brandonspeck

It's a shame your bikes don't post on this forum. They'd most likely say otherwise.

ilikebikes

No worries dude, I only learned what they were called a few years ago myself.

Redline927

I guess this is what you're going for.

elTwitcho

Surrealist comedy. I dig

xsnakobx

Wait... What? I'm so confused by this thread... don't all of the "track bikes" have track ends (I'm assuming that's what he's talking about for the rear drop-outs)? And I notice that, despite the fact that I cannot feel a difference, I can definitely hear a difference in my own drive-train when it is not properly oiled.

I second the request for pictures.

Geordi Laforge

he's an engineer that seems to not be familiar with the concept of friction.

ADSR

I use White Lightning. It's basically wax in a solution. You shake it up, squrt it on, and it flakes off when it gets dirty. The downside is that it needs to be applied every week or so. 30 seconds a week isn't so bad though.

Oh wait, disregard that. My dropouts go the other direction, so what could I possibly know? Duhhhh, stupid guy with a fixed road bike instead of a track bike. Sorry for being such a tard.

Geordi Laforge

get a proper bike bro.

Ill Mitch

Why would the kind of dropouts you have effect whether or not you need to lubricate your chain?

The other reason to lubricate your chain is to prevent oxidizing, I assume you never ride your bikes in the rain?

Engineers are smart but a lot of them lack common sense.

ADSR

My bike is proper. Just doesn't have track dropouts.

darksiderising

Tell that to the OP.

makeinu

Better inform your local rail system that their engineers have negligently failed to specify that the tracks should be oiled (rolling metal-on-metal interface).

There's a reason it's called "roller chain":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_friction

Oh god, why oh why have SS/FG bikes been adopted by the hipster community?

Go home clowns. Ride your hack job conversions and leave the rest of us alone.

That's what I'm trying to find out. I could give you a few conjectures, but given all the trolling that's resulted from the mere statement that I don't oil my bicycle chain, I don't think the dumb hipsters could handle it without destroying this thread completely. I won't let that happen because I need to know if switching to another setup will require the application of chain oil or not because I can't afford to personally try every configuration out there.

I ride every weekday, rain or shine, through 43 inches of precipitation per year. I do have some surface rust, but it doesn't seem to affect anything but appearance (no noise and no inefficiency). Now, again, I could conjecture as to why this is the case, but I'm not here to prove anything; I'm here to get advice from others who have found what I have found. So if the skeptics and hipster clowns would kindly shut their traps perhaps the serious riders wouldn't have to wade through all the noise and trolling.

• Clowns heap your ridicule here:
  https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/528405-anyone-riding-real-life-fixie.html
• Skeptics start your own thread
• Serious riders kindly post your experiences here

rarebird

surface rust? ....= nub

no lubrication? ...= nub

dirty mess when lubrication attempted? ...=nub

thinking that worse is better, can't learn how to lubricate so sticks with worse, promotes worse? ...=nub+igmo

axcxnj

dude, please stop giving us engineers a bad name, dont come in and start a thread saying something ridiculous and then have the reasoning be "i am an engineer" ok..thats just plain dumb

and your analogy to train wheels is not exactly accurate, train wheels on tracks do not have sliding friction, but the parts within a roller chain do have sliding friction, and that is where the lubricant comes into play. also, you stated in your first post that you dont like to lube your chain because it looks ugly when dirt sticks...yet you dont mind the rust on your chain....

im going to go out and say it...you make no sense and stop acting like a child, i dont know wher you got your engineering degree from, but maybe they should give your money back

AngryScientist 

in an attempt at a serious answer to this question i will say the following:

any SS/fixed gear bike will exibit the same amount of chainwear given that the chainline is perfectly straight case for case, and the tension is kept relatively constant. doesnt matter what dropouts are used. chainwear will be significantly less than with a geared bike which almost never has a straight chainline.

all chains come factory lubed, and according to sheldon, this is the best they will EVER be lubricated, so it is entirely possible to run a chain without adding suplimental lubrication for many miles, depending on the environment. i have a good friend with a SS, who knows nothing of bicycle maint. and his chain is doing fine.

if improperly applied, ie: overapplied, improper chain lube will lead to excessive wear as dirt and road grime is attracted to the chain, no question there.

Also, there can be no question that properly applied lube, of the correct type, when the chain is externally wiped to rid the excess lube will last longer than a chain that is not lubricated at all. thats a simple materials issue, any metal-to-metal contact will have less wear with lubrication, period.

makeinu

If you can hoist your bike up on your shoulder and rub the lubricated chain on your white dress shirt (or the white dress shirt of the guy standing to your right in the elevator) without making any mark then I will admit that I don't know how to correctly lubricate a chain. Otherwise it's not better for me because that's the only damn difference I can tell between a lubed and unlubed chain when properly tensioned.

I'm not promoting anything. Do whatever you want.

elTwitcho

This thread is downright bizarre. The OP is adamant that this works, but having handled chains after soaking them in degreaser and letting them dry (ie a completely bone dry chain with no grit or lube inside of it) I can say for sure that the chain is far stiffer than when it is lubricated.

I for one have no problems keeping a chain both lubricated and clean. My chain is silver and it shows very little dirt because I clean it once it starts getting dirty. It's not a difficult process IMO

makeinu

Excuse me? I wasn't the one that started pulling out the engineer sh*t.

The reasoning is that I don't lubricate my bicycle chains and they work just as well if not better than when I did lubricate them. The fact that I happen to be an engineer has nothing do with it, but since some a-holes decided to start a peter measuring contest I figured I'd whip out mine too.

You people are un-****ing-believable! I do not lubricate my bicycle chains and they work well. That is a fact. Period. End of story. There's nothing to argue about. Nothing to be childish about. Nothing to make no sense. It just is what it is.

AngryScientist 

did i not lay out all of the facts in my post above? please re-read my post, and, if you have any other actual questions, just ask, posts like yours above are unproductive, and you will remember that two wrongs dont make a right.

xdrmusclex

OP, why the hell did you start this post if you are getting your panties in a bunch!? good for you, no lubrication, i use white lighting wax lubricant because it feels good and i am not worried about getting a little schmutz on my clothes (why are you riding in a dress shirt anyway?).

I think we should also stop using lubricant in places like:
car engines
door hinges
wheel bearings
on shifter cables
when having anal sex

axcxnj

how about you explain why no lubrication on a properly tensioned roller chain would not be detrimental to the life of the chain.

a roller chain, going around a bicycle chainring, encounters both sliding and static frictional forces, you are correct in saying that the static friction between two surfaces does not need to be lubricated, but you are neglecting the sliding friction which is occuring inside the chain links, this is where lubrication is necessary, there is also sliding friction inbetween the faceplates and the sides of the cog/chainring teeth, as was shown previously in a picture, this area is subject to wear without proper lubrication.

therefore, not lubricating a chain will increase the wear to the parts which encounter sliding friction, which are the pins, bushings, inside of the rollers, and inside of the faceplates, also the sides of the chainring and cog teeth. This is all assuming that you have very good tolerances on the manufacturing and assembly of the chainring and crank, which are often not perfectly concentric.

now please, defend your point of view

rarebird

lol @ nub. You fear teh lube but rust on your shirt is a-ok? You rub teh chain on youself when hoisting but it is teh lube! tehlube!

sorry silly angry nub, but minor lateral flex in the train, wear between pins, plates, etc., your own reports of surface rust, and a million riders of real bikes, not bikes in windtunnels going in straight lines while perfectly tensioned say you are a nub.

btw try not to rub your nub on guys in the elevator, i hate cyclists dumb enough to touch me with their nub bikes in elevators. no one here will ever force you to ride enough to need lube for your equipment, not to fear here.

rarebird

not to mention that a mere 2mm of chain stretch mean your cogs will not fit perfectly to chain no matter how well tensioned, resulting in wear, deformation and!!!! rust! RUN~!

elTwitcho

Are you competing for stupidest poster in this thread or what's your problem exactly?

jmberg