flow, Pro Link and all the others I have tried.

jim hughes

How about in the winter?

lopek77

I'm using T9 all year long. I was riding in temps between 10f and 100f, wet and dry, over deep snow... with no problems.
T9 is very easy to clean and last long time.
The only "sludge" I'm getting is on the derailleur pulleys, which is really easy to remove.

lopek77

Because I knew you wouldn't like it ;-)

Doug64

My wife and I just returned from a 2900 mile ride, which included 35 days of rain. I wiped down the chain and relubed about every 3 days to a week. Part of the trip covered over 400 miles of unpaved roads and trail. I have been using White Lightning Epic, which is a light oil. I replaced the chains after we got home with about 3500 miles on them. The wear did not dictate the change. They were still barely within acceptable tolerances, but I was doing a complete bike cleanup and lubing and it was a good time to change them. The Epic works better than the wax base White Lightning, but still is a pretty "clean" lube. I've used it on several other long tours, and have been happy with it.

Al1943

Homebrew, 4 parts mineral spirits, 1 part Mobil One synthetic motor oil (10-30W).

fietsbob

Some is better than none. and cleaning off the dirt really helps..

Jed19

This combo is the best I've ever tried in terms of drivetrain quiteness. The problem? It gets really dirty real fast. And also b/cos I ride close to the ocean in SoCal, it is a heavy heavy sand magnet.

jim hughes

I live in Minneapolis. In the winter, the streets are like Neptune. This year I'm going to try T9;

DArthurBrown

I've had really good luck with tri-flow. We used it at the bike co-op I volunteered for, and I've used it exclusively on my road bike for 15000 miles, oiling once every 500 miles (once per month) or so. I follow Sheldon Brown's notes to the letter, oiling from the outside in, making sure the chain is somewhat clean ahead of time. (At once every 500 miles, the chain on my road bike is usually pretty dry and self-cleaned.)

I think there are a lot of good options, but Tri-flow is pretty standard and reasonably priced.

I will say that lighter oils are definitely the way to go. Wax lubes are a terrible idea unless you are prepared to be extremely anal-retentive with your drivetrain. I used white lightning for a while--bah!--never again. It builds up and gives you a very noisy ride. Thicker oils, while cheaper, catch too much grit.

EDIT: I will also say that most folks use waaayyyy too much oil. 1-2 drops per link is plenty of tri-flow. Most people just sort of dump it along the chain.

Al1943

Yes, my chains get dirty fairly fast if I don't wipe them down and re-lube often. But the other oil base lubes seem to have the same problem. I don't like the wax base lubes as well because they build up waxy deposits and don't run a quietly or as smoothly as the oil base.

Jaywalk3r

I use White Lightning Clean Ride. As a commuter, keeping the chain from staining my clothes is important. I guess it does the job well enough; my current chain has about 2500 miles with no measurable chain stretch. The downside is that it has to be applied more often than oil based lubricants.

jolly_ross

Strange how oils that attract dirt out of the air don't attract dirt from within the chain - once the oil has snatched the dirt from the air it immediately pushes it deep into the chain. Oil is one way it seems. Perhaps if we were careful to put it on the right way around all would be well.

Seriously the attracted dirt is just sitting there on the outside of the chain plates. There's no great reason for it to wiggle it's way into the pins. The excess oil can only hold so much dirt together. After a point it doesn't stick anymore.

Use whatever you like, wipe off the excess maybe.

Do an experiment. Get a chainguage and measure the chain life of the same kind of chain each using a different lube throughout its entire life. Wake me up if you find anything significant to report.