Let's talk about chain lube

[Narcoleptic Insomniac]

I use Triflow on both of my bikes and it works well but I've noticed that my drivetrain collects a lot dirt and grime this time of year. I'm wondering if it is a good idea to switch to a dry lube  like that waxy White Lightning stuff for the winter. What do you people use?

[metalbmxer]

I use Triflow on both of my bikes and it works well but I've noticed that my drivetrain collects a lot dirt and grime this time of year. I'm wondering if it is a good idea to switch to a dry lube  like that waxy White Lightning stuff for the winter. What do you people use?

i usually dont use any lube at all, but also like my chain and cranks not to move. so it's rust for me now ha, but i have used tri flow before and did not notice any extra buildup. however i always wiped off the excess.

are you running the chain through a rag or towel after you lube it to get any excess off?

[Narcoleptic Insomniac]

I use Triflow on both of my bikes and it works well but I've noticed that my drivetrain collects a lot dirt and grime this time of year. I'm wondering if it is a good idea to switch to a dry lube  like that waxy White Lightning stuff for the winter. What do you people use?

i usually dont use any lube at all, but also like my chain and cranks not to move. so it's rust for me now ha, but i have used tri flow before and did not notice any extra buildup. however i always wiped off the excess.

are you running the chain through a rag or towel after you lube it to get any excess off?

Yes, I am.  I'm just wondering if dry lube attracts less grime.

[Kinchy]

I use White Lightning Epic, and I think it's brilliant as long as you are happy reapplying every now and then. This is on my Road/CX bike so gets ridden for a lot of miles, and I probably like to re-lube every 200 miles or so, maybe more frequently if it's dirty or wet rides. Definitely recommended.

I've also got some pedros stuff which I put on my fixie commuter bike. I basically lube it every 6 months (only do 15 miles a week on it) and its fine but fucking hell is it messy, black shit everywhere. Thinking about putting Epic on that bike so I don't have to deal with grease marks everywhere.

Another thing to note is how you apply the lube. If I'm not doing a full degrease, then I wipe the chain with a WD-40 soaked rag, and then slowly apply one droplet to each pin so it floods the bushing section. Then once I've done the whole chain, I spin the cranks a run through the gears. Then wipe off excess lube from the outside of the chain. This works wonders with the Epic lube - smooth, quiet, clean chain.

Apparently candle wax is the ultimate chain lube though.

[torontoflatlander]

We just started distributing Maxima this year in Canada and it is far and above the best product lube or otherwise I've ever used.

Chain Pro lube  wet or dry- Works perfectly for road/mtb. Lasts long and doesn't get black as quickly as a lot of other brands (White lightning, pedros, park, triflo, wd-40 bike)
http://www.maximausa.com/product/chain-pro-dry/

[amishrob]

i use muc off dry or wet depending on season. wipe chain down, drip on rollers then spin cranks a few times to work it in then wipe chain throughly. the chain looks good as new. (this is my commute bike).

[weedbix]

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

I use the factory lube and just replace the chain when it starts to get noisy. Great if you can get the chain you want for cheap or want to preserve classic sprockets, not so good if you like AU$100 Wippermann 1G8s or whatnot

Prior to this when I was running one such expensive chain I used pretty much anything that was waxy. There's some variation of Tri Flow that fits the bill if you look at their range. Some dudes I know (non-BMX) would run some kinda wax/oil homebrew mix

One thing I found with the waxy stuff though is that it was hard to get that shit where it needed to go, i.e. on the bushings where the rollers roll on them and the pins where the inner plates rotate on them

[montymitch]

A few things happened as a direct result of me reading this thread. 1. I lubed the chains on 2 of my bikes. 2. My chain lube is officially gone. 3. I went out and rode.

[(jeff)]

I've used White Lightning for years.

[JFax]

Engine oil

[bsd510]

I use rock n roll gold on all my bikes and it's done very well for me. I tried white lightning and its very good though white lightning seems to need more constant application. On occasion I light my chain on fire for a few seconds after I've lubed it to help the oil and wax seep into every little crevice. It's an old road racer trick I learned from my friend's dad, has anyone tried that before? I can't tell if it's placebo but chains always seem to run extra smooth after