Bike chain lube is one of those topics about which the vast majority have little knowledge or interest, but a tiny minority hold on to opinions with a fervor that is almost religious. Relax; you won’t suffer eternal damnation if you choose the wrong lube, and your bike won’t fall apart mid-ride, either. What MIGHT happen is that the chain will affect the gears on the bike, and make shifting unreliable or make the chain skip when pedaling, especially after you do eventually change the chain.
Single-speed chains are beefy critters, and will last a long time, even under conditions of neglect and abuse. But as bikes have added more gears, the chains have gotten narrower, and now require more maintenance (and probably more frequent changes).
It surprises me that there are as many bike chain lubes out there as I see. I wouldn’t think that the limited market would support such variety… and yet, there are dozens of brands, at all manner of price points, making all kinds of claims. (One Youtuber I follow, Sickbiker, is experimenting with canola oil as chain lube.)
The most common lubes in your local bike shop usually fall into one of two types:
Wet lubes: these go on wet and stay wet. While they may hold onto grime and dust (which can accelerate chain wear), they stay on the bike, even in wet riding conditions (at least, the do more so than the other type, which is…)
Dry lubes: these go on wet, but dry on the chain after some of the lube has soaked in among the rollers, where the lubrication is most necessary. The stuff that dries on the outside falls off the chain, usually. Dry lubes don’t hold contaminants, but they also don’t hold up to wear and wet conditions as well, and may wear and wash away, leaving the chain with less protection.
If you’re using one of these types, you should plan on re-application on a regular schedule… and re-application also means cleaning off the old lube. Some clean just by running the chain through a rag; some with a rag with detergent; some by using a dedicated chain cleaner like the Park Tool Cyclone or the Pedro’s Chain Pig (and how can you resist that name?); and others have more arcane and esoteric methods.
Incidentally, in the picture above, I’ve got a bottle of 3-in-One oil. 3-in-One is a pretty good wet lube, and it has the advantages of being readily available in hardware stores, and cheap.
There are a few of us who use paraffin wax for chain lubrication (it will surprise none of those who know me that I go for the unnecessarily-complicated method of chain lubrication). I have two chains that I alternate: one is on the bike, and the other is on the shelf. Each has, after my own arcane-and-esoteric cleaning method, been immersed in wax that has been heated in a dedicated crock pot (I have no hope that my wife would let me use the crock pot in which she makes Chicken Cacciatore for melting paraffin). I agitate the chain until no more bubbles come out, then cool the chain and hang it to dry.
Since paraffin lubrication requires a nearly-surgically-clean chain (lest the dirt contaminate the paraffin in the crock pot), my cleaning method used to be to immerse the chain in mineral spirits, and leave it overnight. The next day, I would agitate the chain in a solution of hot water and degreaser two or three times, rinsing thoroughly each time; then dip the chain in alcohol to help the water evaporate. I’d let the chain dry overnight. Then, on day three, I’d do the immerse-in-paraffin procedure described above. (I’ve recently bought an ultrasonic cleaner. Two 30-minute sessions in hot water and degreaser has replaced the overnight soak in mineral spirits and the manual agitation in the water/degreaser; I can go straight to the alcohol rinse after the ultrasonic cleaner bath.)
(And, truth to tell, I get thousands of miles out of my paraffin-lubricated chain, as opposed to the hundreds I would get out my conventionally-lubricated ones, as measured by a chain-tolerance gauge.)
The picture above also shows WD-40, which I don’t recommend as a lube. I suggest thinking of WD-40 as a cleaner rather than a lube. While there is some lubrication provided, most of the WD-40 will evaporate away. It’s not doing much lubrication if it’s not there! WD-40 is also good for breaking up lubricant which has hardened. Sometimes, old shifters won’t work right; they won’t release to go to smaller cogs or gears. A spray of WD-40 and some time is often enough to bring these uncooperative devices back into compliance. Just remember to add some longer-lasting lubricant to replace the WD-40 for when it evaporates away.
Go check the “Services” page at top to see what Ramblin’ Wrench can do for you.
Great article. Note that WD40 makes bike specific wet and dry lube, available at Home Depot for around $7. A few bike stores have told me they love the stuff. I get very long chain life using these two lubes. At the end of each ride I run the chain through a dirty shammy rag, and relube prior to the next ride. Speaking of, I really like the method of running the chain through a rag after every ride. I keep the rag in a ziplock back in my trunk. This is especially useful after riding through the NJ red dust on the tow paths.