Disclaimer: there are many many ways to care for a bike chain, and different riding conditions may favor different lubes.
When commuting in Chicago, I used a similar method to this, but just used a quality dry lube in a spray bottle with a thin tube tip.
What ya need:
Oil: just a couple ounces. You can use regular motor oil, gear oil, or even synthetic, experiment.
Paint thinner. We call it "mineral spirits" over here.
a chain cleaning device of some sort, or a toothbrush
some rags
Updated: mix the oil and solvent 1:1 if you want a good film, 4:1 if you want a really dry chain.
In the garage or a space where you can be a bit smelly and messy, secure the bike in a position where you can easily turn the pedals backwards.
Place rags under the chain, and tuck some into the spokes so lube doesnt spash onto your rims.
If you have a chain cleaning device, fill it with the mixture and back pedal till the chain is no longer "crunchy" when flexed side to side.
If you use a toothbrush, scrub the chain with liberal amounts of the mixture on the bottom bit, letting the solvent/oil mix drip off with the dirt. Keep doing this till the chain is no longer "crunchy".
Wipe the chain dry with rags. Also wipe the chainring you used dry and the jockey pulleys on the derailleur.
Let the chain sit overnight. The thinner will evaporate, and the lube will be inside the chain where it belongs. Wipe the outside again if it feels a bit oily.
Ten minutes tops. :thumbup: and cheeeep.
Meh, Ive always just been a fan of giving it a quick blast with WD40 once in a while lmao
Which does bob all to clean it......
or spend Ã,£5 for a big tin of motorcycle spray lube,
yosimoto "fkin good stuff" is my personal preference.
repeat the cleaning procedure above but dont worry about mixing oil with thinners and replace with spray lube . :-)
I got one of those park tools chain cleaners.
Im not criticising the method here, but i have a question (and it is a question, not a facetious swipe)...
You are mixing oil (hydrophobic or non water misible) with a spirit (water miscible - we will say this is water, for sake of arguement).
When you mix oil, with the water or spirit, youre going to get a hydrophobic effect, whereby the oil is going to coalesce or form an emulsion*. When you spray it [your mixture] on to the chain the spirit is just going to wash off, taking the oil with it, surely - it certainly couldnt form a liquid phase in the presence of ethanol or spirts?
It may be that the chain will be coated with droplets of oil, but i cant see how this would work.
Id be interested, apropos to what ive just said, if the life of components is affected by your method....
*oil DOES NOT dissolve - it suspends or as ive said, coalesces.
Paint thinner is a solvent, not water or spirit as in ethyl alcohol. Dont forget Americans use different terms.
Actually Ive normally only used either 3 in 1 or clean vegetable oil if I couldnt get the 3in1. Have used WD40 too.
I have also used a (hot water) pressure sprayer once with washing up liquid in, cleaned the chain perfectly but rather too well IMO, no oil left. Used a good spray of WD40 to provide immediate protecction against rust and the water evaporated quickly due to it being a warm day. :twisted:
was going to mention, it smells very much like a solvent used in the spray lube cans and most car paint thinners.
maybe you got paint thinner mixed up with white sprit / terpantine subs. ?
White spirit and turpentine are both paint thinners! I used both when I was painting on canvas. Go into any artists painting shop and ask ;)
paint thinner is a generic term and can also be applied to water, my latest oil paints are water soluble oil colours :mrgreen:
Quote from: SeriousPaint thinner is a solvent, not water or spirit as in ethyl alcohol. Dont forget Americans use different terms.
Serious, what are you talking about?
Quote from: BadabingQuote from: SeriousPaint thinner is a solvent, not water or spirit as in ethyl alcohol. Dont forget Americans use different terms.
Serious, what are you talking about?
I was specifically talking about Maxis post where he states he uses mineral spirits, which is petroleum spirit here or thin parrafin oils. They are meant to disolve grease and thicker oils cause thats what they are used for.
If you were talking about something else I cant see what.
Yarr, its mineral spirits so no mayonaissey emulsions, thank ya very much. :lol:
The whole concept is two fold:
The very thin mixture rinses out grit effectively because of low viscosity.
The carrier then evaporates, having allowed the medium weight oil to penetrate where it never could have alone.
additionally:
wD40 is a solvent, not a proper lube, tho it does leave a thin film suitable for hinges and locks.
Motorcycle chains and bicycle chains have different needs, designs (m/c is o-ring) and locations. Bike chains need to stay clean, quiet, and corrosion free, something which motorcycle chain or chainsaw chain lube doesnt do well. M/c and chainsaw chain lube is meant to be replenished often and flung off as part of the lube clean cycle. We are doing a similar displacement method here, but with a lighter weight mixture and also using evaporation as part of the process.
3:1 is the worst thing you can use on a bike chain, its a great way to get it dirty tho.
The method Im using is really no different than Prolink or Triflow, youre simply using a light carrier to deliver a very thin film of oil where it is needed, and wiping it off where it is not. Simply lubing a bicycle chain with the raw motor oil would result in a mess and not be very clean or effective, but by using a carrier, it suddenly becomes a component of a "dry lube".
fair enough on the designs being different (yup we get little rubber o-rings).
The lube i use is quite sticky for a good while so if your gonna be dirt tracking itd probably not be soo good.
not so sure on the fling as being part of the cleaning cycle as this only really happens on its first outing with the excess, something youd get on a bicycle as well to a lesser extent.
but nm, mine probably still isnt as suitable due to its sticky nature.
I used a similar method, but with 90w gear oil on the MC, fwiw, and yeah, it was sticky, but out of the way, unlike a bicycle chain.
Quote from: maximusotter3:1 is the worst thing you can use on a bike chain, its a great way to get it dirty tho.
Its traditional! :o
North East of England gets a lot of rain and not much dust so that problem is less here anyway. I probably wouldnt use the stuff in a dryer climate unless there was no other option though ;)
[edit] they now have a teflon version which they suggest for bike chains [/edit]
3:1 is fine on an old Roadster with a full chain case, but icky and sticky on a derailleur equipped bike. ;)
(http://static.flickr.com/36/123346107_62f3b5a571_o.jpg)
:yarr:
remove chain, boil in oil, replace.
works great every time :)
^^^barbarian, tbqfh^^^
yeah, but it works.... and really well ;)
weve got an antique grandfather clock here, every 10 years or so it needs the cogs etc.. cleaning
the place we used to go to with the little old clock maker who cleaned it closed down when he retired... and it couldnt find anyone else who would touch it, they were all worried about being liable if they couldnt get it back together / broke it...
so my father cleaned it the way hes seen his father and grandfather do it.... remove clock, hang in pan so face is up, fill with oil but so face isn;t covered... boil on very low heat for a few hours, drain oil off, replace :)
works great ;)
bike chains that are really dirty can be cleaned off the bike by: pour a cup or so of mineral spirits in a 2L soda bottle, drop in chain, shake, fish it out. No need for the heat bit.
wish it was that easy on a motorbike,
you have to undo the freaking swingarm bolt to take it out in one piece.
Quote from: madmaxwish it was that easy on a motorbike,
you have to undo the freaking swingarm bolt to take it out in one piece.
My old motorbikes always just had a quick link. Very easy to remove. :thumbup: I never took good care of the chain, just put on some gear oil and thinner every now and again if it got noisy. :P
Quote from: Alanremove chain, boil in oil, replace.
works great every time :)
My father used to work at Vickers Armstrong on the Tyne, they used to suspend things over a huge vat of solvent to clean them, worked a treat but the stuff in the tank smelt awful and a match would have sent the whole place sky high...
The Solvent evaporated and condensed on anything in the room before dripping back into the tank, taking grease and any dirt with it. The item then passed into another room where the remaining solvent was recovered before being passed out.
He used to clean watches and clocks with the same stuff then oil them with a light paraffin oil
Quote from: maximusotterQuote from: madmaxwish it was that easy on a motorbike,
you have to undo the freaking swingarm bolt to take it out in one piece.
My old motorbikes always just had a quick link. Very easy to remove. :thumbup: I never took good care of the chain, just put on some gear oil and thinner every now and again if it got noisy. :P
aye sometimes called soft links nowdays.
dont trust em so ive had mine riveted with a hard link everytime,
sure they mention dont use em on anything with over 35 bhp, my hornet 250 was 37 - 38 bhp so even on that i had em hard linked.
tbh i only ever lube mine when it gets noisy or i can "feel" it chattering though the footpeg as well, they still last in excess of 8,000 miles, usually 12,000 easy enough.
Serious, that solvent vat sounds great for metallics, imagine passing a sheet of perspex over it though, probably end up melting and ending up in the tub of solvent :lol:
Update:
Its been a week and the city bikes gotten an hour or two per day of riding, so perhaps 150 miles. Chain was still virtually clean to the touch, but slightly noisy. Id ridden in the rain a few times, so grit is par for the course. It seems that my initial 4:1 solvent to lube was low.
I recleaned and lubed using 1:1 mineral spirits to oil a few hours ago and let evaporate--seems to leave a thicker film, but you can still wipe the outside dry. :thumbup:
Ill never buy specialized snake oil again. :lol:
Only the finest Finishline products for me!
Shame I use XC Dry lube. Damnit, I ride DH. I want a DH lube.
Finishline dry lube aint bad, though I dont find it any more superior to Tri-Flow or any generic lubes that are basically a light oil and teflon in an evaporative carrier. Ill most likely use a variation of that in the future as its easily available. :P
Update: I cleaned and lubed the singlespeed with a 1:1 thinner:motoroil mix, wiped it off, let it dry a few hours, then went for a hammer.
Great almighty! A silent drivetrain! Absolutely fantastic. A light oil/dirt emulsion was visible after a couple 20 mile rides, but just wipe it off and the drivetrains virtually greaseless.
Im totally sold on this cheap ass lube method now. It puts a real film of decent viscosity oil where its needed, yet allows you to clean off the outer bits that attract dirt and smudge pants. :thumbup:
Its easy kids: 1:1 thinner to motor oil, higher viscosity is better, even gear oil is a good choice. Apply liberally, let the dirt drip off, wipe clean. Do another wipe after a couple rides. :thumbup: