Far be it from me to doubt the late great Mr. Brown, but he wrote (I'm not sure when):
I put about 100 miles on my new bike in the first week. When I picked it up, a tech at the LBS said that chains on new bikes are coated with a grease to prevent rust during shipment, but aren't really lubricated. My chain seems a little noisy. Now, whether it needs lubing, or that's just the way it should sound, I don't really know.

Any thoughts?

im picky about chain lube so i clean my chains completely when new and use my lube of choice for the bike. that factory lube seems to attract everything within 5 miles to your chain and i HATE that.

Right now im trying out that pro road lube from finish line and it seems promising but ive used rock n roll chain lube for thousands of miles with alot of luck

I bought a new Giant XTC in 2005 and rode it 11 miles home on the factory chain lube. It must have been something like a cosmoline, used to pickle WWII rifles, etc. and was very sticky. by the time I got home it was covered in sand sticking to it, horrible stuff and it really needed a decent cleaning and oil.

The newer chains such as SRAM seem to have a decent lube to them.

This sticky like grease substance should not be removed by soaking the chain in solvent. You can clean it using something simple like one of those chain cleaning machines then relube, or just leave it be till you need to oil it. But this sticky grease substance works very well in the internals of the chain.

+1. I used to immediately soak the heck out of new chain in solvent and then lube. But I read somewhere autoratative (Sheldon?) that it was not a necessary or particularly effective thing to do. Now I put Campy chains on, run them for about 300 miles without lubing and then use ProLink to lubricate; leave over night and wipe down. Works like a charm.

Your techs are idiots. The only thing a new chain needs to have done is that same lube removed from the exterior of the chain. Soaking the chain or otherwise lubing it only serves to **** up the excellent lube it already has from the factory.

If your current chain is starting to become noisy it's probably time to lube it.

Worst advice on the face of the planet.

That sticky stuff attracts grit, which grinds away noisily at the cogs and chainrings. I'd rather lose it.

Most people think the same way you do, but see this site then decide: https://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Personally I've always left it on for a short time period, about 50 miles, then did a outside cleaning job like what the Finish Line Chain cleaning machine does, then relube. I only soak my chains in solvent once every 2 years. When I do this solvent soaking then I spray the chain with Speed Skate Lube and let it dry for overnight, then reinstall the chain and apply Finish Line Teflon dry lube and let it dry overnight. I find that the spray lube helps force the lubricant into the chain; and the Speed Skate Lube is the best lube ever just not very well suited for applying on a chain that's installed on the bike.

On some brands of chain like KMC it's so sticky that it leads to chain suck. I've seen this happen on my work stand with a new chain. When it's that bad it's solvent time regardless of what Sheldon says. Sheldon didn't have to deal with the road tar like packing crud that was on that chain.

Now SRAM chains come with really NICE grease and to avoid the sand and grit sticking to it all I do is wipe off the outside with a paper towel with some solvent on it. Not dripping but enough to melt and thin the outer coating. If I don't run into rain it's good this way for about a month of steady commuting. If I hit rain then it's three days of wet and time to clean since there's a bucket of grit on the chain by then regardless of the lube.

Regardless though, If you wash it to a squeaky clean state and relube or use the packing grease the life of the chain isn't going to change at all. At most you'll lose 5 minutes of your life in cleaning and relubing vs using the factory grease. At best your chain will have the benifits of that supposedly superior factory grease for what... oh... maybe .01% of its life?

+1. A couple of miles off road (even on hard pack) will result in a chain coated with sand/dirt. This always seemed like a formula for accelerated wear of components.

Has anyone tried Boshield T-9 and didn't like it?

Operator is right. The factory lube is not cosmoline for the prevention of rust. This is an old wives tale tha just refuses to die in the face of real evidence.

For reference, google Gleitmo. It comes in many varieties, it is specificly made for the lubrication of relatively slow speed chain drives. It is the brand name of record for generations of SRAM chains. Strangely it no longer appears in their ad copy.

SRAM service documents specifically recomend against using a grease removing or acidic cleaner on their chains. This lube was put into the chain at the factory using heat and pressure that you cannot duplicate at home.

Dirt that sticks to the outside of the chain can usually be removed with a small brush. After a few hundred miles it is ok to lightly relube the chain with the mixture of your choice (I'm not going there). As near as I can tell, the only users for whom this might not apply are those who choose to lube the chain with hot wax.

Manufacturere make chains for a living. Do you think that all that science and advice is ****?

OK, now I'm confused. operator, what are you trying to say here? Remove it or not? With a solvent or not? I can't tell what you are complaining about.

For what it's worth, my chain was made by KMC. Their advice confuses things further. How do you really get the chain clean without a solvent?

I go with Mr. Brown, BUT if it's noisy (are u sure this is not normal?) then I'd clean it anyways (or buy a new one) and damn the torpedoes.

As I said, it's a new bike and I don't know what's normal yet. But I did just check my chain and as BCRider said, it's awfully sticky. I think I will wipe down the outside of the chain as he suggested.

Larry Melman; I tried to reply directly to your post but couldn't get it to post the copy properly.

Anyway, you need to read the Sheldon Brown site I gave to understand why you should not soak a new chain in solvent before you say it's the worst advice on the planet...maybe what your really saying is that Sheldon Brown was a dope. Ok maybe the dope thing goes to far, because sometimes I don't agree with him either, but this sport has a lot of personal philosophy in it and doing it either way, speaking of soaking a new chain or not, may not be wrong. All I know is that I was told years ago never to soak a new chain because it will remove the high grade lubricant that a good chain manufacture uses to lubricate the internals of a chain, and Sheldon Brown agrees with that same thing.

I didn't say it was the worst advice. operator did. Right after the post where he agreed with Brown. So I don't understand what his (operator's) position is. Remember, I started this thread by stating that I had read Brown's advice...

You use a brush (a no-longer-for-teeth toothbrush works well) or a rag. The part of the chain that needs lubrication are the pins and the parts of the side plates that overlap. It's nearly impossible to get as much lubrication in the pins as the factory does. It's a low clearance joint, and the factory fills it with pressurized grease. The exterior of the chain doesn't need lubrication, and you can get it clean enough with a rag and oil.

The lube on a new chain is a preservative.


https://www.machinerylubrication.com/...?articleid=729


Improving Chain Lubrication
Christopher Barnes, Lubrication Engineers of Canada Ltd.

The majority of chains used in industry suffer unnecessarily short lives. This leads many companies to forego chains all together and replace them with belts. In most cases, however, the problem is not the fault of the chains but rather the method in which they are lubricated.

The current chain lubrication practice consists of applying a heavy oil or grease to the outside of the chain. While this does a nice job of lubricating the sprockets and the outside of the chain, it does little to protect the most vulnerable area of the chain: the contacting surfaces inside the pin and bushing/ plate/ roller/ hook.

The majority of chains fail from the inside. They stretch or kink up due to wear and corrosion wear inside the pin and bushing area. To lubricate them properly, the lubricant needs to be engineered to penetrate and clean the inside of the chain, clean the inside of the chain (to remove contaminants and displace any trapped water that it encounters) and leave behind a heavy film of oil, grease or solid lubricant.


Figure 1. Types of Roller Chain and Where to Lubricate Them

A penetrating-type chain lubricant not only displaces water, but also cleans dirt and wear metals out of the pins of the chain and off of the sprockets. It is essentially an oil change for the chain.

The operating conditions (including load, environment, temperature and speed) must also be considered. Maximizing chain life requires attention to detail and the selection of a suitable lubricant.

The method of lubrication is equally important. Regardless of whether the application of the lubricant is accomplished manually or by use of an automatic system, the lubricant needs to be aimed into the pin and bushing area. Figure 1 illustrates where the lubricant should be applied to several types of chain.

Lubrication is required between the rollers and bushings, but other important areas to lubricate are the pin and bushing surfaces, which articulate with each other while the chain is under full load. To reach all of these surfaces, the lubricant should be applied to the upper edges of the link plates on the lower strand of the chain shortly before the chain engages a sprocket. Then, as the chain travels around the sprocket, the lubricant is carried by centrifugal force into the clearances between the pins and the bushings. Spillage over the link plates supplies lubricant to the interior and the end surfaces of the rollers.

Chain lubricants should have the following characteristics:

* Sufficiently low viscosity to reach the internal surfaces – a carrier solvent or penetrating component helps to achieve this without lowering the operating viscosity.
* Sufficient body to maintain the lubricating film under the bearing pressures – solid lubricants can help.
* Freedom from corrosive ingredients.
* Ability to maintain lubricating qualities under different temperatures, moistures, etc.

Tailoring the lubricant to the specific operating environment is helpful.

Dusty Environments
Chains operating in a dusty environment benefit from a product that is a combination of penetrating oil and lubricant. This dual-purpose lube is useful because the oil penetrates to the inside of the chain with oil but leaves the outside of the chain nearly dry. Penetrating oil alone doesn’t work nearly as well.

In extremely dusty environments, such as in a cement plant, a solvent containing antiwear additives (such as a fuel supplement) lubricates chains that would otherwise run completely dry. This extends the life of these chains without attracting dust or causing buildup on the chain.

Case Studies
Carbrook River Sands in Queensland, Australia, supplies a number of different processed sand products including filling sand for sidewalk paving blocks, bagged concrete and mortar mixes for export to places like Hong Kong, and refined filter sand for supply to water purifier companies around Australia. The plant uses a forklift with a lifting capacity of two and one-half tons, which necessitates the use of a multiplate link-type chain. Working nearly eight hours a day in a dusty environment, these chains which were lubricated with engine oil would run dry after only a short time. Switching to a penetrating type of chain lubricant extended the life of the chain and prevented dust from sticking to the chain and working its way into the chain links. Previous lubrication with engine oil in that dusty environment produced a fine grinding paste that obviously shortened the life of the chains. A replacement cost of $300 plus downtime was a costly inconvenience. The cost of lubrication is now reduced with an almost disproportionate increase in the life of the chains.

Wet Environments
In a humid environment (such as a pulp mill), or where chains are subject to water wash-down (such as food plants), it is imperative to displace water from the chain on a regular basis by using a penetrating type of chain lubricant. Regular oil and grease are nonpolar and therefore unable to grab onto the water and remove it. A polar organic solvent included in the formulation of the lubricant works best.

If the chain is running through and/or is immersed in water, a combination of penetrating oil and tacky grease is the best method. This forces the water out initially, and then seals the inside of the chain to prevent water from getting in.

Case Studies
Federal Beef Processors in Rapid City, South Dakota lubricated its drive chains on a daily basis. The company needed a USDA H1 food-grade lubricant that would last longer and resist the high moisture in the plant. By switching to a penetrating-type food-grade chain lubricant, the plant now lubricates the chains only once a week.

Atwater Foods in Lyonville, New York also achieved success using the same USDA H1 food-grade penetrating oil and lubricant in a similar chain application throughout its plant. Oscar Cotton, the lead mechanic stated “I’ve been working with equipment for 62 years, and this is the best lubricant that I’ve used. It penetrates faster than any other penetrating oil I’ve used.”

At Maple Leaf Pork in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, a 1 km (3,280 feet) long quick-chill chain carries pigs through the quick-chill freezer at -45°C. On Monday morning at start-up, this chain would repeatedly jam due to water frozen in its links, causing four hours of downtime at the start of every week. A chain spray system with six nozzles was installed to spray a combination of air and three liquids into the pin area of the chain. Food-grade alcohol is applied to dissolve the ice, then a food-grade penetrating oil and lubricant is applied to displace the water. A synthetic food-grade oil with a pour point of -57°C (-70°F) is then applied to lubricate the chain effectively, even at -45°C. This solution has resulted in a savings of four hours of downtime per week.

A metal parts manufacturing plant in Western Canada was experiencing short life (three months) on a parts chain running through a water bath. By applying a synthetic penetrating-type chain grease via aerosol, the life was extended to several years.

At Schlumberger’s gas meter manufacturing plant in Owington, Kentucky, the parts washer conveyor chains were failing regularly at a cost of $4,300 each. The plant replaced a chain on each machine every three to four months, for a total of six to eight chains per year. It took two workers eight hours to change each chain at a cost of $11 per hour. The lubricant was changed to a penetrating type of chain lubricant, which penetrated into the chain and left behind a heavy-bodied (ISO 100) oil. The results were dramatic. There was no rust showing even after 10 months service, while the previous lubricant showed rust in the first two to three hours after application. Lubricant consumption has been reduced from 15 drops per minute to two to three drops per minute. Schlumberger estimates that it has saved more than $31,000 per year in lubricant, labor and parts costs alone (downtime not included). Don Renfro, maintenance superintendent said “The chains are running the best they have in 18 years.”

More Case Studies
Other chain lubrication case studies are available on-line at the following Web site: www.lubeng.com/Feedback_list.asp?Specific=Chains

Operational efficiency can be improved by selecting chain lubricants and application methods that match the specific operating environment and failure mode of the chain. As these case studies illustrated, an application-specific chain lubricant designed to combat the enemy (water, dust, heat, etc.) saves money in downtime, cleaning, lubrication, repairs, replacement chain and electricity. Ask yourself this: What are the factors that shorten your chain life, and what are you going to do about them?

My head hurts.

And now, I need to find out where to buy logo clothing for "Maple Leaf Pork in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada".

That KMC advice quoted a few posts above by Larry Melman is really confusing and literally has its head stuck up where the sun doesn't shine. ANY cleaning is going to remove the lubricant but it's not like bicycle chains are sealed. Any sort of oil will completley coat all the moving parts of a bicycle chain without any issue at all thanks to good old capilliary action.

That same advice also completely disregards what the lube turns into when riding in sloppy wet and muddy conditions. And what it turns into is grinding paste that needs to be removed before it does any more damage to the chain than required to get back home or to the truck.

Rather odd advice from a chain company... or maybe NOT so odd since they are out to sell more chains....

Quote all you want. It still is a shipping storage preservative.

Quoting Sheldon Brown, "Because there are so many variables, it has not been possible to do controlled experiments under real-world conditions. As a result, everybody's advice about chain maintenance is based on anecdotal "evidence" and experience. Experts disagree on this subject, sometimes bitterly. This article is based on my personal and professional experience and my own theories. If you disagree with them, I won't call you a fool or a villain, you may be right. I hope you will extend me the same courtesy."

Appears that there may not be a "right" answer.

And that may well be the only 100% all the time right answer of this thread...