Homemade chain lube???

[avanti]

Ultrfast has released their formula for chain lube. This process looks like it will be expensive and time consuming for home made lube. Apart from which the particle sizes of the incredients are not specified.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tech-news-friction-facts-releases-ultrafast-chain-lube-formula
and
http://www.friction-facts.com/forum...ion-details-and-formula/#simple-forum-post-55

This is interesting but I will stick with chain lube from my LBS.

 

[Carbonrules]

If you're a fanatic you can just buy a prepared chain from him. But after a couple hundred miles its time to either retreat, or just put any lube on it.

There is no better general lube for metal surfaces than Polytetrafluoroethylene, otherwise known as Teflon. As Jason points out, just buy lubes that include heavier concentrations (eg; Rock & Roll). There are also some good spray lubes with PTFE although I have not looked at the concentration. Tri-Flow and Dupont both makes the spray lubes. You can buy a quart of Slick 50 and cut it down a little with mineral spirits then use it.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

There's an empirical test of chain lubes performed by the same chaps as linked to in the OP (http://www.friction-facts.com) in the March print issue of Velo magazine. They concluded that the best bicycle chain lube, both in terms of lubricity and durability, was wax paraffin (cue the Breaking Away chain in the cook pot clip).

 

[BroDeal]

2 parts odorless minteral spirits. One part oil. Voila! A liter of chain lube for a few bucks.

 

[Fiemme]

There's an empirical test of chain lubes performed by the same chaps as linked to in the OP (http://www.friction-facts.com) in the March print issue of Velo magazine. They concluded that the best bicycle chain lube, both in terms of lubricity and durability, was wax paraffin (cue the Breaking Away chain in the cook pot clip).

Wouldn't wax paraffin solidify and stiffen the chain. I used lanolin (Wool Fat) once and this would cause the chain to stiffen in cold weather.

 

[hiero2]

Done properly, you shake off most of the paraffin from the outer surfaces before it solidifies. Then, after it has cooled, it is fully free after a few revolutions of the chain around its course. Do it with the bike on a stand, spin it up after putting the chain back on. You might have a tiny bit of stiffness left - but that is gone within a 10th of a mile, riding.

Paraffin beats anything wet for chain wear, EXCEPT an oil bath, or perhaps daily oiling. But, I would put it up against even weekly oiling, since oil attracts dirt.

You have to soak the chain in liquified paraffin, though. I was given a commercial paraffin lube, and they directed the user to wipe it on. Uh - paraffin probably won't migrate like oil, so I would think this product would be rather useless. Use a double boiler pan to prevent fire hazard with the paraffin. Too hot and you can get a flash fire.

The interesting thing about what FrictionFacts found was that paraffin also beats other lubes on just friction. What is truly mind-blowing about all this is that paraffin is NOT a lubricant, and according to at least one hydrocarbon chemist I knew - has no lubricating properties. But it works, so something is going on there. Maybe one day somebody will do a study and figure out why.

Oh - one other thing - you have to redo the paraffin much less often than any wet lube (silicone, PTFE, whatever). However, if you find a product that leaves a pure ptfe residue, with no carrying agent, let me know. If you could coat the chain with ptfe the way I do with paraffin, there might be something in that.

 

[Hawkwood]

Done properly, you shake off most of the paraffin from the outer surfaces before it solidifies. Then, after it has cooled, it is fully free after a few revolutions of the chain around its course. Do it with the bike on a stand, spin it up after putting the chain back on. You might have a tiny bit of stiffness left - but that is gone within a 10th of a mile, riding.

Paraffin beats anything wet for chain wear, EXCEPT an oil bath, or perhaps daily oiling. But, I would put it up against even weekly oiling, since oil attracts dirt.

You have to soak the chain in liquified paraffin, though. I was given a commercial paraffin lube, and they directed the user to wipe it on. Uh - paraffin probably won't migrate like oil, so I would think this product would be rather useless. Use a double boiler pan to prevent fire hazard with the paraffin. Too hot and you can get a flash fire.

The interesting thing about what FrictionFacts found was that paraffin also beats other lubes on just friction. What is truly mind-blowing about all this is that paraffin is NOT a lubricant, and according to at least one hydrocarbon chemist I knew - has no lubricating properties. But it works, so something is going on there. Maybe one day somebody will do a study and figure out why.

Oh - one other thing - you have to redo the paraffin much less often than any wet lube (silicone, PTFE, whatever). However, if you find a product that leaves a pure ptfe residue, with no carrying agent, let me know. If you could coat the chain with ptfe the way I do with paraffin, there might be something in that.

Interesting that your chemist mate says that it doesn't appear to have lubricating properties. There's an old household hint that if drawers in a chest of drawers are binding, you rub wax on the runners. What's the wax they use on skies does that work for the same reasons? Finally there was a classic 1970s book on bike maintenance called `Richard's Bicycle Book' it recommended paraffin wax for chains.

 

[hiero2]

Interesting that your chemist mate says that it doesn't appear to have lubricating properties. There's an old household hint that if drawers in a chest of drawers are binding, you rub wax on the runners. What's the wax they use on skies does that work for the same reasons? Finally there was a classic 1970s book on bike maintenance called `Richard's Bicycle Book' it recommended paraffin wax for chains.

I agree with you, but I'm not a chemist myself, and he was actually working in the petrochemical industry, and one would think he would know something about the topic. On skis, wax is actually to add grip, not remove it, or, perhaps more accurately, to change the grip, as harder waxes were used for certain types of snow to reduce grip. I actually learned to ski when wax was still being used - but just as it was going out of fashion. On the drawer slides, chalk is good too, and I don't think it is a lubricant in any sense. But, obviously, SOMETHING is going on (with the chains) that is either lubricating, or emulating a lubricated micro-environment SOMEHOW, eh?

I remember "Richard's Bicycle Book". I might still have a copy somewhere. I didn't realize he recommended paraffin in there!

 

[purcell]

I just use chainsaw oil. Have done for years, it gets into the rollers and pins and stands up well to moisture.

 

[hiero2]

Wouldn't wax paraffin solidify and stiffen the chain. I used lanolin (Wool Fat) once and this would cause the chain to stiffen in cold weather.

One other note - lanolin gets harder in cold weather. Paraffin is already hard at room temperature - so no. It doesn't get stiffer as a result of the cold.

 

[Hawkwood]

I remember "Richard's Bicycle Book". I might still have a copy somewhere. I didn't realize he recommended paraffin in there!

He does in the original edition, and said it was the best chain lube. It was the first bike book I ever got (a Christmas present) and helped me patch together my first racing bikes from cast-offs!

 

[BroDeal]

Wax is the voodoo lube of cycling, one part myth and one part old wive's tale.

 

[hiero2]

Wax is the voodoo lube of cycling, one part myth and one part old wive's tale.

Nah, man, we're in the scientific era now! Let me go find that link to the FrictionFacts article, and I'll add it to this post!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/friction-facts-measuring-drivetrain-efficiency

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

If you didn't get my earlier "Breaking Away" reference, you owe it to yourself to see that film. There's a scene in it when the teen bicycle racer wanna-be is shown dunking his chain in a pot on the cooker. And with no explanation, absolutely nothing in the plot or the dialogue to even intimate he was doing chain maintenance. The cookpot, of course, contains molten paraffin, but if you weren't a "roadie" of the old school, you might watch that scene and conclude he'd come over all peckish but had run short on spaghetti.

The pivotal sentence from the March 2013 print issue of Velo magazine, page 62: "In every measure, the most efficient chain lubricant is simple paraffin wax, sold in blocks at any hardware store."

For probably the first 80 years of chain-driven bicycles, paraffin was the lubricant of choice. The greater problem with it (apart from its vapors being highly inflammable) is that it's best applied in the molten state, upwards of 150°F/65°C. The easiest way to apply it in the molten state involves removing the chain from the bicycle to immerse it in a pool of the molten stuff, and many chains now no longer have an endlessly reusable "master link."

The article in Velo got me to thinking to make some skinny candle moulds to use to make my own D-I-Y tubes of paraffin wax sized to fit in a hot glue gun. They now make specialised low-temp hot glue guns (at least as low as 10 Watts) for delicate materials that should make the rate of paraffin application controllable. That would allow me to apply molten paraffin to my chain with it still on the bike, just as I do with the liquid stuff.

 

[BroDeal]

Nah, man, we're in the scientific era now! Let me go find that link to the FrictionFacts article, and I'll add it to this post!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/friction-facts-measuring-drivetrain-efficiency

That guy doing the testing sells waxed chains and he did no testing for durability or weather resistance. The slightest amount of precipitation and wax becomes worthless.

 

[M Sport]

There's an empirical test of chain lubes performed by the same chaps as linked to in the OP (http://www.friction-facts.com) in the March print issue of Velo magazine. They concluded that the best bicycle chain lube, both in terms of lubricity and durability, was wax paraffin (cue the Breaking Away chain in the cook pot clip).

Yes, but wasn't Rock n Roll Gold only .6 of a watt behind? Or close to that figure?

There is a few things I would forego for gaining .6 of a watt and cooking up a chain on the stove every couple of weeks is one of them.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Wax is the voodoo lube of cycling, one part myth and one part old wive's tale.

Dunk the chain in the parafin and you get a two-fer cleaning along with the lube. For single speeds it's a set and forget.

For multi-gear bikes, the seal used to install toilets in American homes is some kind of very soft wax. I was promised it was beeswax. I mix that stuff with straight-up parafin wax used for canning. It worked great. Craaazy clean. Cheap too!

The industry passed through the Tri-flow too many years ago. It's too wet and practically sticky if you leave any behind for a while. It's dry where I am, so silt/dust is a huge problem and Tri-flow attracts the dust.

Before some newbies run off and do it, obviously the pan is committed to chain lubing forever and do it using a double-boiler with excellent ventilation. Dirty chains can be fragrant. Leave the chain in for a while. It has to get *hot*. I left them on newspaper to cool. Overall, the process has horrible Wife Acceptance Factor.

 

[hiero2]

If you didn't get my earlier "Breaking Away" reference, you owe it to yourself to see that film. . . .
The article in Velo got me to thinking to make some skinny candle moulds to use to make my own D-I-Y tubes of paraffin wax sized to fit in a hot glue gun. They now make specialised low-temp hot glue guns (at least as low as 10 Watts) for delicate materials that should make the rate of paraffin application controllable. That would allow me to apply molten paraffin to my chain with it still on the bike, just as I do with the liquid stuff.

You might be on to a really hot idea there. Keep us in touch on how warm you get with moving that into production. Seriously, puns aside. I'll have to go back and watch BA again, just to see that scene. I don't recall it!

That guy doing the testing sells waxed chains and he did no testing for durability or weather resistance. The slightest amount of precipitation and wax becomes worthless.

Nah, bro! I and eye been doin' this longest time now! Wax actually outlasts many other lubes in the wet, because it is hydrostatic, as most petrochemicals are. Yeah, true, you wash the chain, and you need to relube. But you do the same with oil, ya?

As for durability, this is anecdotal, but when I rode 10K miles a year, and started using paraffin, I had to spend far less time with the paraffin then any wet lubed chain! Set and forget! When it started squeaking, I re-lubed.

Yes, but wasn't Rock n Roll Gold only .6 of a watt behind? Or close to that figure?

There is a few things I would forego for gaining .6 of a watt and cooking up a chain on the stove every couple of weeks is one of them.

See my previous reply. You will, in my experience, spend less time lubing when using paraffin.

Dunk the chain in the parafin and you get a two-fer cleaning along with the lube. For single speeds it's a set and forget.

For multi-gear bikes, the seal used to install toilets in American homes is some kind of very soft wax. I was promised it was beeswax. I mix that stuff with straight-up parafin wax used for canning. It worked great. Craaazy clean. Cheap too!

The industry passed through the Tri-flow too many years ago. It's too wet and practically sticky if you leave any behind for a while. It's dry where I am, so silt/dust is a huge problem and Tri-flow attracts the dust.

Before some newbies run off and do it, obviously the pan is committed to chain lubing forever and do it using a double-boiler with excellent ventilation. Dirty chains can be fragrant. Leave the chain in for a while. It has to get *hot*. I left them on newspaper to cool. Overall, the process has horrible Wife Acceptance Factor.

Horrible WAF? Omfg. I forgot to ask her!

Toilet bowl rings are, indeed, supposed to be made from beeswax. I'm not sure I'd go there myself, since beeswax has different properties from paraffin - but if you like it, what the hey! Out of sheer laziness, I have also used the paraffin as part of the cleaning process, and it does work. I'm sure that it reduces the watt savings - but that has never been the reason I used paraffin in the first place! Also, back when I started doing this, we weren't measuring our output in watts, either!

 

[DirtyWorks]

Toilet bowl rings are, indeed, supposed to be made from beeswax. I'm not sure I'd go there myself, since beeswax has different properties from paraffin - but if you like it, what the hey!

I found waxing lasted longer on multi-speeds with about 1/3 beeswax in the pan.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

I went out and bought a 10W glue gun. Now I've got to figure out how to make the paraffin into glue stick shapes.

That guy doing the testing sells waxed chains and he did no testing for durability or weather resistance. The slightest amount of precipitation and wax becomes worthless.

Again from page 62:

"LONGEVITY RESULTS
We tested eight of the lubes for longevity, simulating a single dirty, wet ride and testing efficiency before and after..."

"...Once again, the old technology of paraffin wax vanquished all comers. In the longevity test, it was completely unperturbed by water, sand, and dirt; in fact, it was over 0.5 watts faster after being run for an hour in the grime....."

 

[BroDeal]

Again from page 62:

"LONGEVITY RESULTS
We tested eight of the lubes for longevity, simulating a single dirty, wet ride and testing efficiency before and after..."

"...Once again, the old technology of paraffin wax vanquished all comers. In the longevity test, it was completely unperturbed by water, sand, and dirt; in fact, it was over 0.5 watts faster after being run for an hour in the grime....."

That contradicts the answer than Zinn gave about the test.

Anyway, I don't believe it. Longevity and wet resistance of wax is crap. I have tried wax and so have lots of other 24 hour racers. The stuff sucks in the muck. The best are heavy oils like Phil's Tenacious Oil or chainsaw bar oil.

 

[BroDeal]

Slowtwitch thread on waxing.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=4410411

 

[DirtyWorks]

That contradicts the answer than Zinn gave about the test.

Anyway, I don't believe it. Longevity and wet resistance of wax is crap. I have tried wax and so have lots of other 24 hour racers. The stuff sucks in the muck. The best are heavy oils like Phil's Tenacious Oil or chainsaw bar oil.

I agree. My experiences off-road weren't good. I had a lube I liked where the carrier basically evaporates for my dry/dusty conditions. I'd do what you are doing for wet conditions.

Waxing is good on the road especially if you soften the wax with beeswax and then put the hot chain in the freezer so the wax stays inside the roller assemblies. It keeps everything really, really clean.

 

[ElChingon]

I can only sit here and laugh. I've been waxing for years now and the smoothness, quietness (aka stealthness), cleanness of it all. If you haven't tried it then you don't know how good it is (yet, you can still try it). Yes, on the road and not off-road (so we're clear), and yes for on rain rides. Keep debating it, I need to laugh some more

 

[purcell]

I have used chainsaw bar oil for years.

It is the best lube I have found for longevity, both wet and dry, ability to run quiet and tendency to not gunk up.

I just use a chain cleaner to apply it. Put some oil in the chamber and then run the the chain through it a few times. The brushes seem to do a good job of getting the oil into the links, rollers and pins.

Add to that, it's cheap like Borscht.