Lubrication - where, when, what, how much?

I am very confused and I hope someone out there can help!

I do between 12 and 20 miles of commute/town riding in the week, and
sometimes longer rides at weekends (50 miles). The usual routes lie
on the roads, but at present a key section is closed, and the
alternative involves a muddy path across a field. The bike is a solid
frame MTB running on semislick tyres and without mudguards.

I have just worn out the entire transmission (?) - gears front and
back, chain and little diddy wheels in derailleur. And I have been
told what must be the third or fourth version of "How one should
oil/clean a bike". This latest one being that I should brush down
with soapy water after each ride, rinse and relube practically the
entire bike with light oil. Whilst I see the virtue in this, I fear I
am not naturally inclined to be that virtuous.

What should I lube, with what, when and how much? Does this need to
change when the route returns to being entirely on road? I do not
have the bike mechanic's zeal for a perfectly clean machine, I just
want the bike to work well and not wear itself out too fast.

Eagerly awaiting your advice,

Sarennah
[in and out of lab, and posting via Google, please be patient]

Sarennah wrote:

I do between 12 and 20 miles of commute/town riding in the week, and
sometimes longer rides at weekends (50 miles). The usual routes lie
on the roads, but at present a key section is closed, and the
alternative involves a muddy path across a field. The bike is a solid
frame MTB running on semislick tyres and without mudguards.

I have just worn out the entire transmission (?) - gears front and
back, chain and little diddy wheels in derailleur. And I have been
told what must be the third or fourth version of "How one should
oil/clean a bike". This latest one being that I should brush down
with soapy water after each ride, rinse and relube practically the
entire bike with light oil. Whilst I see the virtue in this, I fear I
am not naturally inclined to be that virtuous.

That's fair enough, you'd end up never riding the thing if you did that
every time! I am inclined to give the transmission a quick blast of
light oil (usually GT85 teflon lube) after any ride where there's a lot
of cack about on the roads at this time of year because it usually
includes salt and that does horrible things to the chain. Mud and cack
from offroad does wear things but at least it tends not to actively
corrode them, so a wipe will generally do for that.

I backpedal by hand to run the chain and spray on very generous amounts
of the oil onto the running chain, to ensure it works into the joints in
the chain. And I then proceed to rub most of it off again, so there
isn't a film of liquid for new dirt to cling to. Bit wasteful I suppose
but it doesn't cost that much and seems to do the job!

As long as the frame is painted properly the paint should protect the
frame from anything much in the corrosion line. It should also be
smooth enough that a wipe with a rag will take any such clag off. I
can't remember actually washing a frame for years, and mine seem to be
in fair condition so I wouldn't bother with that.

Beyond that main lube job I do is dropping 3 in 1 down the brake cables
on the Brompton (they turn up at the ends on that particular design, so
water can drop into them), or dropping a bit on stuff like the brake
caliper hinges. I Don't do that very often, only if it seems to be a
little reluctant.

If you're riding on the road then a decent set of mudguards with a flap
will stop a *lot* of crunge being thrown off the front wheel and onto
the transmission (stuff from the back tends to clear the transmission,
but just goes up your back instead...). A crud-catcher isn't as good,
but strategically sited my help matters. I'm always quite surprised the
amount of utility bikes in this country that have no mudguards at all,
they really are a Good Thing, both for you and the bike.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

in message , Peter Clinch
') wrote:

Sarennah wrote:

I do between 12 and 20 miles of commute/town riding in the week, and
sometimes longer rides at weekends (50 miles). The usual routes lie
on the roads, but at present a key section is closed, and the
alternative involves a muddy path across a field. The bike is a solid
frame MTB running on semislick tyres and without mudguards.

I have just worn out the entire transmission (?) - gears front and
back, chain and little diddy wheels in derailleur. And I have been
told what must be the third or fourth version of "How one should
oil/clean a bike". This latest one being that I should brush down
with soapy water after each ride, rinse and relube practically the
entire bike with light oil. Whilst I see the virtue in this, I fear I
am not naturally inclined to be that virtuous.

That's fair enough, you'd end up never riding the thing if you did that
every time! I am inclined to give the transmission a quick blast of
light oil (usually GT85 teflon lube) after any ride where there's a lot
of cack about on the roads at this time of year because it usually
includes salt and that does horrible things to the chain. Mud and cack
from offroad does wear things but at least it tends not to actively
corrode them, so a wipe will generally do for that.

No, not GT85 on chains. In fact, not GT85 anywhere. The chain is the
critical thing - it's when the chain stretches that all your cogs start to
wear, so you need to keep the chain lubed. I use Finish Line Cross Country,
about one sparing application every 50 miles. Chainsaw oil is also said to
be good and much cheaper. Spray on the *inside* of the chain, ideally in
the evening (hold the can still and run the chain backwards past it), and
wipe off any excess by running the chain backwards through a pad of kitchen
paper in the morning. Too much oil on the chain just helps grit to adhere,
and that accelerates wear.

All cables and bearings ideally want grease. Spraying GT85 at them will just
disolve the grease that's protecting them and let it wash out faster. The
GT85 people do 'white grease' in a spray can which I find very handy for
cables and bearings, although a tube of ordinary lithium grease doesn't
cost much and is very useful.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/


... a mild, inoffensive sadist...

Simon Brooke wrote:

No, not GT85 on chains. In fact, not GT85 anywhere. The chain is the
critical thing - it's when the chain stretches that all your cogs start to
wear, so you need to keep the chain lubed.

I use GT85 on my chain and it seems to do okay, and the cogs don't seem
to die unnaturally fast either...

All cables and bearings ideally want grease. Spraying GT85 at them will just
disolve the grease that's protecting them and let it wash out faster.

Quite so, which is why I never use it on cables and bearings. Usually
use PTFE grease for those.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

There's an article all about this issue in Cycling Weekly of either thi
week or last week. (I bought it last Thursday, dunno which day it get
released.


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pineapple wrote:
There's an article all about this issue in Cycling Weekly of either
this week or last week. (I bought it last Thursday, dunno which day it
gets released.)

It's still in my local newsagent today. It is a good article, though it
doesn't actually offer a lot of detailed practical advice about chain
maintenance.

The main thrust of the advice is to be sparing with the lube - keep oil
off the outside of the chain because it just picks up muck that gets
worked into the bearings. And that's it, really.



--

"Peter Clinch" wrote

No, not GT85 on chains. In fact, not GT85 anywhere. The chain is the
critical thing - it's when the chain stretches that all your cogs start
to
wear, so you need to keep the chain lubed.

I use GT85 on my chain and it seems to do okay, and the cogs don't seem
to die unnaturally fast either...

I use minimal amounts of GT85 once in a while. I've just measured the chain
and it has "stretched" just more than 1/16 inch in a year which going from
the few months I've had a cycling computer would be in the region of
3000/4000 miles both on and off road. That's good enough for me.

"Sarennah" wrote in message

I have just worn out the entire transmission (?) - gears front and
back, chain and little diddy wheels in derailleur.

Been there, done that.......

And I have been
told what must be the third or fourth version of "How one should
oil/clean a bike". This latest one being that I should brush down
with soapy water after each ride, rinse and relube practically the
entire bike with light oil. Whilst I see the virtue in this, I fear I
am not naturally inclined to be that virtuous.

Have a look at url:http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html - the site in
general is a treasure trove of useful information which is worth reading,
but read the words of Mr Brown about chains.

Keep your chain clean and lubed, measure it for stretch every now and again,
and wipe the crud off your bike when it starts weighing more than the
frame.......

E

Sarennah wrote:
What should I lube, with what, when and how much? Does this need to
change when the route returns to being entirely on road? I do not have
the bike mechanic's zeal for a perfectly clean machine, I just want the
bike to work well and not wear itself out too fast.
Eagerly awaiting your advice,
Sarennah [in and out of lab, and posting via Google, please be patient]


Ahh, the lube debate..

I generally find that GT85 is too light for the kind of weather w
"enjoy" here in the UK during winter months, and if you are going ont
some less clean roads, I don't think it's for you. The water and cru
will pull this light oil from your mech and leave you grinding metal

I'm using some White Lightning Raceday Extreme at the moment on m
winter bike (road frame, but weighed down with full length mudguards an
lights). This is wax based but works a treat

If you are going to be cleaning your chain then you need to get yoursel
some citrus based degreaser. There are various ways of applying this
ranging from clever gadgets that you fill up and thread your chai
through to the more basic (but just as effective) remove the chain an
dunk it in a jamjar full of the degreasing agent

The most useful tool for cleaning I find is the old toothbrush, get
right into the difficult to reach places

My pal who is a MTB fanatic swears by MucOff, he just blasts the entir
bike with this stuff, hoses it off and then re-lubes his rear mech an
derailleurs every week

You can get the lubes I've mentioned http://www.cyclestore.co.ukhere ;


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I generally find that GT85 is too light for the kind of weather w
"enjoy" here in the UK during winter month

I don't use GT85 for lubing but I do find it good for light cleaning
the solvent it contains is a good surface degreaser. Just hose the mu
off, spray on some GT85 and wipe it off, then use some proper chain lub
- such as White Lightning, if you're so inclined


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