3-In-One Oil

[Eden]

Not having laid any other goop on my chain, I'm not worried about it being lifted off by 3-in-1 oil.

Your chain comes with a really nice lube job done by the manufacturer - that's what your taking off (or really rather out - of all the hard to reach places) if you put a degreaser or a solvent (like 3 in 1 or am I thinking of WD-40?) on it.

I heard, and this made a fair amount of sense to me, that scrubbing your chain and/or soaking it in a degreaser really isn't that good for it. It is better to put enough lube on the chain to float the grit out and then to wipe it off very thoroughly. Leave the factory lube intact as long as you can. I've started following this method of chain cleaning and I do think they stay cleaner, smoother and in better shape longer. I like Boeshield T-9 myself. It doesn't attract as much gunk as some lubes, but it does need to be applied fairly often.

[OakLeaf]

Pedro's has two soybean-oil based lubes, Go! which is lighter, for dry applications, and Chainj for wet use.

I know the amount of toxics involved in bici chain lube pale in comparison to moto chains. Still, the less of that stuff I can breathe, get on my skin (yeah I wear nitrile gloves to clean and lube, but you know there's no not getting chain lube on yourself ) or leave on the road, the better. Never mind the toxic aspects of manufacturing.

[tulip]

Back in the day, we used to remove our chains, clean them in kerosene (sometimes in gasoline ) and then heat up paraffrin wax and dip the chain in. The wax would seep into the little nooks and crannies and provide long-term lube. At least that's what we believed.

I'm terribly lax in the chain cleaning and lubing department, too. Probably because I have some mental block stemming from the kerosene and wax days. That was at least a two hour job.

[jesvetmed]

I just had to replace my chain and they told me I wasn't doing a good enough job lubing -- they showed me all the rust! .

I was using something that was too light, and I was lax about doing it. I almost never cleaned it in ANY way (wiping, let alone soaking). AND the few times I really go serious about it I used a degreaser.

So new chain in place, they gave me a brand new lube and a brush thingy I run the chain through every few rides. Hopefully my new chain, lube and I will be happy for a long time!

[pfunk12]

[QUOTE=tulip;467292]Back in the day, we used to remove our chains, clean them in kerosene (sometimes in gasoline ) and then heat up paraffrin wax and dip the chain in. The wax would seep into the little nooks and crannies and provide long-term lube. At least that's what we believed. /QUOTE]

Tulip - Your post just brought back memories of my days in the Peace Corps when I would clean my motorcycle chain in gasoline. We were taught to use gasoline because there really wasn't anything else available. Just thinking about it...I can smell the gasoline. Yuck.

[Cataboo]

Your chain comes with a really nice lube job done by the manufacturer - that's what your taking off (or really rather out - of all the hard to reach places) if you put a degreaser or a solvent (like 3 in 1 or am I thinking of WD-40?) on it.

3 in 1's not a degreaser.