BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I like to spray my chain with a really light spray lube after riding in weather like this, such as Tri-flow or (horrors!) WD-40. It excludes water and keeps things from sticking. Also hit other points that get exposed to a lot of weather, like brake pivots, pulleys, and the cable guide under the bottom bracket.

WD-40 followed by a proper lube is good advice, especially in this weather! I don't much care for the White Lightening, I use it because it's cheap but not really on my own bikes. I just have it to oil the occasional neglected chain without it costing me a fortune to be a good bike samaritan. I really like pro-gold.

Drewbacca wrote: I really like pro-gold.

Pro-gold also displaces water. :)

I also tend to just hose my chain and derailleur with a can of tri-flow. Seems to work ok. Sometimes I'll hose off my bike first (or spray the drivetrain with my water bottle) before tri-flow. Why do I do it this way, because it's relatively cheap and I'm relatively lazy. There are probably better ways to do it.

I like the Finish Line Cross Country Chain oil. It seems to stand up to water, salt, and slush. In the summer I used to use ProGold, but it seems to wash away pretty easily if it gets wet.

In this weather you could do a lot worse than synthetic engine oil from an auto parts store, particularly if you put the bike away wet.

I've just been using Rock & Roll Gold year around. I hear it's not that great in the winter so maybe I should look elsewhere, but I haven't had any issues with it aside from maybe it doesn't last too long (does anything?)

I am running white lightning on both commuter and fat bike, heard good stuff about the synthetic motor oil, it is inexpensive compared to chain lube and supposedly does a good job. One thing I have discovered about the dry lubes is that I tend to get lazy and not re-apply frequently enough (I use WL as a cleaner / lube) therefore requiring more effort and WL to service the chain. Wet lubes, on the other hand, constantly remind me of their gooeyness, and required cleaning.

motor oil sounds like a huge mess waiting to happen...

pedro's syn lube or finish line xc lube. both are detergent so they help clean the winter shit off as well as displace water and lubricate everything. of course i use them year round because we tend to put a lot of abuse into our bikes in this house.

WD-40 apparently now makes a series of bike-specific lubes. Their Wet was recommended to me by Nick at Love Bikes last week...

I've become quite fond of Boeshield T-9 for all weather. Previously, my favorite was Dumonde Tech but it doesn't work so well in the wet.

Combined posts below

Drewbacca wrote:motor oil sounds like a huge mess waiting to happen…

Most likely, but all wet lubes are messy. I have used 3-in-1 in the past, as well as many other wet lubes, and they all make a mess. If it wasn't for that, they would be great. Here is a comparison article from the UK: http://roadcyclinguk.com/blogs/davids-blog/wet-chain-lube-versus-dry.html Their test is slightly flawed, they used different chains. I think any lube will work well if you use it properly, but they all have their caveats. Each one requires a different type of maintenance, so for me it works out to the one I find easiest to deal with. OTOH, I once bought a bike from a guy who did zero maintenance to the bike for almost a year (it started out brand new, he was performing a "test"). I replaced the chain before it left the shop, but it was completely covered in rust and rode fine. I think that after the WL bottle is empty, I will probably switch to BreakFree CLP, since I have a big bottle of it.