Peaky Rider
E*POWAH Master
In the last thirty odd years I've tried allsorts but for the last couple of years have settled on bike oil from Wilkos (produced by Weldtite). £2.00 a bottle. Excess needs to be wiped off though.
Interesting experiment with chain life
- Thread starter lightning
- Start date
Garry
Member
I have used 'just' GT85 for years on MTBs and road bikes and have had excellent chain life. I clean the chains with it, too. Funnily enough, even though my motorbike has an x-ring chain, I still use chain lube even though I suspect that it's pointless. I suppose it's the thought of a motorcycle chain snapping at high speed .....
Slapbassmunky
Active member
- Thread starter
- #34
Okay, the bike is now on 2,400 miles
which is 1,000 miles on the new chain, lubricated only with GT-85 every other ride.
Chain checker says 0.25 so there's no measurable wear after 1,000 miles.
ln addition the drive train and chain are still clean, and not covered in black gunge from oil.
The experiment continues
l remember back in the 1990's when l was on a MTB weekend with a friend, he was using GT-85 on his chain and l thought "all that will do is stop it from rusting"
Maybe my friend was on to something all those years ago.
which is 1,000 miles on the new chain, lubricated only with GT-85 every other ride.
Chain checker says 0.25 so there's no measurable wear after 1,000 miles.
ln addition the drive train and chain are still clean, and not covered in black gunge from oil.
The experiment continues
l remember back in the 1990's when l was on a MTB weekend with a friend, he was using GT-85 on his chain and l thought "all that will do is stop it from rusting"
Maybe my friend was on to something all those years ago.
My Cube is on it's original cassette and just short of 1800 miles, I've gone through about 5 chains though, just the cheap shimano ones or kmc. The cassette looks good still too.
Cleaned and oiled after every ride unless it's completely dry and dirt free, I'm just using any oil I have laying around though.
Steve
Cleaned and oiled after every ride unless it's completely dry and dirt free, I'm just using any oil I have laying around though.
Steve
Just think how many chains you would have saved if you didn't keep fitting them to a worn cassette.
QUOTE="Bearing Man, post: 353676, member: 1308"]
Just think how many chains you would have saved if you didn't keep fitting them to a worn cassette.
[/QUOTE]
It's not worn though as I change my chains early.
However if I wanted to change the (shimano 12 speed) cassette I can't get one at the moment so I'm better changing chains and keeping the cassette in good condition until they're easily available again.
Steve
Just think how many chains you would have saved if you didn't keep fitting them to a worn cassette.
[/QUOTE]
It's not worn though as I change my chains early.
However if I wanted to change the (shimano 12 speed) cassette I can't get one at the moment so I'm better changing chains and keeping the cassette in good condition until they're easily available again.
Steve
- Thread starter
- #38
Well, nobody is picking up on the fact that l've now done 1,000 miles on a single chain and there's no measurable wear.
Also the cassette is still fine, l tried a new chain on it yesterday just to check if it jumped in the high gears....it didn't.
I am using the cheapest SRAM chains l can get, they are around £30
Also the cassette is still fine, l tried a new chain on it yesterday just to check if it jumped in the high gears....it didn't.
I am using the cheapest SRAM chains l can get, they are around £30
It'll be interesting to see how far you get on the one chain, I fitted a new chain to my dads analogue bike and the smallest ring is so worn the chain jumps, but thats done about 12k km with my dad so it's had a good life.
- Thread starter
- #41
Now 1200 miles of only using GT-85 on the chain
Weather here is pretty bad at this time of year, so most rides are muddy/wet.
Last nights was no different.
Drive train has remained clean because there's no sticky oil being used, although l would have been looking at a new cassette by now probably and a third new chain.
Weather here is pretty bad at this time of year, so most rides are muddy/wet.
Last nights was no different.
Drive train has remained clean because there's no sticky oil being used, although l would have been looking at a new cassette by now probably and a third new chain.
- Thread starter
- #43
After every ride in this weather, followed by wiping off the excess while turning the cranks (bike on a workstand)
l spray it onto the chain from about an inch away while it's going round the cassette, so any excess just ends up on the cassette
l spray it onto the chain from about an inch away while it's going round the cassette, so any excess just ends up on the cassette
greengenes
Member
I steer well away from we lubes, as they immediately attract muck and probably contribute to speedy wear. I use dry lube all year; obviously a copious regular coating on the chain over wet months is required. Important to wipe off excess after application, otherwise it just attracts dirt.
steve_sordy
Wedding Crasher
You don't want any lube on the cassette. To adapt your technique, I would hold a cloth behind the lower strand of chain and spray then.
The other problem of spraying near the cassette is increased risk of brake pad contamination. Do the spraying in the middle of the lower strand and you are nowhere near anything to be bothered about.
I’m interested.
What would be great is if Adam at Zero Friction Cycling in Australia used his test rig to assess GT-85 (Home - Zero Friction Cycling).
I don’t see how getting Adam to test GT-85 could be arranged, but maybe @lightning you could just email him and cite this thread, simple as that?
But he would agree with your assessment that virtually everything that comes out of a bottle or can to be squirted in a chain has little effect, other than accelerating wear.
The reason has already been given: putting must things on attracts grit which is ground so fine it gets between the plates and wears the rollers. More lube doesn’t move that and attracts more grit. So, whilst I’m guessing, I recon he’d not be surprised by your findings. His rig demonstrates what a few have already said here, namely that formal wax methods help a lot. He also shows how that’s quite an easy thing to do. Wax works because it fills the gaps between the plates and rollers which prevents that grit getting in to grind that ‘bearing’. And the wax doesn’t come out easily if you use the correct wax. It just stays there lubricating the ‘bearing‘ at every link. It comes out more quickly on muddy MTB rides than dry tarmac road rides, obvz and so slooshing with water and sometimes re-waxing is done more often for mtb.
I use wax and get great duration too (I also rotate 2 chains which helps maintain the cassette and chain ring).
You’ll find Adam gets extraordinary duration from waxing the hardest wearing chains (SRAM XX1, as long as the sticky stuff it comes painted with is completely removed before anything else, including from the rollers and between the plates, which takes a bit of messing about with turps then meths). You’ve got a lot more riding to do yet to show GT-85 would compete with wax on his test rig - OK, I know that’s not a fair comparison, but I hope you get the point I’m trying to make, if not go and look at the test and how long the best chains/cassettes/chain rings last when correctly prepped.
His test takes account of quite a lot of things we’d all like to see. It doesn’t fall into the traps some other methods do that relate to failing to stress the chain (tension) in the same way cycling does. He has phases with the ‘test lube’, dry, with water, with a ‘standard’ dirt and all with the appropriate chain cleaning regime for the ‘test lube’. He also gets asked by manufacturers to test their products, but won’t do that unless his results can be published by him independently - his blog documents the stories of how manufacturers commonly end up pulling out of using his system. In other words, his business model encourages his independence.
Perhaps he has tested it? I haven’t seen that on his site, but that’s as verbose as my posts here, so perhaps I missed it
He’s started YT vids this year: I find them informative, but he’s got a few production skills to learn - here’s episode 2 of 10 about types of lubricant
What would be great is if Adam at Zero Friction Cycling in Australia used his test rig to assess GT-85 (Home - Zero Friction Cycling).
I don’t see how getting Adam to test GT-85 could be arranged, but maybe @lightning you could just email him and cite this thread, simple as that?
But he would agree with your assessment that virtually everything that comes out of a bottle or can to be squirted in a chain has little effect, other than accelerating wear.
The reason has already been given: putting must things on attracts grit which is ground so fine it gets between the plates and wears the rollers. More lube doesn’t move that and attracts more grit. So, whilst I’m guessing, I recon he’d not be surprised by your findings. His rig demonstrates what a few have already said here, namely that formal wax methods help a lot. He also shows how that’s quite an easy thing to do. Wax works because it fills the gaps between the plates and rollers which prevents that grit getting in to grind that ‘bearing’. And the wax doesn’t come out easily if you use the correct wax. It just stays there lubricating the ‘bearing‘ at every link. It comes out more quickly on muddy MTB rides than dry tarmac road rides, obvz and so slooshing with water and sometimes re-waxing is done more often for mtb.
I use wax and get great duration too (I also rotate 2 chains which helps maintain the cassette and chain ring).
You’ll find Adam gets extraordinary duration from waxing the hardest wearing chains (SRAM XX1, as long as the sticky stuff it comes painted with is completely removed before anything else, including from the rollers and between the plates, which takes a bit of messing about with turps then meths). You’ve got a lot more riding to do yet to show GT-85 would compete with wax on his test rig - OK, I know that’s not a fair comparison, but I hope you get the point I’m trying to make, if not go and look at the test and how long the best chains/cassettes/chain rings last when correctly prepped.
His test takes account of quite a lot of things we’d all like to see. It doesn’t fall into the traps some other methods do that relate to failing to stress the chain (tension) in the same way cycling does. He has phases with the ‘test lube’, dry, with water, with a ‘standard’ dirt and all with the appropriate chain cleaning regime for the ‘test lube’. He also gets asked by manufacturers to test their products, but won’t do that unless his results can be published by him independently - his blog documents the stories of how manufacturers commonly end up pulling out of using his system. In other words, his business model encourages his independence.
Perhaps he has tested it? I haven’t seen that on his site, but that’s as verbose as my posts here, so perhaps I missed it
He’s started YT vids this year: I find them informative, but he’s got a few production skills to learn - here’s episode 2 of 10 about types of lubricant
Last edited:
It's all I use and I don't get any premature wear.
Great fo my clippers aswell
Very interesting thread. I use dry lube as much as possible as I find wet lube just gets so much muck everywhere. I tend to get less than half the distance from a chain in the winter on wet lube than with dry lube in the summer.
I'm tempted to give this a go when I change the chain next. Worse that will happen is a chain worn out a little early!
I'm tempted to give this a go when I change the chain next. Worse that will happen is a chain worn out a little early!
@thebarber I use large animal clippers for my horses. I’m assuming you’d recommend GT-85 for them too - I use ‘clipper oil’ which works, but it’s hard to avoid a stain on the horse’s coat after lubing.
Thanks! I have these V-Series Premium Variable Speed Clipper . I use this oil that does tarnish the coat Horse Clipper Oil 100ml . My daughter uses this stuff and now I think about it, it’s probably not much different than GT-85 and it doesn’t stain Andis 5 in 1 Blade Cool Care for Horses
Beekeeper
🍯Honey Monster🍯
It's not worn though as I change my chains early.QUOTE="Bearing Man, post: 353676, member: 1308"]
Just think how many chains you would have saved if you didn't keep fitting them to a worn cassette.
However if I wanted to change the (shimano 12 speed) cassette I can't get one at the moment so I'm better changing chains and keeping the cassette in good condition until they're easily available again.
Steve
[/QUOTE]
that’s a very good point. I think I’ll change my chain earlier until the cassettes become more available and cheaper
And the next cassette is one of the few things worth keeping an eye out for at a decent price. See it —> buy it —> put it on the shelf. Same for the next tyre. It’s paid off for me over the last 12 months.
I've just been using GT85 on my chain for the last few rides, and I have to say, I've never seen the drivetrain look so clean in the winter!
A quick hose off over it all at the end if the ride and all the mud just washes away. Dont know what its doing for longevity, but so far I would give it a thumbs up.
Its almost time for a new chain, so will see how long a new one lasts just doing this.
A quick hose off over it all at the end if the ride and all the mud just washes away. Dont know what its doing for longevity, but so far I would give it a thumbs up.
Its almost time for a new chain, so will see how long a new one lasts just doing this.
I switched to using spray silicone lubricant when clipping the horses. No colouring/tarnishing (I assume you mean when clipping and not other times you might have lubed ..
) and the hairs don't stick to the clippers like they do with the oil.Just over 100miles on the new chain just hosing off after each ride and then spraying with GT85. Riding through slop in the forest which completely covers the chain in the first few 100m.
The drivetrain looks like new. All the crap just washes straight off by running the hose over it. No notable chain wear so far, but early days of course. Will be interesting to see how it continues, but liking it so far!
I think ill stick with dry lube in the summer, but for the winter, this looks like a way forward, even if just for ease of cleaning.
The drivetrain looks like new. All the crap just washes straight off by running the hose over it. No notable chain wear so far, but early days of course. Will be interesting to see how it continues, but liking it so far!
I think ill stick with dry lube in the summer, but for the winter, this looks like a way forward, even if just for ease of cleaning.
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