Lubing for long distance...

[Cudzoziemiec]

I sometimes lube my bikes' chains indoors. I have a small area of plastic on top of the carpet where they live, and just put a drop on each roller.  It helps to have a tolerance for bikes in living spaces, but it sounds like you have that already.

[Brucey]

Yep. 

I once tried a two week, 1500 mile tour and forgot to pack oil.  The chain noise drove me crazy until I found a shop to buy lube!

a good dodge is to raid the bins at a garage for an 'empty' container of motor oil. Invariably there is enough in the bottom of an empty oil  bottle to keep a bicycle chain happy for many hundreds of miles. I usually carry a small bottle of oil and if I run out I refill it this way for free!

BTW if lubing a chain on a bike parked downstairs from a flat, I'd use a small oil bottle which I'd take with me (on one ride after lubing) or I'd find somewhere to stash the oil bottle.  Often such flats have a lockable mailbox downstairs; that'd do, wouldn't it...?

cheers

[sojournermike]

So do people doing long tours, or things like the TCR apply chain lube daily ?

I would say that if you want not to wear your chainrings and cassette, you will be lucky to get to 2000km before the chain needs replacing, regardless of the maintenance regime.

If the chain goes more than ~0.7% it takes the cassette out and if it goes more than ~1.5% it takes out the most used chainrings too.

cheers

Pleased to read this, as it makes me think I'm not being daft. I checked the chain on the GF Ti the other night. Decided to replace before riding again after 2,600km. These included some shockingly dirty rides.

[Kim]

I sometimes lube my bikes' chains indoors. I have a small area of plastic on top of the carpet where they live, and just put a drop on each roller.  It helps to have a tolerance for bikes in living spaces, but it sounds like you have that already.

This is my approach.  Stand the bike on a plastic 'granny mat'^[1], position some tissue under the drippy bits (jockey wheels, ends of chain tubes) just in case, apply lube carefully and wipe off the excess.

Show this suggestion to a Dutch person and I expect they'll have hysterics.


_{[1] Essential for protecting the carpet from wet/muddy/snowy bikes as they dry off.}

[Paul H]

I've never found it a bother to slap some cheap lube on whenever it's needed, I like to apply at the end of a ride (so I don't forget) and wipe off just before the next one. 
For bike maintenance indoors I have a 50m roll of thin decorators sheet, a fiver from Wilcos
http://www.wilko.com/wallpaper-paste-preparation/wilko-functional-protection-roll-2-x-50m/invt/0343139?nst=0&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsNfOBRCWARIsAGITapaTZ1PQPhWwwodjIdHz49PFJySfazq54Sse61ykvkloE3T7QIkAvsAaAq0mEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

OT - If you haven't already, the way to prolong chain life is to fit long front mudflaps, this will IMO do more than any change of lube.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Long and wide, width just as important as length I'd say. Keeps the whole bb area clean. Even does a little for pedals and toes.

[Morat]

Mudguards/flaps are superb. I fitted some to my "best bike" intending to take them off again for summer but was wowed by having dry feet/back and far less crud on the important bits of the bike.

I just use Finish Line Red. I did a semi scientific experiment when I put Finish Line Ceramic on one bike and Red on the other. The ceramic stuff seemed to pick up more fine grit and hate water more than red. I'm going to stick with red in future. I know you "shouldn't" use dry lube in rain but Green is just a gunkfest and I'd rather throw more dry lube at the chain and keep going.

I'd also recommend applying lube the night before use where possible. One of my biking friends is an enthusiastic Luber and insists of spraying chain lube at his bike before every ride usually about two minutes before departure. Of course it just flings off everywhere in the first ten minutes so he puts even more on next time.

[Chinaski]

I have never found anything to match Purple Extreme.

I have found the same.

Starting using it on an well ridden drivetrain; crank with 40k km and maybe 15k km on cassettes. Rather than getting 5-6k km out of chain I got 9k km before .7% chain wear. In that 9k km there was around 10 rides of 300km or over; varying between light rain to some every wet rides.

2 min application to clean and lube chain in one go. Lubed every 300-400km.

Crank still on bike with well over 50k km on it now.

With price of 10 speed parts you won't save a lot, but they are cheap anyhow. For convenience I wouldn't go back to traditional lube. Might try some of the other solvent based lubes next

[Hot Flatus]

I've bought a bottle of Purple Extreme on the strength of recommendations in this thread. It's not the cheapest lube out there but on the strength of one ride of 130 miles, I'm pleased. The chain and sprockets are still clean.

Up until now Ive been using Prolink Profile, but I may have a new favourite.

[Jurek]

My mate Tolly's company are distributors for Purple Extreme.
I was using PE before I was introduced to Tolly by a mutual, non-cycling friend.
No, I've never received any freebies or mate-rate PE from him - and why would I? It is his livelihood.
Having said that, Tolly has always encouraged me to use PE in as many applications as I can think of, aside from my bicycle chains.
He's a canny lad.
I notice that the current bottles have a much larger orifice through which the oil pours than those of around 8 years ago 
FWIW I've tried various chain lubes over the years, I've yet to find one which ticks as many boxes as PE does. I rarely ride off-road.

[Ian H]

I've been using Finish Line green for years—quite happy with it.  However, this Purple Extreme sounds interesting.

i lubed the chain once on pbp; didn't lube during the 24hr tt (772km), lubed every other day during the tcr** and/or every time it dried out after the storm. i don't count the kilometers on my commuter bike, but as soon as there is any hint of dry noise* the chain gets cleaned and lubed.

Dry lube on the TT machine, though.

[sojournermike]

This does raise the question of whether any of these lubes can  tend 11 speed chain life to something consistently beyond 1500 miles?

[Ian H]

This does raise the question of whether any of these lubes can  tend 11 speed chain life to something consistently beyond 1500 miles?

Someone opined that 11-speed chains last longer than 10s, because they're manufactured to higher tolerances.  Can anyone confirm this?

[quixoticgeek]

I picked up a bottle of chain-l lube. Will see how well it performs, will try purple extreme next.

J

[mattc]

This does raise the question of whether any of these lubes can  tend 11 speed chain life to something consistently beyond 1500 miles?

Someone opined that 11-speed chains last longer than 10s, because they're manufactured to higher tolerances.  Can anyone confirm this?

They do everything better.

Because 11 is ... well, 1 better, innit. Obviously.

[Did this "someone" work for the bike industry? ]

[Hot Flatus]

This does raise the question of whether any of these lubes can  tend 11 speed chain life to something consistently beyond 1500 miles?

Someone opined that 11-speed chains last longer than 10s, because they're manufactured to higher tolerances.  Can anyone confirm this?

I can confirm that they don't last longer than 10sp.

(but 11sp is better than 10sp)

[stevie63]

I picked up a bottle of chain-l lube. Will see how well it performs, will try purple extreme next.

J

I use chain-l. It is generally long lasting, so much so that I don't remember my last application. To one of the other posters, I easily get 2500 plus on an 11 speed chain ridden year round in all conditions.

[ChillyPanda]

Maximum mileage between applications is my main criteria for a lube. The less frequently I get oily hands the better.

Although it's not the best for keeping my chain clean, I find that a liberal application of Finish Line Green will comfortably see me through a wet 600km audax without having a squeaky chain by the end.

[andrew_s]

I find that the longest lasting chain lube is whatever it is that they put on at the factory.
Once that's gone, I use Finish Line Green

[the snail]

Finish line ceramic wet is good, lasts like the green, but much less gunky than the green stuff.

[andrew_s]

I've bought a bottle of Purple Extreme on the strength of recommendations in this thread. It's not the cheapest lube out there but on the strength of one ride of 130 miles, I'm pleased. The chain and sprockets are still clean.

On the other hand, testing has shown that you get as much drag using Purple Extreme (as compared with Extra Virgin olive oil, say) as you do running a dynohub, lights off.
(friction facts website, but it's paywalled nowadays)

[Stretch]

I've discovered Squirt this year, doesn't seem to attract as much grit as other dry lubes I've used. Lasts well too.

What sort of distance?

J

Sorry, just seen this. I'd say around 300m between applications but that's only an off the top of my head figure, and then I've probably reapplied it more out of guilt than necessity

[Phil W]

I use finish line wet lube.

Done about 1,800km since last application.  But that is on a recumbent, chain tubes, running an 8 speed chain, and with a hub gear.  No squeaky dry noises yet.

[andrew_s]

If you haven't already, the way to prolong chain life is to fit long front mudflaps, this will IMO do more than any change of lube.

Long and wide, width just as important as length I'd say. Keeps the whole bb area clean. Even does a little for pedals and toes.

Prompted by Thursday night's rain, and cleaning the resulting crud off the new bike, I've just fitted a proper front mudflap - 18 cm wide, and 1 cm short of the ground. It's half a hot water bottle from Poundstretcher - the neck makes a nice neat fit round the end of the mudguard.

[zigzag]

being so wide it may flap about too much; i'd cut it down to 5-7cm as almost all of the spray comes from the central part of the tyre.