How To Correctly Lubricate A Bike Chain | Mountain Bike Maintenance Skills
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- Keeping your chain lubed is much of a part of mountain biking as the actual riding part - yet it’s something often approached the wrong way. If you use the wrong lube in the wrong conditions - it just won’t do its job properly. Here is Doddy to help explain 🔧
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Love the simple, logical, no-nonsense approach, covering all the important details like applying lube to the inside of the rollers.
Makes no difference which side you lube - when you rotate the chain they will roll and the lube will get in where it's needed
Awesome great advice 👍 thanks
Is it just me but every time he says lube “ I’m not thinking chains 🙈
Important additional tip particularly for dry ceramic lubes like the Mucoff C3 : SHAKE the bottle correctly before applying :)
All I do is soaking a rag with motor oil (any engine oil will do) and pulling the chain through it.
That's it.
Repeat every week on rainy conditions and every month on dry conditions.
No special expensive chain oil needed and no degreaser or anything else.
Motor oil has everything needed, it works not only as a lubricant but also as a detergent and rust inhibitor, it has anti wear components, too. In winter it's thin enough and in summer thick enough due to it's viscostiy improvers it comes with when it is a multigrade oil which every motor oil nowadays is.
Like I said, everything ever needed is already in motor oil included.
There is no cheaper and more effective way to take care of your bicycle chain.
And if you wipe off excess oil your chain stays clean. Oil has a very high ability to crawl everywhere, wiping off the surface causes no problem to the lubrication as the oil finds its way to the places where it is needed. So even a dry wiped chain is still lubricated inside and the oil stays there as long as it is not washed out.
A dirty chain is a chain not wiped off properly and therefore was still too oily.
Agreed. I stopped cycling in the 1990s, back then if you wanted a slight performance edge & didn't care about chain life or everyday use you boiled your chain in paraffin wax. Everybody else just used whatever mineral oil was available, 3-in-one was popular as it came in a handy tin & could be used for lots other stuff. Now I'm cycling again there appears to be an entire industry devoted to misinforming people about the simplest bike maintenance job there is & selling them expensive cr@p 😂
@@papalegba6796 So true. People still believe in snake oil as long as it is expensive enough.
@@c.s.4273 surprised there isn't a bike oil literally called "snake oil", sure it'd sell if they paid enough useless waster UA-cam influencers to promote it.
Simple things that people often get wrong. Thank you for clearing it up once and for all!
Hi Doddy, for a late beginner rider with a new Marin Wildcat 5 hardtail whose slightly anxious about learning how to maintain my bike appropriately, I really appreciate your detailed videos. I've learnt so much from watching them. Keep up the excellent work! Thank you!
These guys are just marketing puppets. Don't follow everything they are telling you as the gospel. They are here on UA-cam to push products, bad products at that, and many money.
Thanks for a straight forward NO nonsense video. LOVE IT !
Very straight forward simplistic but detailed approach to chain maintenance and lubing your chain. Really like the part about measuring your chain to save your cassette. Thank you 😊
This was such a fantastic video mate. I’m learning how to maintain my bike and I’ve bought all the stuff but wanted to know how to clean and lube the chain. You told this in such an understandable way and I feel confident in doing my chain for the first time. Cheers buddy, you’re a star.
Very informative, no chit-chat, and gave me a good overview of lubricants a an added bonus.
25+ years mountain biking and just learned ive been doing it wrong. Thank you😀
The best and cheapest way I found to lube a chain is by dipping it in a coffee can with melted paraffin which covers the entire chain in a water-repellent anti-dirt sticking waxy layer. Dirt doesn't stick and it works in wet or dry conditions and best of all, paraffin is inexpensive. Sponsors use this type of UA-cam channel to promote their uber-expensive products which only work in limited circumstances (in this case only in dry or wet conditions) which forces the consumer to spend twice as much money having to buy two expensive products instead of one that works in all situations. UA-camrs, like politicians, get kickbacks for sponsoring expensive products and keep us from this type of valuable information. Many UA-cam channels promote expensive alternatives at the expense of their viewers and avoid sharing information that benefit "The People". UA-cam channels like this offer great information but viewers must discriminate between the commercial aspects embedded within.
need to take chain off. most people don't have tools
You should have mentioned that you need to take the chain off. Complete waste of time when there are alternatives.
@@Alex-xt9hn You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realize you need to remove the chain to put it in a coffee can...sheeze. A chain removal tool costs a few dollars, less than a bottle of solvent used to clean a chain and only takes a few minutes to remove. If you're mechanicaly challenged or just want convience and a simple off the shelf solution that won't be as effective as parafin then this method is not for you.
Ain't nobody got time for that
Yeah man, I keep my coffee can and petroleum right behind my sky hooks and cans of compression.
Heads up: Some dry lubes recommend 3-4 hours dry time, Silca has a wax biased dry lube that recommends 24 hours of dry time.
Thanks
Great video Doddy, as always. Keep em coming.
Used to use dry lube all year, and just clean and relube as necessary / after every ride
Now using wax lube, reapply every other ride after cleaning
No need for wet lubes unless you are doing mega long rides in the wet, which I avoid....
Very good video, simple and easy to follow guidance and covered all aspects. 👍
Thanks Doddy, really good video well explained 👍 understand much more better keep up the good work.
I used a work stand today for the first time .. damn fine piece of kit to have in the garage .. I almost turned the bike upside down & then remembered it was delivered yesterday . Great video , appreciate the information .
This is a important for people getting familiar with maintaining their own mountain bikes. Especially getting used to checking your chain wear regularly. I want to chase someone down the street with a bottle of chain lube when I hear a a dry squeaky drivetrain!
Easy cleanup , came as described fast. Great product
Very informative. Wish I knew these things years ago.
I rode for many years. Every day is a school day. Many thanks great straightforward video.
Great video with fantastic explanations.
I think I have made everyone of those mistakes. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Great video. Thanks for the tons of information.
Cheers Doddy, you’re the man! Appreciated.
with regards to putting the lube in the right place I go at GCN for this all the time... there's this effect called "gravity" which affects bike lube just as much as it affects every other liquid on the planet.
There's another effect called "capillary action" which is also at play with regards to lubricating the rollers.
when you put these two effects together suddenly it becomes obvious that it doesn't matter what side you butter your chain on.
that single drop of lube is going to flow around to the other side of the roller whether you put it on the top or the bottom. if you apply it to the top run of chain, the droplet flows around to the underside of the roller. And as the chain goes around the chain rings and cassette so does that droplet stay on the bottom side of the roller even as the roller turns while in contact with the actual gearing. as soon as the droplet hits the gear, the excess lubricant will transfer to the gear. The important part is making sure that the droplet spans from one plate to the opposite plate across the roller this way you're ensuring that the capillary action takes place to carry that lubricant between the roller and the pin, and between the the inner and outer plates where they meet.
Yea I've just lubed my chain with this video in mind - the rollers roll as soon as you start moving the chain so makes no difference. Also he seems to spray bucket loads onto his chain, I did a drop per roller which was enough to completely cover it, any more and I'd just be filling the link spaces with lube which would go all over chainring/casette.
There’s also this thing called viscosity that affect how well gravity and capillary action move the lube around the chain. What you said is technically correct, but it ignores several very critical variables in the real world of people lubing their bike chains. They don’t always do a perfect job. Some do it quick and some take their time. Some crank the chain around fast and some dawdle it around slowly. Some put plenty of lube on and some put barely enough to not enough. When you’re talking about an impefect application of lubricant in the first place, you will always get a better application and better performance by applying the lube to the inner side of the chain, preciesely because of the factors you mentioned. It maximizes the efficacy of an imperfect application, which is what you’re going to get in the real world with real people doing the job. This is the difference between pure science/math, and engineering and things like actuarial math for warranties and legal liability exposures, etc.
Your comment completely ignores the human element, which is odd because that element exists in 100% of all chain lube jobs that occur after the factory. You ignore it at your peril if you’re a manufacturer, OEM, or lubricant company, and that’s why they don’t ignore it. You as a cyclist are free to ignore it because you as a cyclist may have other compensating controls to negate its importance, but that doesn’t mean every other cyclist is doing the same. Good advice is good advice because it doesn’t take that factor for granted.
And all this time I been using lard and sand!
@@babybirdhome This is the most detailed and informative comment so far. Great job.
@@babybirdhome Interesting comments. Are there any controlled studies verifying that there is any significant difference between the results of using the the two methods?
Doddy is a beast. Wealth of knowledge 👏
Thank you, very informative, really appreciated
Nice video I've been waiting for this
Great tips doddy
Great explanation. Thanks!
wow, the thing of putting the lube in the inner part of the chain was so obvious, yet I have never thought of that! thanks a lot, I will follow that way from now on
Great information, much appreciated, thank you.
Great video Doddy, easy task that many people does it wrong, cheers
Way too overrated. I lube very rarely and apparently the "wrong" way, and yet never have I had a problem with a bike chain.
Handy to know as always.👍
Thank you for the very well put together how to and straight to the point video. I see you like Muc-off products, So do I 😊
I use synthetic automatic transmission fluid… works like a champ
Me too ! Very hard to beat
Great Info. Thank you.
What a well explained video.
thanks alot. i still watch this "boring subject" with much interest. We ride in dry / wet condition - depending if it rains (there is really no season these days), after washing and drying, I use dry lube. just before going out if it is wet, i add on wet lube on the chain.
Amazing video👍
Thx. Your a helpful Lad. Much appreciated.
I don't ride much but I found this very informative. Thanks.
I was just thinking about this , Good video
Amazing video!!!
Thanks for this video! Very helpful indeed :)
I use motor oil.After i lube the chain i whipe it off with a cloth.If the chain is dirty clean it with a cloth then lube it.I do this once a month, it looks clean every time and it's cheap.
Problem with flushing with a corrosion inhibitor is that it may prevent the lube itself sticking properly if the inhibitor has an oil and you are using a dry , wax based lube on top . Best to dry it properly beforehand imhe.
Great video
things like this is why i now understand why my chain locked up back around 2013 and i ended up with two fractured elbows, chain stretch, tho had no clue that was even a thing back then
Thanks big help.
Thank you!!!
Before watching, I thought why this video needs to be 12 mins? Didn't think there was much to it, but boy it does. Thank you
Very useful.
Great video, just the advice I currently need. Never ever considered a corrosion inhibitor. Would silicone lube do the job?
Great video! Is GT-85 still available. We used to call it tune-up in a can and use it for cleaning and lubing everything
I def never let dry lube evaporate, didn't think about that. Thanks
This video reminded me that I need to clean my chain.
It reminded me to remember to brush my teeth, take a shower and change my sheets.
@@erichbachman7363 Make sure to let your teeth fully dry before you apply the toothpaste. Then let the toothpaste sit in your teeth for 10 minutes, have a cup of tea, then rinse them and drink orange juice.
@@TheJofrica Thx, will consider it!
@@erichbachman7363 👍👍
I may give it a go, the dry stuff looks interesting and appropriate, I am still using GT 85 on my chain which is very generic nowadays
GT85, still the best.
Yes
Hello I have few doubts about chain cleaning post every ride. The chain get murky after every ride.
Does using a detergent on the chain surface removes the lubricant ?
I also have a chain degreser.
Do you recommend to decrease the chain after every ride since it's Monson season and the chain get murky after every ride ?
Which is better using a lube spray or the liquid lube ?
Your videos gives me a lot of knowledge and helps me understand my bike better and hence makes my rides more enjoyable. Kudos 🤘🤘
love the video
ty
I made a lubricant cocktail from Mobile One® motor oil, powdered graphite, powdered Teflon® and Genuine Ford Fluid XG-8-A PTFE Lubricant. Now my drive train runs like butter.
great video
Love the information what is up with the video quality?
Immersive waxing is the only way to go. Light years above everything else. It keeps my chain spotless clean and I only have to rewax once a month or less.
Thanks for that. Does all that advice apply to hybrid bikes too?
I don't lube the chain before I ride. I clean and lube it AFTER I ride, so dirt doesn't stay on the chain for too long and the lube has ample time to dry.
#askGMBNtech in the episode of how to correctly lube a chain. Which is the better way of cleaning a chain, if it is on the drivetrain using a chain cleaner or off the drivetrain using an ultrasonic cleaner and other off the drivetrain methods?
Used to do the whole shebang but decided not spent my time with cleaning, drying and lubing my chains any more (only after "wet rides" though). Got two additional chains and rotate them at 30% and 60% wear. Obviously, the ones stored away get properly cleaned and oiled, ready for the next rebirth. Saved me money for expensive special lubes and changing cassettes and sprockets for quite some Kms.
That's thinking outside the box!
@@rocketassistedgoat1079 I guess there are 1001 reasons not to do it "my way" but after 20+ years mountain biking mostly in dry conditions (had been living in southern Spain for two decades, now Alps) I just got fed up with lubricating and cleaning over and over again ... and the trick about rotating the chains is an old but gold one.
Gr8 idea.
Hey Doddy, great video. What sort of corrosion are you talking about? Aren't all good chains stainless?
Brilliant 👌
I'm testing with a polymer spray meant for vehicle paint. My thoughts are it will work like waxing your chain.. only on an even thinner level.
I've ceramic coated my matt black frame and fork and dirt just brushes off or gets knocked off while riding with ease. It's great. My hopes are that my chain will react similarly.
Motor oils have detergents in them to keep the inside of the engine clean. In my experience they are an excellent wet lube. They are very good in dry conditions too...if you like wiping your chain every 20k :)
Motor oils are expensive and for this purpose over engineered.
I just got here from another video of a really different drivetrain. I wonder how they feel like. It's called string bike, from what I see it's designed for commuter bike, but i wonder if they can be used for mountain biking purposes. Shifting even if you're not pedaling, now that would be nice! Doddy, what do you think about the string bike drivetrain?
Would using a chain cleaning device (eg. Park tool) with liquid WD-40 in the bath bit be a good way of cleaning the chain ? Oiling after it has dried.
I know this is supposed to be the end all and be all of chain lubing, but could you tell us more about using a rust inhibitor? Like, you just hit it with WD40, or? Thanks Doddy!
WD40 can not be used to "lube" anything. Its essentially a chemical mixture used to remove/loosen up dirt and rust. You "can" use WD40 to clean your chain, but its not effective. You will get the same result with soapy water, which is also much cheaper.
WD40 is the bike killer. It removes lubricant and leaves bare metal. Don’t Do It. Even if you just want to clean your chain there are better means, but for lubing and protecting the chain use a chain lube. WD-40 does make a “bike” formula, but I would not trust it near my bike. It’s like using Windex to do your dishes. Even if it works, there’s just much, much better options.
WD-40 is a dust magnet. But after a year after your comment I'm sure you figured that out.
Amsoil Metal protector is an aerosol that will penetrate the rollers and leave a bit of lubrication. They say not to wipe off the excess. Something like this which looks like WD-40 but is totally better, you have to apply every day. But it takes 30 seconds.
Every day? Every f***** day?
Aaah nah. I'm good, thanks.
@@justdev8965 i'm not going to do it every day either lol
Does corrosion inhibitor mean something like like WD-40? For example: Clean with chain degreaser/solvent, flush with water, spray with WD-40, wipe dry/let dry, lube.
Seems Doddy is fond of keeping his chain properly lubricated. I'm sure this won't be the "How to properly lube your chain..." video. Anyway, informative stuff as always!
Im not sold on bike lube beyond rust prevention. Oil attracts grit which accelerates wear. Dry lube can't stick to an oily chain. I just change my chain before it gets worn to protect the much more expensive cassette.
He says this at 7:40
I have trouble seeing the lubricant on my chain so the lubricant ends up overlapping on some of the links that I had just oiled a few seconds prior . I end up waisting expensive chain lubricant. Oh and yes I do have my glasses on when oiling the chain .
I would like to know what to do after applying degreaser to chain. I use Muc Off dry lube. Should I just wait until it supposedly evaporates, or rinse with water and dry chain with WD40, then apply lube. Also, is it ok to use ceramic the next time I lube chain after having used regular dry lube. And, how important is it to have a completely clean chain down to the metal to use dry lube after cleaning off wet lube with degreaser.. Hope I haven't driven you crazy with questions. I love your channel. Thanks
What about when using a brand new chain? Lube, not to lube, degrease then lube, ... ? Cheers for clarifying once and for all :)
Very good info; lots of useful stuff, here; typical Brit accent on this dude (I'm an American, although my ancestors come from a little place, ten miles north of the old center of London, a thousand years ago...ha ha ha...); and, seriously, is anyone crazy enough to ride a bike that fast, downhill, on those dirt trails, over roots and rocks, in the mud, in the rain?!? (Certainly not even ME, who was once TRULY certified...ha ha ha ha ha!) I flew downhill in the dark, a few nights ago, and wound up hugging a partially obscured STEEL GUARDRAIL, covered with weeds and vines--upside down, with a few extra cuts & bruises; I can only imagine what it'd be like losing control on one of those downhill mud-slalom runs, in the rain--not any more fun than that, I'm sure!
Yo Doddy, you didn’t mention anything about the Teflon All Weather Lube ( eg: Wilkinson’s) that I often use when the weather is well “mixed”. What say you?
nice bike
What kind of spray was applied there when he was talking about the three steps and protecting the chain? At about 07:15. Maybe you could also help me with the german term for whatever that stuff is. I never did that up to now.. usually i would just wait a bit and maybe let it go through a towel to "dry" it
Hey Doddy, could you possible go through the process of cleaning and relubing Shimano shifters (11-speed, and or 12-speed)?
try spray some wd-40 into them and click through a bit, good to do this with your regular clean as it'll keep them shifting smoothly and displace any water inside them. Gmbn will tell you to buy the whole park tools catalogue to dismantle them and everything muc off sell to clean them.
Wonderful information .... But such a "long winded " video Goodness gracious!
Whats your opinion on mixture of motor oil and oil thinner for lube?
Internal width does varry. Shimano use a more narrow link compared to SRAM
Have a word with Mr Ashton. He was telling us the other day not to bother cleaning our bikes 🤷♂️🤣
The only thing stopping me, other than price, from buying a X01/XX1 cassette is that I would want to clean my drivetrain too much. I'm on my 3rd or 4th chain on an NX cassette that's still good and I don't do much but add lube and wipe down when needed. I like any process that increases how much I can ride ....like just slapping lube on quick and having a backup chain ready when it's too stretched. And I thought I watched another video where the guys do just that ....slap on lube real quick before a ride and head out, every time. It makes sense in the wet UK, though.
Don’t want to use so many chemicals, like degreaser or water repellants or Teflon, don’t want to leave that in the forest mud. I use Rohloff Bio oel. I used muc off wet lub for some time but this gets very sticky. I even put the oil after bike wash on a not perfectly dry chain. I feel that the oil is displacing the water well. Never got corrosion issues on the chain. Here one week is dry the next is wet, so how would you change from dry to wet lubes. And even when it’s dry there is still mud in the forests. Therefore I only wet lubes.
What is the best solution for a bike that is ridden every day in wet and dry conditions? Where it is not practical to change lubricants every time the weather changes?
My bike guy told me spray some "Pam" on the rear gears and take it for a ride. It has oils and it has silicone to keep the dirt from sticking.
What were ya talking about between cleaning and lube to get the water out, what’s that product called?
try out immersion waxing and you never ever go back to any liquid oily lube. A good paraffin wax formulation (with WS2 or PTFE or both) allows for minimal friction and stiction, does not trap dirt whatsoever and therefore makes the chain last many times longer and the cassette too. Same holds true for the chainring, especially aluminium chainrings are subjected to abrasion from the dirty oil film on the surface of the rollers. Abrasion leads to hook formation which eventually wraps the chain around the chainring.
The best part of waxed chains is that you don't need to do anything until the next waxing after roughly 200km. And the process of rewaxing is a piece of cake: remove the chain (that's where Connex chains shine), drop it in boiling water, take it out (or drain the water), let it dry a while, put it in the liquid wax bath, take it out and put it back on the bike. no smudge, no dirty hands, negligible wear on your components. And no chance of contaminating your brakes.
Agree, the only correct way as proven.
I've been putting a drop on each roller rather than just holding it and running the chain. I thought over doing it meant more gunk could get stuck.