I mean EVERYTHING.
On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 6:24 AM, andrew
<anyone@breathingplanet.net> wrote:
This local company donates lubricant to us:
http://www.happychain.net/
Troy Bike Rescue
On 11/23/10 9:13 PM, Gervase Gallant wrote:
Mark, sorry I'd didn't explain myself better yesterday.
I agree with you that many commercial chain lubes aren't really worth the money. I used "Rock and Roll" for a while and have the same comment as you.
So I too used motor oil and later a mixture of 1/4 motor oil and 3/4 paint thinner. This latter actually works much better as it quickly penetrates to the part of the chain that need the lubrication.
However, this year the head mechanic at our coop recommended Finish Line. I tried it and discovered 1) it was very clean and 2) I didn't need to lube as often. There is some petroleum agent in it, but there's also some wax. So I've moved over to Finish Line and so has the shop.
As for bearing surfaces, we have been using lithium grease - usually in a tube, which allows for clean dispensing. For non-bearing surfaces, we use a cheaper lithium grease that we dispense with a small art brush. This latter is great for seat posts and the like.
Anyway if you are in a mood for experimenting, buy a $5 bottle of Finish line sometime and see if it works for you.
Gervase Gallant
Des Moines Bike Collective: Commuter Corner http://dsmcommutercorner.wordpress.com/
--- On Mon, 11/22/10, Mark Rehder<mark@re-cycles.ca> wrote:
From: Mark Rehder<mark@re-cycles.ca>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Lubes, choice of and sources.
To: "The Think Tank"<thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org>
Date: Monday, November 22, 2010, 11:45 PM
Well, I would venture that one need
not put a lot of oil on, but of course some folks like to
soak their chains. For what it's worth I've heard no
complaints about our usage of this stuff, from either staff
or bike buyers.
My experience with wax lubes is that they need constant
replacement when it's wet, but they certainly are cleaner to
work with. We sell a lot of decent bikes, but we sell far
more cheap bikes to folks that may or may not pay attention
to bike maintenance. So if a bike goes out with oil that
will stay on it the chain might last that much longer.
On my personal bikes I'm still using up an old gallon of
30W motor oil. A bit messy, but I have well-lubed and
happy chains. I've just reminded myself of the "chain
lube wars" on cycling discussion groups, so I'll go no
further. ;)
Mark Rehder - Coordinator
re-Cycles Community Bike Shop
http://re-cycles.ca
On 23-Nov-10, at 12:27 AM, Gervase Gallant wrote:
Chain saw oil is pretty terrible for your chain...
major grit and dirt magnet. Also makes working on the bike
extremely dirty work.
At our coop, we use Finish line wax lube, usually dry.
Here's the wet version: http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3965288&cid=CSE:GoogleProductSearch
A little goes a long way.
Gervase Gallant
Des Moines Bike Collective: Commuter Corner http://dsmcommutercorner.wordpress.com/
--- On Mon, 11/22/10, Mark Rehder<mark@re-cycles.ca>
wrote:
From: Mark Rehder<mark@re-cycles.ca>
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Lubes, choice of and
sources.
To: "The Think Tank"<thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org>
Date: Monday, November 22, 2010, 8:14 PM
We get various stuff donated to us
(I've come to despise WD40), but in terms of what
to buy we
took a tip from a local shop and use winter-weight
chainsaw
oil. The reasoning is 1) it is fairly thin, 2) it
breaks
down a bit better into the environment, and 3) one
can use
it in old internal-gear hubs (apparently perfect
for
Sturmey-Archers). :)
We buy gallon jugs and pour into plastic oil
dispensers.
We used to get our bearing grease donated to us by
a
wholesaler, but that stopped for some reason
(never quite
found out why) and so now we just buy a pail of
high-temp
grease from Canadian Tire and put it into smaller
containers.
From a Green standpoint, I once asked my dad (a
metallurgist) about using a non-petroleum-based
formula. He
said one could use grease made from whatever
veggie source,
but that it would break down very quickly due to
the heat
from friction. So while it would work be prepared
to
overhaul your hubs every couple of weeks (or
more).
:P
So it seem that as long as one is dealing with
metal-on-metal the petroleum-based stuff seems to
be a
necessary evil. That said, perhaps some bright
minds may
find an organic solution to this some day.
Mark Rehder - Coordinator
re-Cycles Community Bike Shop
http://re-cycles.ca
On 18-Nov-10, at 12:08 PM, Brian wrote:
Hello everybody...
Would you please share your thoughts
concerning your
choice in lubes you use. Specifically:
1) Chain lube. We use Prolink -
expensive but
good performance. Would like a more "green"
solution.
2) General oil-like lube, we use
Triflow. It's
cheap.
For both, we buy bulk and refill the smaller
bottles.
Could you please share your experiences and
strategies? Perhaps some sort of automotive
lube
instead of triflow? Anybody currently
supported
directly by a lube company?
Brian
SLO Bike Kitchen Co-founder
www.slobikekitchen.org
San Luis Obispo, CA
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andrew lynn | 518-573-7947 | troy, ny
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