Hi, i wanted to lube my rear and front deraileur and my shift and brake cables. I wanted to use tri flow but, none of my LBS has the lube. I was wondering if it's a good idea to use 3 in 1 oil? i herd of some people using the product and no problems. LMK your opinions!. Thanks.

Did the LBS have any oils on hand? Finish Line is a good oil - with Teflon - that is about the same as TriFlow. You can use the 3 in 1. But that's rather a last resort. Ask around. And if that bike-shop has no oil to sell you, I'd be very concerned about the quality of their work.

They do but most of them is chain oil. One guy showed my some all purpose lube which was in a spray can and i said in my mind hmmmmm naw. Right now i have dry chain lube that won't work. I wanted tri flow because, it's a really light oil and it's teflon based. I think the other oils are too thick that''s why i kinda wanted to go with 3 in 1 as a lat resort lol.

3 in 1? that went out with bell bottoms and beta LOL. just look at your local Ace. I actually use Rem Oil when I want a spray teflon lube

You can get Tri Flow just about anywhere (LHS (local hardware store), Home Despot, X-mart, automotive stores.

I'd warn against using 3 in 1 to lube your cables - it's likely to attract crud and gum up. Best for cable lube is a "dry" lube, like a dry chain lube.

for shifter cables, WD-40 is fine.
it's light enough not to attract a lot of dirt, yet displaces water.

for derailer pivot points, chain lube is fine.

the factory lube for campy cables uses, what seems like, white lithium grease and the factory lube for derailer pivot points uses that jelly like green stuff park tool sells.

So i can use a dry lube on my cables? how about my front and rear deraileur? I have dry lube in my possession. Thanks.

A truly dry lube probably won't be useful for cables. Those plastic lined cable housings may be better off without any lubrication at all. If your bike lives outside, all they probably need is something that will displace water and keep the cables from corroding.

As far as bikes are concerned, oil is pretty much oil. Bikes don't really put much demand on any type of oil. They simply need it to be there. If you want to avoid "gumming up", use oil sparingly, so that the oil remains on wear surfaces, and not exposed to the elements.

3in1 oil is the worst oil you can use. When the light lubricants evaporate it leaves a paste behind which will build up and is hard to remove. Stick with a silicone lube or if you want an oil then get some mobile one and an oil can. It is a great lube for cables and chains...

Nonsense. 3 in 1 is no worse than any other petroleum product at leaving "paste" behind, whatever that's supposed to mean. There's all kinds of lore about 3 in 1 being vegetable oil, or fish oil or whatever, therefore it congeals, gums up, etc. This may have been true 100+ years ago when it came out. But unless you're using an antique can of the stuff, you can be certain that 3 in 1 is mostly napthenic oil. Pretty generic petroleum based mineral oil, except actually a bit less prone to gumming up due to temperature swings or degradation, unlike paraffinic mineral oil, which is the base of quite a few specialized bike lubes on the market.

FWIW, I haven't lubed a derailleur in over a decade and I'll match shifting performance with anybody. About the only regular maintenance that I do on actual derailleurs is to wipe it clean.

bs

I've used 3-in-oil on my bike on any number of occasions, and on many other things around the house as well.

No problems. It is just oil -- not mystic goo.

I doubt it's bs.

I use 3 in 1 a lot for various purposes...It's main problem on bikes is that it doesn't penetrate into tight spaces very well. I find it just sort of sits on the surface of things like DR pivots.
I use grease on my cables; it's pretty simple to loosen a DR cable by shifting to one end without moving the wheel, and then just take the cable loose from the stops and pull the housing aside to apply a little light grease.
I use Pedros synthetic stuff on the department bikes.
The better housing material will have the plastic liner, but those can wear as well at the curvy parts.

"3-in-One" debuted during the first great bike boom in 1894, making it one of the oldest cycling products you can still buy. The oil was originally intended for bicycle chains, and the name indicated it "1) cleaned, 2) lubricated and 3) rust proofed", hence, 3-in-One.

3-in-One (original formulation) contains pale spindle oil, a small amount of corrosion inhibitor and a vegetable based component, citronella oil (ever notice the way 3-in-One smells?). While the original product remains available, these days the company also makes several other lubrications like "3-in-One Motor Oil", "3-in-One Professional Lubricant Spray with PTFE", and also the WD-40 family of products.

tcs

Fun fact: In the 1920s, pioneer American Birth control advocate Margaret Sanger was married to then president of the 3-in-One Oil company, J. Noah Slee. She smuggled illegal European-made diaphragms into the USA in secretly coded barrels of the citronella oil imported by 3-in-One.

^ sounds Wright to me

Yeah. And with stainless steel cables you don't even have to worry about that. Plus the derailleurs can go a long time without re-lube.

Why this need to oil everything? Is there a problem, or are you just being obsessive?

If I put a diaphragm on my disc-brakes, will they stop working?

Best lube for chains and cables is Boeshield T9 made by Boeing aircraft. I have had chains last over 10,000 miles with this stuff, with nothing but an occasional wipe off of the chain.. https://www.amazon.com/Boeshield-4oz-...0796117&sr=1-1


https://www.boeshield.com/lube_oil/bike_chain.php

Indeed. "Pale spindle oil" sounds a bit mysterious, but the CAS number is the same as the heavy naphthenic oil specified in the current MSDS sheet. Citronella is probably still used, although it seems to be there simply as an aromatic component, as it's added in very small quantity. "Corrosion inhibitor" isn't even specified, described simply as a proprietary ingredient. However, even that is in very small proportion to the oil.

That it was marketed as "a lubricant, a rust preventative and a cleaner" is interesting. Though it should be remembered that pretty much any unadulterated mineral oil will do those things as well.

It is interesting that bicyclists have had some input on the wikipedia entry, evidenced by the unsubstantiated claim, "It remains a popular lubricant for bicycle chains, although it attracts more dirt than some modern alternatives and can be washed away by very heavy rain." As if it has some magical dust attracting qualities and is especially soluble in rainwater.

I'm not a fan of 3-in-1 or WD-40. given the choice of lubricants, I'll use anything silicone based (I've found this stuff called AD-3000, it's not an aerosol but comes in a pump can and it's great, biodegradable and everything) and lithium grease as a heavy duty, long term lube (I wouldn't use it on a bike, but anything else 'outdoors' will benefit from it). But the overriding theme is: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Over lubing will cause many problems, the least of which being that you'll literally be dripping money off your bike.

+1
No need to lube derailleurs. I use silicone automotive doorlock grease on new cables and then leave them alone until they need replacing.
One way to improve shifting performance is to loosen the short housing found just before the rear derailleur, slide it forward on the cable to expose the cable. Lube the cable and re-assemble. But instead of doing this I usually just replace the shift cables and housings when they get sluggish. They're cheap.

OK, I'll bite, why were they illegal?

All forms of contraception were by-and-large illegal in the USA between 1873 and 1936.

tcs