Chain oil .....whats all the fuss?

Jamsxr

E*POWAH Master
Mar 30, 2019
519
634
Surrey
People riding around on 4K plus eBikes are worried about spending £5-10 on a bottle of chain lube? ?

I switched from Muck Off to Pedro’s Synth Lube, it’s cheaper and performs better. After lubing and wiping down my chain it appears completely dry, even to touch, but the stuffs there. It’s definitely improved the lifespan of my drive chain as it attracts minimal crap.
 

outerlimits

E*POWAH BOSS
Founding Member
Feb 3, 2018
1,241
1,575
Australia
I use ebike specific oil ?”E-oil”

4D2DF0A7-62B5-459D-B3B5-91387AA07CBA.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Oldnomad52

Member
Apr 29, 2019
27
20
Wanaka, New Zealand
People riding around on 4K plus eBikes are worried about spending £5-10 on a bottle of chain lube? ?

I switched from Muck Off to Pedro’s Synth Lube, it’s cheaper and performs better. After lubing and wiping down my chain it appears completely dry, even to touch, but the stuffs there. It’s definitely improved the lifespan of my drive chain as it attracts minimal crap.


It's not the cost of the lubes so much but what's best to get the maximum life out of chains and sprockets as these are a high wear parts, apparently
 

estoril

Active member
Patreon
Sep 28, 2018
75
73
UK
I wax my chains, remove and clean them every 2-3 rides and always have 3 in rotation. I use a cheap 1l litre slow cooker off eBay (about £15) as it's far easier than using hot water etc. I use Molten Speed wax, if you clean the chain pre-waxing ( i use an ultrasonic cleaner/degreaser) then you only need to change the wax about once every 20 waxes (according to Molten) but I suspect 30 would be fine.
 

HORSPWR

E*POWAH Master
May 23, 2019
853
680
Alice Springs, Australia
Use them if you want but bear in mind most of the oils you mentioned are going to be stickier and that will mean they'll pick up way more crap when you ride.

As luck would have it I am currently using mucoff wet as it was half price.
I generally choose one of 3 or 4 brands I know are a consitency I like and buy whichever is on offer. (regularly used weldtite wet as it's always cheap).
What's most important is making sure the chain rollers and pivots are lubed. wet oil covering any more than that is simply going to attract dirt more/faster.

Don't waste your money on any lube that says E-bike specific unless it costs exactly the same. (it won't, that's the whole reason the words E-bike were put there).
There's no such thing as an E-bike specific chain or chain lube.
Good luck cleaning your chain after using Muckoff Wet for a few months, it was the hardest to clean chain I have ever done. I even needed to use a wire brush to get the build up off. Now I use tri-lube, nice and light, penetrates in well and degreases easy back to new with a truck wash.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
Good luck cleaning your chain after using Muckoff Wet for a few months, it was the hardest to clean chain I have ever done. I even needed to use a wire brush to get the build up off. Now I use tri-lube, nice and light, penetrates in well and degreases easy back to new with a truck wash.
luck?

Eh?

I don't need luck to lube a chain properly without leaving it in a sticky gunked up mess... my chain is clean. I don't even use a degreaser at all nevermind a wire brush to clean it. Currently around the 650 mile mark and only ever been lubed with Mukoff wet. and only ever been cleaned with hot soapy water and a soft brush, or a dry rag if the bike doesn't require a wet wash,

Sounds like you're probably applying far too much lube in the first place (possibly to an already dirty over lubed chain) or not removing the excess lube from the chain.
Lubing a chain is not a difficult process but many clearly do struggle with it.

read my post properly instead of quoting it to try and blame the product I mentioned for your own chain lubing inadequacies
 
Last edited:

HORSPWR

E*POWAH Master
May 23, 2019
853
680
Alice Springs, Australia
luck?

Eh?

I don't need luck to lube a chain properly without leaving it a sticky gunked up mess... my chain is clean. I don't even use a degreaser at all nevermind a wire brush to clean it.

Sounds like you don't know how much to apply or how to apply a wet lube to a chain.
It's not a difficult process but many clearly do struggle with it.

read my post properly instead of quoting it to try and blame the product I mentioned for your own chain lubing inadequacies

Wow, that escalated quickly Gary, not feeling the best today mate?
Having raced motocross and enduro bikes for 40 years plus 15 years on MTB's I do know how to clean and lube chains. My experiences with the Mucoff Ceramic Wet was that whilst it was a great lube it was the worst lube I have ever had to try and clean off.
 
Last edited:

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
you clearly don't

wet lubing a motocross chain is completely different

I didn't mention "ceramic" it might as well say "gimmick" on the bottle
 

HORSPWR

E*POWAH Master
May 23, 2019
853
680
Alice Springs, Australia
you clearly don't

wet lubing a motocross chain is completely different

I didn't mention "ceramic" it might as well say "gimmick" on the bottle

Clearly I do.

You don't wet lube motocross chains as they are sealed with x-rings therefore nothing can penetrate down to the rollers and pins. Lubing an MX chain is just for sprocket and o-ring/x-ring lube/protection.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
I don't actually care about your motocross chain

You've just proven how utterly irrelevant bring it up was though.
 

Jamsxr

E*POWAH Master
Mar 30, 2019
519
634
Surrey
I used Muck off sparingly, and it seemed fine for the few years I used it, but switching to Pedro’s made me realise there was better stuff out there.

I guess it also depends on your local terrain, in and around the Surrey Hills the soil in naturally wet, very acidic sandy and loamy, it’s got the be one of the worst places in the UK for your drive chain.
 

khorn

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Patreon
Jul 19, 2018
980
1,055
Denmark
I’m waxing my chains and have done so for years now. I’m rotating 2 chains on my Levo and after more than 1800 km both chains are still below 0.5. As crud is not sticking to the chain/sprockets I can do around 150 to 200 km between each waxing, depending on how wet it have been. Trust me, Denmark is also quite wet and muddy during winter time but it works very well.

Waxing right now prior to a 3 weeks riding trip to Poland:

image.jpg


Karsten
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
You are obviously one of these forum warriors that shoots down everyone's opinion that differs from yours! Good luck with your pathetic life!
Hmm...
May I just remind you that it was YOU who waded in here attempting to shoot down a post of mine from 4 months back.

I've used wet lube on chains for decades. Applied well to a clean chain it doesn't cause a problem and doesn''t leave chains or cassettes difficult to clean after a ride.
Applied badly (or re-applied over existing dirty lube on a previously lubed dirty chain) it will attract more dirt, turn into a gunky paste and become difficult to remove/clean.
This isn't opinion. it's fact.
it's fairly obvious from the difficulty you had in removing it you hadn't applied it very well.

Please stop saying good luck.
luck doesn't come into it.
 
Last edited:

paquo

Well-known member
Jul 31, 2018
463
283
usa
LU2832_x1024.jpg

I use this thing every 4 or 5 rides, followed by squirt, then clean ride wax after each subsequent ride. It's a bit toxic but it takes like 2 minutes
 

HORSPWR

E*POWAH Master
May 23, 2019
853
680
Alice Springs, Australia
Hmm...
May I just remind you that it was YOU who waded in here attempting to shoot down a post of mine from 4 months back.

I've used wet lube on chains for decades. Applied well to a clean chain it doesn't cause a problem and doesn''t leave chains or cassettes difficult to clean after a ride.
Applied badly (or re-applied over existing dirty lube on a previously lubed dirty chain) it will attract more dirt, turn into a gunky paste and become difficult to remove/clean.
This isn't opinion. it's fact.
it's fairly obvious from the difficulty you had in removing it you hadn't applied it very well.

Please stop saying good luck.
luck doesn't come into it.
You see, that’s your assumption.
No, you started it. By stating that I was an idiot and was using the product wrong just because my opinion of a product was different to yours. How dare someone have the audacity to disagree with a product you are using. My initial comment had no malice or intent, it was my opinion about a product you were using. You snapped back, accusing me of being an idiot in the simple task of lubing a chain and you still are. All you’re doing is making yourself look like a dick!
And yes they’re all opinions, even yours, surprise surprise. My guess is everything you’ve ever learnt about MTBs is from other people smarter than you on this forum and then you just regurgitate it as fact.
If you disagree with what I have just said go back and re read your response to my original post.
 

Dax

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 25, 2018
1,731
2,112
FoD
You see, that’s your assumption.
No, you started it. By stating that I was an idiot and was using the product wrong just because my opinion of a product was different to yours. How dare someone have the audacity to disagree with a product you are using. My initial comment had no malice or intent, it was my opinion about a product you were using. You snapped back, accusing me of being an idiot in the simple task of lubing a chain and you still are. All you’re doing is making yourself look like a dick!
And yes they’re all opinions, even yours, surprise surprise. My guess is everything you’ve ever learnt about MTBs is from other people smarter than you on this forum and then you just regurgitate it as fact.
If you disagree with what I have just said go back and re read your response to my original post.

The thing to remember about arguing on the Internet, is that win or lose, you're still arguing on the Internet.

Also, use paragraph breaks if you expect people to read your posts.
 

HORSPWR

E*POWAH Master
May 23, 2019
853
680
Alice Springs, Australia
The thing to remember about arguing on the Internet, is that win or lose, you're still arguing on the Internet.

Also, use paragraph breaks if you expect people to read your posts.
Not really sure paragraph breaks are essential to reading a post but punctuation and good grammar might help.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
I didn't say you were an idiot HORSPWR. You did.

Stop making things up to make me feel better.

;)
 

Macone

E*POWAH Master
Oct 28, 2018
163
230
Wellington New Zealand
Pretty sure nothing would make you feel better, you’re a sad sack!
Mate
If you look around a lot of the threads on here you will notice the general trend from a particular post er. I normally apply the JellyStone Park principle with that guy. "Don't feed the bears". I personally appreciate your opinion and respect that you understand the difference between "having an opinion" and "being opinionated". Enjoy your bike mate and please keep posting your experiences. Cheers from New Zealand
 

HORSPWR

E*POWAH Master
May 23, 2019
853
680
Alice Springs, Australia
Mate
If you look around a lot of the threads on here you will notice the general trend from a particular post er. I normally apply the JellyStone Park principle with that guy. "Don't feed the bears". I personally appreciate your opinion and respect that you understand the difference between "having an opinion" and "being opinionated". Enjoy your bike mate and please keep posting your experiences. Cheers from New Zealand

Cheers Buddy, there are some awesome looking trails in NZ. Hoping to get over there in the next 12 months and try a few of them out. I'm a bit over all the rocky snot where I live and some loamy flowy trails would be a dream.
 

Macone

E*POWAH Master
Oct 28, 2018
163
230
Wellington New Zealand
Cheers Buddy, there are some awesome looking trails in NZ. Hoping to get over there in the next 12 months and try a few of them out. I'm a bit over all the rocky snot where I live and some loamy flowy trails would be a dream.
Mate, keep me posted, if you make it to Wellington, I would love to show you around some of the trails here. Alternatively if you cant get hold of a bike whilst you are in Wellington, we could catch up and I could loan you my Jam2, give you some directions and send you out.
 

HORSPWR

E*POWAH Master
May 23, 2019
853
680
Alice Springs, Australia
Mate, keep me posted, if you make it to Wellington, I would love to show you around some of the trails here. Alternatively if you cant get hold of a bike whilst you are in Wellington, we could catch up and I could loan you my Jam2, give you some directions and send you out.

Cheers, I'm looking forward to it, I'm riding Derby in Tasmania just after xmas this year. Apparently they've built an awesome ebike trail that goes all the way to St Helens so I'll give that one a shot too. And I'm doing some MTBing in Bali in a few weeks.
 

Doomanic

🛠️Wrecker🛠️
Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
8,735
10,401
UK
Cif bathroom moose is way cheaper for a bigger can and better than that.
spray it liberally on your entire drivetrain (after washing the worst of the mud off) leave for a minute or so and rinse off.
it leaves chains (and any other bare metal components) sparkling.
I tried this today. It's a fucking revelation! No messing about with chain cleaning devices and solvents of indeterminate ingredients. Just spray, wait a few minutes and rinse.
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,702
the internet
I tried this today. It's a fucking revelation! No messing about with chain cleaning devices and solvents of indeterminate ingredients. Just spray, wait a few minutes and rinse.
it's awesome stuff, eh?

Glad someone here actually believes some of the shit I type ;)

When selling a bike it makes the paint, spokes, hubs and rotors shiny AF too. Especially on bikes with powdercoated paint jobs.
 

craig landau

Active member
Dec 19, 2018
135
106
brisbane australia
im a x moto x racer too , our chains use to get put in a hot bath of oil to clean the mud out then a thin layer of tacky bel ray chain lube for each race . Back to the Ebike i dont know why there is a special Ebike chain oil but whats better for dusty conditions , i was thinking a dry ptfe type of lube , i would rather no oil so the dust doesnt build up
 

EMTB Forums

Since 2018

The World's largest electric mountain bike community.

556K
Messages
28,085
Members
Join Our Community

Latest articles


Top