yzfrr11

I'm considering triing 50/50% mineral spirits and 10w40.

a) What do you use?

b) How has your chain durability been while using your formula?

c) Is your drivetrain clean?

sydney

wd40 is essentially worthless as chain lube and cutting it 50% with paint thinner makes it more so. If ya just gotta do 1 part synthetic motor oil to 3 to 4 parts mineral spirits.

yzfrr11

Where do you see mention of WD40?

Chucklehead

HAHAHAHA!

sydney

Good catch. Good reason to stay off crack too.

yzfrr11

And your not sharing?

ChezJfrey

Mine's similar to what you're considering - roughly 3/4 mineral spirits, 1/4 10w30.

Oh, and the chain stays pretty clean in dry weather, but we get a lot of rain here, so it can get quite messy during our wet season. I average about 3,500 miles for a chain.

Patriot

If I decide to keep the chain on to relube, I use the fllowong porocess.....

1. Clean with WD-40 thoroughly.
2. Apply Tri-flow (spray can) liberally, wipe off excess.
3. Apply a small amount of 90W gear oil to inner side of rollers around entire chain.
4. With my bike on the trainer, I cycle through all gears to distribute oil evenly while gently removing just enough excess to prevent making a mess when pedalling.

If I remove the chain, I soak it in a bucket of simple green first, then reinstall and lube as above.

If I am washing my bike, I have a scrub brush that I scrub the crank, chain and cassette while rotating the drivetrain. When it's all clean, I then lube the same as above.

Patriot

I don't need to. I just like to do it out of habit in order to distribute oil through the whole line of gears. You don't have to, but since it is a steel cassette, is good to have a coat of oil over it after it has been cleaned and degreased to help prevent possible corrosion, even though it is nickel plated. That's all.

jeff williams

I use motor oil when I run out of bike oil, but when it gets wet, it sprays off the chain and gets everything oily.

It gunks up with grime faster than bike oil...maybe.
Better than nothing.

Smoothie104

I use WD40, hahahaha no lie.... I started using it becuase everyone knocks it, and says not to, and becuase the Soignuer/assistant mechanic for the German National Track team uses it. No lie, he's a good friend of my training partner, its what he uses on the team bikes and his own, and hes won a few kermese races on it in his day.

Funny.

Flame away....

Mr.Endo, Esq.

OK yeah, WD40 sorta sucks, but Cosmoline really sucks. NOBODY would ever use slather that crap all over their drivetrain...would they?

Avalanche325

Just about anything will lubricate a chain. Oil of any kind, grease, WD40 (if you use it frequently), special bike lube, wax, silicon spray, bacon fat (watch out for those dogs), or water (if you hook up a sprayer with a tank). Even super glue is nice and slippery, but not for long. Most of these things will either make the chain a dirt magnet, or they will only lubricate for a short period of time.

The hard part seems to be keeping it lubed AND clean AND on the chain for a reasonable amount of time. That is where bike lubes perform is in this combination.

In Smoothie's defence. Take some WD-40, spray it on the soles of your shoes and run across a wood or tile floor. It may change your mind about it not being a lubricant. At least short term.

phantomcow2

heh, ive seen some guys use polylube for a chain, of course it collects all dirt, i hard a hard ime seeing the actual chain

blue steal

What exactly are mineral spirits? I've been using a silicon spray to clean the chain, let it dry, then apply a syntheic oil like mobil one from an old afrin spray bottle to each roller/link. Wipe it down and it is as quiet as can be and the shifting is very smooth and no mess.

Mr.Endo, Esq.

Mineral spirits=paint thinner. It'll thin the oil and wick it deep into the rollers, then evaporate leaving the oil where it needs to be. MS is also really effective for cleaning the chain.

blue steal

Thanks. I'll try mineral spirits on the chain for cleaning as the silicon spray is getting quite expensive.

zonatandem

Remove chain. Soak in either kerosene or citrus based cleaner; then dry it with rag.
Put some canning wax in a big old coffee can and put it on an heating element (NOT inside the house as it can smell up and smoke up the place). Drop chain into the melted wax in coffee can. After a few minutes of 'cooking' chain, remove (carefully!) with pliers and hang up chain to drip dry.
Re-install chain. For the first couple days there will be some flakes of wax on chainstay area. The idea is to get the liquid wax into the pin/rollers area of the chain for smoother operation. Works fine in a DRY climate.
Currently have 6,500 miles on chain on our tandem and have redone waxing only once but will do it again shortly.
When grabbing chain with bare hand, there is NO oily gunky mess as with some other lubricants.
Been using this method for 30 years.

Patriot

Anybody ever try melted Peanut Butter?

Avalanche325

Or you could use a Park chain cleaner, then some White Lightning, and get it done in five minutes. I'd rather spend my time riding than cooking a chain.

PhatRoadie

a) Automatic transmission fluid

b) Seems to be ok. Tell you in a few more months.

c) Not as clean as a wax lube but much cleaner than most "wet" lubes.

yzfrr11

I just did some research. WD-40 is actually an ideal chain lube - it is essentially comprised of 2 parts mineral spirits and one part petroleum based oil - just like you have recommended! But it comes in a convenient dispenser.

I don't get why it gets such a bad rap. I suppose because it is not marketed as cycling specific equipment.

SDS

"Remove chain. Soak in either kerosene or citrus based cleaner; then dry it with rag.
Put some canning wax in a big old coffee can and put it on an heating element (NOT inside the house as it can smell up and smoke up the place). Drop chain into the melted wax in coffee can. After a few minutes of 'cooking' chain, remove (carefully!) with pliers and hang up chain to drip dry."

This is stupid, dangerous advice and has caused a number of fires over the years. Never, never put paraffin/canning wax in a container on a stove. Always use a double boiler with the outer container filled with water. That keeps the temperature down to 212 F or lower, at least until you run out of water.

bmph8ter

Not knocking either option, but isn't 5 minutes 6 times (figure every other week for 3 months) the same as 30 minutes 1 time?