Quick lube question

[Zen]

Just lubed my new Surly's chain. Ok, I'm bad, I should've done it last week when I got her... cuz we all know the "lube" that comes on a new chain is useless and isn't really lube.

I didn't know that about the new chain lube. I thought I had read somewhere that it is good lube and shouldn't be messed with (?)

It just happens that I bought some Rock & roll Gold and Speedplay Frogsyesterday

[Kalidurga]

ZenC, you're gonna love Rock'N'Roll. When I had a new chain put on my bike earlier this year, I took a box of q-tips and a rag and wiped between and around every single link to get off the stuff that came on the chain. Since then, it hasn't been touched by anything but Rock'N'Roll. After the incredibly dusty ride I did a week or so ago, all the chain needed was a few runs through a clean rag. The rest of the bike, though, is still waiting to be cleaned, cause it's just not as simple!

[LBTC]

DH and I do almost all of our riding in dry dusty conditions. Pedros extra dry lube is the best for this. Okay, I'll admit it, DH does all the bike maintenance, so virtually all of this info is from him. Rock n Roll was good lube, but required more time and effort to lube the chain properly - you really need to follow the instructions completely.

His methodology: clean the chain thoroughly, wipe all excess water off. Apply lube, link by link, and run the chain through a few times. Let stand, preferably over night. Before riding, wipe all excess lube off of the chain.

The grease on new chains is EVIL. This is the stuff that sticks to your legs if you so much as brush against it, and picks up all sorts of debris when out riding. DH has been known to soak a new chain in simple green before putting it on his bike, to ensure that evil grease doesn't get on all the cogs and chain rings.

Your best lube will definitely be determined by the types of conditions you ride in - wet/muddy or dry/dusty.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[Kalidurga]

Rock n Roll was good lube, but required more time and effort to lube the chain properly - you really need to follow the instructions completely.

His methodology: clean the chain thoroughly, wipe all excess water off. Apply lube, link by link, and run the chain through a few times. Let stand, preferably over night. Before riding, wipe all excess lube off of the chain.

????? Personally, I find self-cleaning lubes like Rock'N'Roll to be much faster and easier. For one thing, you don't have to clean the chain first. I basically do exactly what your DH does, except that I skip the first part described. And I don't apply the lube link by link. I just apply a continuous flow of lube along the chain as I freewheel, then freewheel for another 20 or so cranks, let it sit at least a few hours or overnight, then wrap a rag around the chain and rotate the cranks until there's no gunk or excess lube on the links.

I'm inherently lazy. Trust me, if this weren't an easy process, I'd be ridin' with a gunky, squeaky chain

*The Lube Queen steps down from her soapbox*

[HoosierGiant]

I find self-cleaning lubes like Rock'N'Roll to be much faster and easier. For one thing, you don't have to clean the chain first. I basically do exactly what your DH does, except that I skip the first part described. And I don't apply the lube link by link. I just apply a continuous flow of lube along the chain as I freewheel, then freewheel for another 20 or so cranks, let it sit at least a few hours or overnight, then wrap a rag around the chain and rotate the cranks until there's no gunk or excess lube on the links.

I'm inherently lazy. Trust me, if this weren't an easy process, I'd be ridin' with a gunky, squeaky chain.

That's the same process we follow, and we've never had a problem. DH and I have used White Lightening from day one, have over 10,000 miles on our bikes, and couldn't be happier with the way the product performs.

I'm with ya on the whole laziness thing!

We try to lube/clean the chains after every second or third ride, definitely after every long one. Perhaps it's more of a preventive thing for us, and we definitely don't have to ride in the sort of dusty, dirty conditions that some of you do. The worst thing we have to deal with is all the sand and grit deposited on the roads by snowplows in the winter. Takes forever for the spring rains to wash it to the berm, but then it lies in wait as devilishly evil pools of crud wanting nothing more than your attention to wander for a split-second so it can grab your rear tire with its dastardly claws and start reeling you in.

The guys at our LBS swear by White Lightening. Both times we purchased bikes they were emphatic about the need to thoroughly remove the factory goo from the chains before the first application of whichever product we chose to go with.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sheldon Brown has this to say about the factory lube on a new chain:
<<Factory Lube
New chains come pre-lubricated with a grease-type lubricant which has been installed at the factory. This is an excellent lubricant, and has been made to permeate all of the internal interstices in the chain.
This factory lube is superior to any lube that you can apply after the fact.
Some people make the bad mistake of deliberately removing this superior lubricant. Don't do this!
The factory lubricant all by itself is usually good for several hundred miles of service if the bike is not ridden in wet or dusty conditions. It is best not to apply any sort of lube to a new chain until it is clearly needed, because any wet lube you can apply will dilute the factory lube. >>

I left mine on for the first 1,000 miles, and that seemed to work just fine. When it first started squeaking, I took off my chain, cleaned it thoroughly with citrus degreaser, and put my first lube application on it generously.

[LBTC]

????? Personally, I find self-cleaning lubes like Rock'N'Roll to be much faster and easier. For one thing, you don't have to clean the chain first. I basically do exactly what your DH does, except that I skip the first part described.

Okay, so I had to ask DH why he thought RNR lube wasn't good.

It's not that it's faster to apply the dry lube link by link, but that we use so much less! (we *are* on a budget!)

He found the RNR was great in really wet conditions, but we don't get those much.

And he found the colour of the RNR lube made it look like his drivetrain was dirty. He doesn't like that!


As for the factory lube on the chain...the few times our conditions are not dusty, they are wet, so the little caveat in Lisa's quote backs us up on this one. The factory lube also makes the drivetrain dirty, and my clothes, and my legs, etc etc etc.

What can I say? Maybe we are all about how it looks.

Hugs and happy clean rolling chain butterflies to you all!
~T~

[ridebikeme]

I too, have never heard or experienced using more than one type of lube ta a time. Like most of you, I used White Lightening and had lots of problems with buildup... however what I soon realized is that I wasn't wiping enough of the excess lube off... that is where the all the grit came from. If you're concerned about not being water resistent than try the White LIghtening Epic.

I too, have used Boeshield and Rock-n-Roll, and liked both of them but simply preferred the White LIghtening.

[HoosierGiant]

... however what I soon realized is that I wasn't wiping enough of the excess lube off... that is where the all the grit came from.

We've been told that's the trick to using White Lightening and similar products -- you can't remove too much!!