I've decided I like high-viscosity oil for my bike. I just lubed and cleaned my bike with this, rubbing absolutely everywhere. I even used it to shine my bike up.

Chain Saw Bar And Chain Oil



I put it in a little squeeze bottle, the kind you buy empty for carrying shampoo, etc on airplanes. I'm able to control where it goes easily with the little bottom.

I use a little regular weight oil on a clean rag to wipe down steel bicycles and include any exposed cables and any other parts that might rust.

Yup, I remember you said that, and you inspired me to do that. I rubbed oil on every nut and bolt, too, since I tend to leave bikes outside more than I should, and this bike sat in snow for a few days. Our humidity goes up and down a lot, which is the worst thing. I understand bikes don't rust in Washington and Oregon, because it gets humid once a year in the fall and stays that way until the summer. My daughter in Olympia says the bikes on the bike racks outside aren't rusting.

Out here the oil in the tank for oiling the chain on chainsaws ,
has been run through the Crank case on the car first.

problem with cleaning the whole bike with a sticky/heavy oil is, it will attract dirt like magnet

for the cleaning part, I use WD40, which leaves a light oily surface (which I mostly wipe off) that repels moisture, but isn't enough to really attract dirt. for the oiling part, I use triflow on my chains, and green marine bearing grease on my ball bearings, threaded fasteners, etc.

I always use 50/50 Phil's Tenacious & Tri-Flow (or Finish-Line) most everywhere. It's got such a nice bouquet that I've started using it as an after-shave!

- Wil

i've heard shooting afficionados talk of using hoppe's number 9 as a cologne...

anyway, i decided to use white lightning wet ride for my winter lube. snow, ice, slush,
rain, zero degree temps.

dude, not sure it was a good idea. talk about gummed up. the links don't exactly bind, but
delay in straightening out, the rear derailer's tension spring delays in keeping tension on
the chain, and it gets dramatic if i back pedal when really cold. the chain hops all over the cassette. the front shifts fine.

tri-flow didn't stick, and links would rust.

wax based lubes (white lightning and i forget the other) haven't provided any winter protection either.

still, no rust anywhere.

i keep it in a shed and ride every day. waiting for some heat (anything over 40 degrees) so i can
take it to a wand type car wash and blast the funky gunk off and wipe the chain, etc. by the time i ride it home the chain, gears, and derailer should be dry and then put more wet ride on.
the bb is a cartridge and liberally coated with grease, and i'm mindful of getting lube on the braking surfaces.

repeat as necessary.

what do folks at the poles use for winterproofing their bikes?

the good news is i have tires that work well in loose and packed snow. ice is an issue due to great advanced age (mine, not the bike). have to pick my battles.

I can't answer that directly, but can say that Norway, Finland and Russia are Chain-L's best markets in Europe.

I don't think any wet oil makes sense for the non-moving parts, since it'll attract tons of dust. The best I've found for bare metal protection is LPS-3 which dries to a zebart like waxy consistancy. It also attracts dust, but nothing like wet oil, and is unbelievably resistant to spray or wash off, as yolu'll find out when you try to get rid of it. (use sparingly).

I stopped using Tri Flow many years ago... it does not work in our dusty environment very well and contains teflon which is good for chains and moving parts but not so good when it gets flung off into the environment.

The chains get home brew and this doubles as a nice light oil for wiping down steel bicycles and parts... secret is to wipe things down until you can't get any significant residue on your finger or cloth. I hit all the exposed cables too... by doing this a standard steel cable will stand up to some pretty severe use.

After that, water and dirt just won't stick and it offers some excellent rust protection as it fills every microscopic cavity where rust might want to take hold.

Other alternatives are automotive waxes and polishes that only need to be done about once a year.

People ask me how I keep my bikes so clean and I really don't clean them very often at all, the bikes that see the dirty and gritty conditions all have full fenders and have their frames seasoned to prevent them from becoming crud magnets.

My Kuwahara Cascade served as my winter bicycle for 4 years / 25,000 km and came out of that looking so good that I decided I had better retire the old girl from winter riding and make her my dedicated touring bike... I only had to touch up the rear stays a few years ago as they were a little banged up.

I should note that the finishes on these old Kuwaharas is about as good as it gets and that has contributed to the bike looking good... although the bike is 26 years old I picked it up in NOS condition 6 years ago and it has seen well over 40,000 km of riding in all conditions.



The same thing happened with my Kuwahara Shasta... after several winters it suffered the same fate as the Cascade and got turned into my 3 season commuter / utility bike and a newer Norco Mountaineer mtb became my dedicated winter bike.

A lot of people here build up winter beaters with the expectation that they will die a premature death but if you take care of the frame and parts, winter should not be able to kill your bicycle, even if it is steel.

I used to wax my bike frames about once every couple years, with some good hard automobile paste wax. did wonders about keeping them clean, dirt just hoses off.

now that I have a fairly new bike, I really should strip it down and do this (its easiest if you take the cables and parts off the frame).

That stuff is thick and sticky, every speck of dirt and dust that comes in contact with your bike will stick to it. This stuff is the single worst thing you an put on your bike.

LPS-3. Is that cosmoline (sp?)- the same stuff new chains are packed/lubed with?

pierce's recommendation to use auto paste wax is a very good one as the protective layer is dry and non-sticky. As noted, oil is a crud magnet.

The best way to get a steel frame through decades of bad weather is Frame Saver or Amsoil MPHD applied thoroughly and completely to all of the tubes' interiors. I had a 1983 Trek 400 bought used but low mileage in 1999 that I treated with Frame Saver and used as my rain/errand/winter bike for the next 12 years before I gave it my son-in-law who converted it to a fixie. It is still in fine shape with absolutely no interior rust despite all those years of abuse.

No LPS-3 isn't cosmoline, though there may be similarities.

FWIW chains haven't been packed in cosmoline type products since the sixties, when containerized ocean freight ended the issues of rust during long ocean crossings. These days all the major chain producers pack their chains with what they feel is the best chain lube.

OK, I'll keep an eye out and see if this treatment attracts dirt. If it does, I'll try something else.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...0-LPS-products

Give FB's Chain-L #5 a shot. It's great stuff for nasty weather.

Want Heavy ? heavyer: 120 weight standard transmission oil.



.. chain, mine, gets lubed frequently, replaced annually .

its the underside of the chain rollers that really need the lubrication.

They're rollers, they go round and round. What's the underside now will be the top later. Unless you mean the inside.

OK Less ambiguous: Inside Diameter surface, of the chain's roller on the Edge* bushing under it,
and the Pin inside that.

* aka bushingless chain, the Bushing now is just the metal of the hole in the smaller inside plate,
displaced to make that hole.