Winter lubrication question
 

We haven't gotten much snow here in DC, but I noticed this morning that my chain had rusted overnight from the snow I commuted home in. What's a good brand of lube to use for this? Will I need to apply this every afternoon when I get home should the snow keep up?

We've been getting a fair amount of snow in southern Ontario this year. I've found that the best thing I can do for the chain is wipe it dry when I get home. A wet snowy, salty chain, warming up in the garage is almost guaranteed to look rusty tomorrow. Just a quick application of lube on the dry chain does wonders.

I just use wd40.. and whipe it down.. gotta be light in the cold.. and this gets in there and displaces the salt pretty good.. and its cheap..

Yep, second the WD40 application. I usually wipe the chain down by hand then soak a rag with WD and run the chain through it a couple times.

I use WD-40 too and it works great.

WD40 is not a lubricant. To minimize damage, and increase life of the components, use an oil or grease based lubricant.

Roger that. If you're using WD40 to clean your chain, you'd better be drying it afterwards and applying some lube. I learned the hard way.

I'm not advocating it as a lubricant. It is effective at removing the winter crud on the surface of your chain and displacing the moisture which leads to that rusty look. Applied as I noted with a rag, it won't be displacing the lubricant within your chain mechanism.

Ok fair enough. I misunderstood because the original poster was asking about lube, so it's possible others would too.

Man, the snow more importantly the salt rusted the heck out of my whole transmision. I had been using a Finish Line red, the dry teflon stuff, but then switched to Finish Line green, which is wet and is definitely staying on through the snow.

To get rid of the rust, I blobbed it on the chain and the next day rode about 40 miles. It actually seems to have rubbed off all the rust.

Just riding a bike and shifting knocks off a lot of the rust.

I've had really good luck with Pedro's SYN lube preventing rust on my chain. It's really wet and salty here. I would highly recomend it for very wet conditions, just don't use it in dry weather. It collects grime really fast in dry conditions.

I have used a number of different chain lubes. The best all season lube that I have found is Rock 'n Roll Gold. Even through slush etc, I have been getting over 200+ miles on one lube and I am finicky about my chain. I have about 800 miles on my chain since mid December, no rust and great shifting.

www.rocklube.com

I second every word of that. Right now its my lube of choice. I used tri flow but for this year i like the thickness of synlube, i ride through snow banks and have not seen a spec of rust. I dont even clean off/dry my chain after i ride. I thinkt he snow takes away some of the dirt.

Wet and salty means, to me, a good clingy, gloopy lube. The mucky kind that drivetrain-wipers recoil in horror from screaming. Finish Line Cross Country once a week does the business here.

wd40 is indeed a lubricant.. I have used it for years on chains.. I'll buy the argument that it's not the 'best' lubricant for this application... but it is definately a lubricant..
and this time of year, on and old beater winter bike.. it's my favorite.. Here's what they say at their website:
What does WD-40 do?
WD-40 fulfills five basic functions:

CLEANS: WD-40 gets under dirt, grime and grease to clean. It also dissolves adhesives, allowing easy removal of labels, tape and excess bonding material.
DISPLACES MOISTURE: Because WD-40 displaces moisture, it quickly dries out electrical systems to eliminate moisture-induced short circuits.
PENETRATES: WD-40 loosens rust-to-metal bonds and frees stuck, frozen or rusted metal parts.
LUBRICATES: WD-40's lubricating ingredients are widely dispersed and tenaciously held to all moving parts.
PROTECTS: WD-40 protects metal surfaces with corrosion-resistant ingredients to shield against moisture and other corrosive elements.

or try tellin these guys it's not a lubricant:
http://www.wd40.com/Racing/index.html

On the same page of the website you can also find this quote from the manufacturer:

"WD-40 cleans/degreases, penetrates to loosen up stuck parts, prevents corrosion and is a light lubricant."

Water is also a light lubricant.

This is an old issue and has been re-hashed many times. The typical biker will need something that provides much better lubrication than WD-40. I commute about 150K per week (all conditions -35C to +35C) and have been using Finish Line Green in my weekly wash 'n lube routine. It seems OK to me.

ok thank you.. i've been using wd40 for a long time too and am happy also.. lot of different solutions available.. I still prefer something light, and not as likely to attrack dust, dirt, and grime.. if you use it often enough a light lubricant is fine.. in all the years I communited 200 mi per week that was what I used and never had a problem with premature chain wear of any significance...

I think it might be fair to say something like

"WD-40 is not the best as a chain lube for a bicycle."

If you spray a lot on the chain and it gets into the hub you create a problem.

And be careful don't get it into the freewheel/free hub, bottom bracket, wheel hubs, or any grease containing ball bearings. It will wash the thick grease out and dramatically speed wear. Many cyclists just blast the hub while spinning the pedals. Avoid this.

yeah excellent point.. you don't want this stuff going where you want to keep grease... I typically spray down on the bottom chain(bottom of rings) and back pedal thru a rag.. then immediately to go thru the cogs with a sock rag to clean em.. and im done.. this is on the beater bike.. for good bikes I will back pedal thru a clean/lube solution in a clip on tub with brushes... I don't like thick gooey type lubes tho, they attract too much mess.. as long as you lube with something, you should stretch the chain to the point it needs replacing long before you wear it out due to lack of lube..