Chain Lube Recommendation

[EmoHawk22]

In the shop we use Tri-Flow, which works well. Personally, I use T-9 'cause it's made here in MI and seems to work pretty well - though on a SS drivetrain that gets cleaned fairly often, most lubes work well. The guys I ride with like the Demonde (sp?) because it keeps their fancy-schmancy 2x10 drivetrains quiet on their carbon rocket ships.

[CarlSturm]

I use 3-in-1 oil. It's cheap. It works. (I've replaced chain once in 8 years).

[TooFast46]

With as many recommendations as there are for T-9 and the fact that it's made in MI, I'm mad I overlooked it. Definitely going to have to try it out.

[Roy]

What solvents do you use to clean your chain of the various lub's? You do clean the chain?
Where do you purchase these chain lubes that have strange names?
T-9 works good in most conditions, but it tends to build up over time. In cold weather T-9 it seams to slow shifting

Roy

[Sortaslow]

What solvents do you use to clean your chain of the various lub's? You do clean the chain?
Where do you purchase these chain lubes that have strange names?

T9 has a cleansing effect itself. When used correctly, cleaning is generally not needed. When I used to use light oil I would use kerosene to clean. It's a light lube itself and makes for a very clean chain. I used to use kerosene also as a lube too. The problem was it lasted less than 25 miles.When I used light oil, it was too sticky and attracted dirt and nobody likes riding with him.

T9 can be bought anywhere. However, you know that so I'll wait for your next post since you're going to tell us something..... but you're baiting first.

I don't believe in using non-lubricant degreasers (vs lubricant degreasers like kerosene, wd-40, diesel fuel) as I doubt one ever gets it completely out of the rollers. Then you get a slurry of lube and degreaser in your chain.
But what do I know... I'm not a tribologist, nor a metallurgist. I never talked to my chain actually, so I'm not sure what it really likes. Chianti perhaps?

[c0nsumer]

To clean my chain I soak it in a citrus-based degreaser, rinse with hot water, then toss it in the oven while preheating. Once it's over ~212F I let it cool then apply either ProLink or Voyager. Works VERY well.

[trout_smith]

I put the chain in an old water bottle filled with mineral spirits. Shake and soak. Blast it with a hose outside and then dry and apply lube. Seems to be the best way to get a lot of the grit out of the inside of the chain.

[Sortaslow]

To clean my chain I soak it in a citrus-based degreaser, rinse with hot water, then toss it in the oven while preheating. Once it's over ~212F I let it cool then apply either ProLink or Voyager. Works VERY well.

Sounds delicious! I think I'll try marinating in the Chianti first and then baking. Pepper? Salt?
Too involved for me. Wipe with rag, apply t9 and done. Since using t9 my chain never gets gunked enough to merit ritualistic cleaning methods.
Screw all of this. I'm going belt drive.

[Mack]

To clean my chain I soak it in a citrus-based degreaser, rinse with hot water, then toss it in the oven while preheating. Once it's over ~212F I let it cool then apply either ProLink or Voyager. Works VERY well.

Sounds delicious! I think I'll try marinating in the Chianti first and then baking. Pepper? Salt?
Too involved for me. Wipe with rag, apply t9 and done. Since using t9 my chain never gets gunked enough to merit ritualistic cleaning methods.

Same basic procedure I follow with T9. Except try it right after a ride when the chain is nice and warm. Chains will
pull the lube into the rollers and pins when they are warm and thats where you want the lube. Its an old moto trick
and works great.

[KLydesdale]

To clean my chain I soak it in a citrus-based degreaser, rinse with hot water, then toss it in the oven while preheating. Once it's over ~212F I let it cool then apply either ProLink or Voyager. Works VERY well.

Sounds delicious! I think I'll try marinating in the Chianti first and then baking. Pepper? Salt?
Too involved for me. Wipe with rag, apply t9 and done. Since using t9 my chain never gets gunked enough to merit ritualistic cleaning methods.
Screw all of this. I'm going belt drive.

I find it somewhat interesting that you're concerned about left-over degreaser forming a slurry with lube applied to a chain after cleaning yet have no problems applying lube to a dirty chain. What kind of slurry do you think that T9 forms with the dirt that's already in the chain?

[Sortaslow]

To clean my chain I soak it in a citrus-based degreaser, rinse with hot water, then toss it in the oven while preheating. Once it's over ~212F I let it cool then apply either ProLink or Voyager. Works VERY well.

Sounds delicious! I think I'll try marinating in the Chianti first and then baking. Pepper? Salt?
Too involved for me. Wipe with rag, apply t9 and done. Since using t9 my chain never gets gunked enough to merit ritualistic cleaning methods.
Screw all of this. I'm going belt drive.

I find it somewhat interesting that you're concerned about left-over degreaser forming a slurry with lube applied to a chain after cleaning yet have no problems applying lube to a dirty chain. What kind of slurry do you think that T9 forms with the dirt that's already in the chain?

I've never had that problem as the chain is pretty clean when using t9. I think driving thin viscous cleaners into the chain is not the way to go. Like i said above, I'm not an engineer so it's only opinion. I've never had early chain failures, but others haven't either with their methods. So I'd say many methods work well.
Now this year i am having issues with filthy chains. Replaced all chains on my bikes and left on the factory lube. Never AGAIN! These will need to be degreased in solvent. I just can't get them to stop collecting dirt. People that are for factory lube can keep it. Have fun with that.

[yellowmtb]

T9 man. Greatest stuff on the planet!!

[KLydesdale]

To clean my chain I soak it in a citrus-based degreaser, rinse with hot water, then toss it in the oven while preheating. Once it's over ~212F I let it cool then apply either ProLink or Voyager. Works VERY well.

Sounds delicious! I think I'll try marinating in the Chianti first and then baking. Pepper? Salt?
Too involved for me. Wipe with rag, apply t9 and done. Since using t9 my chain never gets gunked enough to merit ritualistic cleaning methods.
Screw all of this. I'm going belt drive.

I find it somewhat interesting that you're concerned about left-over degreaser forming a slurry with lube applied to a chain after cleaning yet have no problems applying lube to a dirty chain. What kind of slurry do you think that T9 forms with the dirt that's already in the chain?

I've never had that problem as the chain is pretty clean when using t9. I think driving thin viscous cleaners into the chain is not the way to go. Like i said above, I'm not an engineer so it's only opinion. I've never had early chain failures, but others haven't either with their methods. So I'd say many methods work well.
Now this year i am having issues with filthy chains. Replaced all chains on my bikes and left on the factory lube. Never AGAIN! These will need to be degreased in solvent. I just can't get them to stop collecting dirt. People that are for factory lube can keep it. Have fun with that.

Thin viscous cleaner? That's kind of oxymoronic. :wink:

So you never blast sand onto your chain? Or splash mud on it? And no black residue appears when you apply fresh T9? The micro-grit that gets ground into the chain while riding is what I'm talking about here. You can wipe off the outside of the chain all you want but the stuff that's inside the chain is what cause wear.

I've been using Boeshield T9 for quite a few years now. While I like it, it's not magic or anything... it's just basically a waxy coating that dirt does not stick to as much as with a oil or wet lube. But my chains still get grit in them. You may not be an engineer but the few studies done by ones that I've come across over the years that have looked at the effect of different lubes on chain life have come to basically one conclusion. If you want maximum chain life, don't add lube to a chain that has dirt in it. That's why I like to clean them in degreaser before applying fresh lube if possible. I'm not fussy about it though because sometimes I just don't have time to do a complete cleaning. My time is worth more than a few extra miles on a $20 chain.

[jonw9]

To clean my chain I soak it in a citrus-based degreaser, rinse with hot water, then toss it in the oven while preheating. Once it's over ~212F I let it cool then apply either ProLink or Voyager. Works VERY well.

I usually soak in mineral spirits to remove the factory gunk. I tried acetone, but that didn't work as well. Then I put it in the ultrasonic cleaner for about 20 minutes. After that I rinse with ultra pure water. I rinse again with electronics grade methanol, the dry using heated nitrogen.

I really want to cryo-shock a chain and see if it changes anything. I could easily get one down to 4 or 2 kelvin, but I don't know how I would compare performance. That kind of stuff seems all the rage in audio cables and other stuff.

[Sortaslow]

I

To clean my chain I soak it in a citrus-based degreaser, rinse with hot water, then toss it in the oven while preheating. Once it's over ~212F I let it cool then apply either ProLink or Voyager. Works VERY well.

Sounds delicious! I think I'll try marinating in the Chianti first and then baking. Pepper? Salt?
Too involved for me. Wipe with rag, apply t9 and done. Since using t9 my chain never gets gunked enough to merit ritualistic cleaning methods.
Screw all of this. I'm going belt drive.

I find it somewhat interesting that you're concerned about left-over degreaser forming a slurry with lube applied to a chain after cleaning yet have no problems applying lube to a dirty chain. What kind of slurry do you think that T9 forms with the dirt that's already in the chain?

I've never had that problem as the chain is pretty clean when using t9. I think driving thin viscous cleaners into the chain is not the way to go. Like i said above, I'm not an engineer so it's only opinion. I've never had early chain failures, but others haven't either with their methods. So I'd say many methods work well.
Now this year i am having issues with filthy chains. Replaced all chains on my bikes and left on the factory lube. Never AGAIN! These will need to be degreased in solvent. I just can't get them to stop collecting dirt. People that are for factory lube can keep it. Have fun with that.

Thin viscous cleaner? That's kind of oxymoronic.

So you never blast sand onto your chain? Or splash mud on it? And no black residue appears when you apply fresh T9? The micro-grit that gets ground into the chain while riding is what I'm talking about here. You can wipe off the outside of the chain all you want but the stuff that's inside the chain is what cause wear.

I've been using Boeshield T9 for quite a few years now. While I like it, it's not magic or anything... it's just basically a waxy coating that dirt does not stick to as much as with a oil or wet lube. But my chains still get grit in them. You may not be an engineer but the few studies done by ones that I've come across over the years that have looked at the effect of different lubes on chain life have come to basically one conclusion. If you want maximum chain life, don't add lube to a chain that has dirt in it. That's why I like to clean them in degreaser before applying fresh lube if possible. I'm not fussy about it though because sometimes I just don't have time to do a complete cleaning. My time is worth more than a few extra miles on a $20 chain.

It's not oxymoronic when you consider that unless you heat the chain/rinse out the degreaser fully then you will have degreaser in your chain while it is in use until the lube pushes out the degreaser and takes over-if it ever does 100%.
Black residue can also be the worn metal from the chain and chain rings. It's not just dirt. Also some theories hold that modern chain design wicks in lube and pushes it out from the side plates thus in essence flushing the chain.
So really I only wipe a chain off before lubing. I do clean it, but degreasing I don't bother with unless I've previously left on factory lube or used an oily lube in a pinch.
If you're using t9 correctly and wiping the chain off before riding, then it shouldn't collect that much dirt.
And yeah, you can pick up 970s for $15 so I just don't like wasting too much time or money for cleaners on chains anymore.

You're prodding me to really think about this. I hope I don't get convinced enough to start degreasing again!
This is making me super interested in taking a chain right off my bike during different states ( dry, wet, muddy, lubed, lubed dirty, lubed clean, lubed plus 100 miles clean and dirty, wax lube, oil lube) and breaking it open to examine the grit in the plates, rollers and pins. I'm too lazy in reality though. So many test combos...
But, if you see me in the trail with 27 quick links on my chain you know what happened!

*beep* insomnia.......