Lubricant and degreaser

[salute2vishal]

Dear Friends,

I have a Schwinn Searcher Sport bike and I am looking for good brand of lubricant and degreaser for the chain , so can anybody please suggest some good brands and models ?

Also anybody has an idea where I can buy chain cleaner kit online ?

Regards,

Vishal

[vijay.cp]

Our LBS BOTS has finish line, have a look at it

[PatchyBoy]

^^ Boss, he is from Pune

[akshay200x]

BOTS does ship items to many places. Check www.bumsonthesaddle.com

[punerider]

BOTS does ship items to many places. Check http://www.bumsonthesaddle.com

LBSs of pune also need local business

Vishal which area are you from in pune?

[ravisanjeevk]

Vishal - The correct procedure to clean the chain is to do it after the ride. Here are the step.

1. CLean the chain using Chain clean Solution Like Motul or even Kerosene, I use Motul Chain Clean on my Motorcycles and Cycles.
2. Wipe the chain with cloth to remobe any deposits of cleaner left over on the chain.
3. Use the Motul Chain Lube from inside of the chain so that Lube gets deposited in the inside of the chain as majority of the action happens there and that is where the lubrication needs to be present.

One can use Tribocor Chain Lube as well. Cost around Rs 300 for a bottle and will last atleast 18 months. Motul is on the expenside side as it cost Rs 850 for Chain Lube + Chain clean.

[farazs]

Last I looked nobody had *any* decent lube in stock, so I got Finishline Green shipped from CRC. I degrease with WD40. The places to check are Ride2026(Aundh), RidersOwned(KP), Lifecycle(Tilak Rd), Track&Trail(Karve Rd).

[deepakvrao]

WD40 works out pretty expensive. Can't beat diesel for the price.

[akshay200x]

WD40 works out pretty expensive. Can't beat diesel for the price.

I use Kerosone though will switch to costlier fuel soon

[salute2vishal]

BOTS does ship items to many places. Check http://www.bumsonthesaddle.com

LBSs of pune also need local business

Vishal which area are you from in pune?

I stay at NIBM road

[punerider]

Last I looked nobody had *any* decent lube in stock, so I got Finishline Green shipped from CRC. I degrease with WD40. The places to check are Ride2026(Aundh), RidersOwned(KP), Lifecycle(Tilak Rd), Track&Trail(Karve Rd).

I guess 'Landmark' store which is located at 2nd floor of Phoenix mall , Vimannagar stocks some bike stuff. I didn't checkout their lubes and degreaser but love the cycle bhonpu that they have . They even have kayaks

[rahul13]

I too use kerosene as a degreaser. I really need to get my hands on a good chain scrubber though. The one from Icetoolz is SHITE! I used it once and that was hard enough. Second time around it was next to impossible to open the damn thing despite all the cleaning. Basically, it has nothing with which to grip it (unlike the one from Park Tool and pretty much every other, which have handles).

Their lube is pretty decent though. Its quite viscous so there is no spillage or wastage. Having said that, it does attract a little grit if you go offroad. I haven't tried Finishline Dry but I'm presuming its better since its teflon-based.

Edit: Well, whadaya know... I was just googling it and I found that it is PTFE which is the same thing as Teflon http://www.lifu.biz/icetoolz/index_pro3 ... =28&id=143

Having said that, it isn't cheap by any stretch so I would simply buy the Finishline. At the time I didn't have the option because no one was stocking finishline in these parts.

[krishnas]

WD40 works out pretty expensive. Can't beat diesel for the price.

Doc, couple of questions on degreasing.

How do you degrease the drive train?

Sounds much too trivial to ask, but I have some doubts on the general process.

1. Chain de-greasing is not so much of an issue. But still asking, do you basically unhook the chain (magic link/...) and clean it separately or degrease it right on the bike?
2. Someone (much experienced gentleman) once mentioned that using kerosene/ diesel aint a good idea for the chain. Coz it tends to create play between the rollers, that is difficult to lube, with whatever quality lube you might try. Better to use non-solvent based mechanism (read detergent) to scrub the externals of the chain. Personal experience?
3. Cassette/ sprockets: honestly, I am scared to use a degreaser on that part of the system, fearing having the solvent creep inside the hub bearings. I know about the oil seals and blahs.. but if water jets (pressure washes) can displace the greasing in the hub bearing, why not liberal use of degreasers. Your comments?

Sorry OP, if you think its a hijack on your thread, but I thought its a good place to discuss degreasing.

[shankarbn]

For those using diesel, how much is too much? Is spraying ok or do you just dip a toothbrush and wipe the drivetrain with the wet toothbrush?

[linuxtechie]

This: http://www.amazon.com/Finish-Line-Quali ... pd_sbs_sg7 along with diesel is really clear. I guess I bought about 1.5 liter about a year back. Every time I clean, I hardly use more then 100 ml. So its lasting pretty damn long.

+LT

[cryptic_abbreviator]

1. Chain de-greasing is not so much of an issue. But still asking, do you basically unhook the chain (magic link/...) and clean it separately or degrease it right on the bike?
2. Someone (much experienced gentleman) once mentioned that using kerosene/ diesel aint a good idea for the chain. Coz it tends to create play between the rollers, that is difficult to lube, with whatever quality lube you might try. Better to use non-solvent based mechanism (read detergent) to scrub the externals of the chain. Personal experience?

cleaned out the cycles today . Your post prompted me to take some pics of the quick 5 chain.





if the route to salvation from from those before pics to


here and


here

has a short cut to avoid elbow grease through a thumbs up bottle and some kerosene to dunk the chain in, I'll take it.

I have till recently been doing the laborious hot water and suds route. This seems to be far better - ie quicker and cleaner.

Will it affect the chain ? I'll take my chances for such shininess.

for the last ~ 1000 km have been lubing chain on bike on the Sport 1. did the same bottle and kerosene treatment after undoing the master link this time.

The Q5 chain gets icetoolz PTFE the tiagra chain gets Finishline Red.

will report

ciao
gr

[Iceman1969]

I use Teepol or Pril to degrease , although I did use the Icetoolz degreaser ( not too great ). for lubing chains the wax based lubs do fine,in dry weather though.

I have just tried White lightening wax lube, after lubing the chain you let it dry well. The advantage is that after a couple of rides the muck and dirt does not stick, comparing the old lubes certainly the chain looks cleaner.

Read somewhere that in the good old days the pro's used to dunk their chains in melted wax !

[deepakvrao]

Krishna, Shankar,

I do what gr did. Chain in 'diet pepsi' bottle, not thums up, and diesel. HAving said that, I do it much less now for 3 reasons.

1. I ride more out of the city, so chain remains a bit cleaner for longer
2. I use wet lube, and let the chain get black, but it remains silent
3. If the chain lasts me a 1000km more, it's still not worth the effort

Also, have had rust issues with Shimano/SRAM and less with KMC. YMMV.

Cassette is cleaned off the bike. Takes 5 seconds to remove the cassette.

My bike gets cleaned about once in 2 months making it every 1600km or so, and I have it down pat. 1 hour for the whole thing.

[krishnas]

Thanks Deepak and GR.

Answers most of my questions.

Followup Q (always have one ) - Chain de-greasing is off the bike. What about lubing? Is that also off the bike, or when you have it on?
And, is the life of the magic link / chain degraded with every open-close? Is that a fair comment or a general myth to keep folks like me laboring with hot water/ rugs on the bike?

Thanks a lot for the pics, GR.

[cryptic_abbreviator]

Followup Q (always have one ) - Chain de-greasing is off the bike. aWhat about lubing? Is that also off the bike, or when you have it on?
And, bis the life of the magic link / chain degraded with every open-close? Is that a fair comment or a general myth to keep folks like me laboring with hot water/ rugs on the bike?

a I find it easier after re-installing the chain. The advantages I see are no need to fiddle with clean, shiny and slippery chain, and I guess it would be easier to "manage" while applying lube. I use a syringe to get FL-R on. start with the magic link portion rotate pedal slowly to keep chain moving as you lube link by link. If I were to do it off bike I would have to move from link to link

bI guess no more than open-close of QR reduces its life.

get that chain off and clean it. even if you want to use hot water and detergent it will still be easier

the end result is a nice satisfying fresh clean chain ride experience.

ciao
gr

[deepakvrao]

Lube is on the bike, and since my chains last about 3-4-5k, the missing link is used once or twice only.

[krishnas]

Thanks again, Gurus!
Gotta try this approach next time.

GR, thanks for the tip of using a syringe for applying FL-R. I find the Red too runny and difficult to apply on the chain without spilling LOTS. Green on the other hand is perfect viscosity.

[garethmartin28]

lubricant -finish line dry or wet
degreaser - diesel

[Anool]

Didn't know where to post this, so it goes in the thread I found most appropriate.

These guys are offering "a thorough High-Pressured Diesel Cleaning for your bicycle" !!!

"The bicycle will be:
* Completely disassembled
* Washed thoroughly with High Pressured Diesel
* Assembled back
* Fine tuned "

Is this a sure shot recipe for busting all the bearing areas, or not ? There's no mention of any greasing.

[sar.the.psyco]

saw this link only after slogging it out with a brush, soap water and rags for 2 hrs yday trying to clean the chain. I knew i had to use Diesel/Kerosene was a bit lazy to get it.

i shall try the bottle and kerosene method for the roadbike chain.


Q: for cleaning the cassette, any thing apart from cassette remover tool and toothbrush/hair dying brush needed??

Q: Do u like soak the cassette in diesel/kerosene before cleaning or do u just dip the brush in the liquid and scrub the cassette??