I have soaked bicycle chains in melted paraffin wax in the past in an attempt to keep water out on a winter bike. I then gooped chain lube over that. Many chain lubes do in fact use paraffin as an ingredient. Using it as a replacement for petroleum products would be very misguided though, because it IS a petroleum product.
On May 4, 2011, at 5:07 PM, bovineoaks@aol.com wrote:
In the 1980's a hippy friend of mine used Olive Oil on his drive chain. He came to me after using it for a year because his derailleurs would not work. The Olive Oil had turned into a shellack that I could not get off with the most aggressive solvents. It stuck together the moving arms of the derailleurs so firmly we had to throw them away. The chain was a mess. incredible wear on the pins and thick goop everywhere.
Try paraffin. at least you can light the chain on fire to have a mini bon fire
Bicycles don't get hot like cars. The main lube question i have is for the chain. Chains need to be lubed and cleaned very often just because of the exposure. For Hubs, BB and Headsets of course it is different. i will try olive oil on my chain and report back later.
jim
From: Mark Rehder mark@re-cycles.ca To: The Think Tank thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org Sent: Wed, May 4, 2011 11:08:10 AM Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] non-petroleum lube
My Dad was a metallurgist. I once asked him about using plant-based bearing grease, and he said the main issue of course was the ability of any lube to withstand the heat from friction. Petroleum-derived is the best choice for this, though he said one could use plant-based if one didn't mind far more frequent overhauls. Now, this was fifteen years ago, and I'm sure someday someone will find a good formula for a non-petroleum lube. Maybe the linked stuff is it?
Our shop uses MEC's Bio-Cycle for cleaning, but standard high-temp bearing grease for hubs. It'd be great if a plant-based product indeed works as advertised.
Mark Rehder - Coordinator re-Cycles Community Bike Shop http://re-cycles.ca
On 4-May-11, at 1:42 PM, Chris Chan wrote:
MEC used to stock a biodegradable lube. It didn't work very well.
If you build a covered shed, you can keep your solvent tank outside. You just need something to keep the rain from getting into your system--before we stopped using our varsol tank, our shed was just big enough for the system itself (you stood outside of the shed to actually use it). You can just hammer together something really simple.
On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 11:13 AM, Jonathan Morrison jonathan@slcbikecollective.org wrote: Has anyone heard of or used this plant based lube line? http://orontas.com
Sincerely,
Jonathan Morrison Executive Director Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective 2312 S. West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84115 w: 801-328-2453 c: 801-688-0183 f: 801-466-3856 www.slcbikecollective.org
The mission of the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is to promote cycling as an effective and sustainable form of transportation and as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Bicycle Collective provides refurbished bicycles and educational programs to the community, focusing on children and lower income households.
On Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 10:33 AM, Michael Wolfe gzuphoesdown@gmail.com wrote: Page 13 of the 1992 Bridgestone bicycle catalog has a unique recommendation of using olive oil.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/
On 4/2/08, Bob Giordano mist@strans.org wrote: Indoor air quality is tops on our list for a healthy shop atmosphere. We do not store anything that gives off harmful fumes. Tooth brushes and simple green (highly diluted) in a small wooden bowl is our parts cleaning station. We are even moving away from simple green (i've learned it is harmful to some)- to a citrus based cleaner.
I guess tri flow is the only thing with fumes in the shop. Often we ask people to use it outside. I'd like to find a non-petroleum lube.
-Bob Giordano, Free Cycles Missoula
Michael Wolfe wrote:
Speaking of liver damage, etc.. Wondering if any shops out there have
had
issues solvent tanks in their shop? The fumes give me a headache but
others
don't seem to mind it. Mostly I worry about the health effects on the full time people in the shop. Short of installing a hood or ventalation
system,
what options are there to locate that stuff outside?
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