WD40 to Lubricate Your Bike Chain
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- Опубліковано 28 сер 2024
- The WD40 Specialist series bike line is not to be confused with original WD40. These are bicycle specific products that work really well. I use it as a quick lube for my MTB
WD40 bike chain lube: amzn.to/3uF90QK
Dummy hub helps too: amzn.to/3JHEslK
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WD 40 is not a lubricant. It is a solvent. It is a water dispersal formula. WD stands for water dispersal, 40 is the indication that it is the 40th formula they have come up with.
it should actually be called WD 41 because they changed WD-40 several years ago to make it non-flammable. WD-40 used to be an excellent starting fluid, until they made it non-flammable.
WD-40 is not a lubricant, it is a solvent. It will actually rinse any grease or oil you have on a part that you’re trying to lube, it will rinse the oil and grease away and then it will evaporate and you will have no lubrication
You didn’t watch the video did you? 😂
@@TonyHob
I didn’t watch the video because I see people with from time to time using WD-40 as a lubricant. Here is how I found out it is not a lubricant
when I first started working for the company I recently retired from back in the 70s. I was a meter reader. I had a rural route. I was getting in and out of the car once a minute some days for six hours a day it seemed. Opening and closing the car door open close open close open close.
One day my door hinge started squeaking. I stopped in at our maintenance garage and borrowed a can of WD-40 and I sprayed the door hinge heavily with it while I was there getting oil and checking my tires.
later that day the door hinge started howling as I opened and closed the door like two ships sideswiping each other, like a train wheel on the tracks in a tight corner..
then the door would not close. I thought that was odd because I had just lubricated the door with WD-40 very heavily that morning. As hard as I tried call as hard as I dared to try to close the door, it would not close, not even if I lifted up on the door while leaning on it from outside the car. The door was stuck almost all the way open..
I was a been a mechanic in my past, I called our garage.. I told them to send a tow truck because this vehicle cannot be transported with the door open like that on a tow truck..
they sent a flatbed tow truck. The mechanic tried to get the door to close. We both tried, he squirted it with oil. I told him I tried that earlier this morning to lubricate the hinge. I told him I used WD-40. The mechanic or a big grin on his face he said oh that’s what happened. He said all you did was rinse away any possible grease that was still on the hinge with that solvent. That’s why it gaulded / seized..
The mechanic actually unbolted the hinges from the door post, put the door in the backseat of the car, and we both went back to the garage. Three days later I got my company car back with new hinges installed..
that is when I learned the hard way that WD-40 is not a lubricant. That’s also when I learned with WD stands for, water dispersal, formula number 40, used to disperse water on wet electronic components such as distributor caps, and ignition wires..
if you think the WD-40 lubricated chains on your bicycles, be my guest. What you’re probably doing is loosening any oil in the area and making it flow into the parts that need lubricated by capillary action being carried by the solvent called WD-40. It will mix in a detergent action with any grease or oil in the area, and make that grease or oil flow throughout the area in capillary action to those areas that it was scraped out of the way in an action called shearing. but that’s it..
get a motorcycle chain or a bicycle chain it is a little bit black and dirty greasy with oil, and spray it with aerosol oil and watch what happens. That doesn’t clean the chain, it just recoats the chain with oil. Then spray it with WD-40 and what happens, all that stuff is rinsed off of the chain with the “solvent “, and the chain looks like it’s just wet and brand new.. that’s what solvents do..If you spray it long enough with WD-40, it won’t thoroughly rinse any remnants of grease or oil off the chain, then let it sit, and then it will be almost dry as the solvent evaporates..
mini spray greases, waxes, oils, have something similar to WD-40 mixed in with them. That’s why they say to shake the can. It’s so that that can carry the oil into parts that need lubricated, and then the solvent evaporates and leaves the oil behind. Many Sprague Reeses and oils for chains will say this right on the label. It goes on like water and leaves the thick grease behind.. that is what’s happening when you spray WD-40 on a bicycle or motorcycle chain, you are just making that grease and oil that has accumulated on the chain mix with the solvent call WD-40 and flow again into the parts that it was squeezed out of is the chain was working..
If they called a lubricant, I guess you can because even at times water is a lubricant. I don’t know how much film strength water has, but it’s better than nothing in many cases
@@TonyHob
no I didn’t watch.. because it’s a rehash of people trying to say that WD-40 is actually a lubricant. I have known for decades that it is not, unless their new formula which they changed a few years ago to make it non-flammable has somehow changed. Does it have film strength, anti-sheer Additives? That is oils ability to with stand shearing..
over the decades I have actually talked to people that swear that WD-40 rubbed on their knees, when they have arthritis flareup, helps with the pain. I also talked to a man that used it to clean out his ears. He was an old motorcycle guy that had his own shop until he died, he previously was a Harley test rider back in the 30s and 40s, he actually named his dog Willie G after you know who that he knew as a little kid growing up..
WD-40 the old formula, was a good starting fluid before they made it non-flammable.
would you use gasoline as chain lube or engine oil ? sure it’s petroleum-based, but it is not a lubricant either..
But please please be my guess, go ahead and put it in your crank case of your car if you want, use it as brake fluid if you want, take a bath in it if you want. Just leave me out of it
@@Jodyrides Yeah, you didn't watch the video. He explicitly says at the very beginning that regular WD-40 is not a lubricant. However, the company does sell a specially formulated bike lubricant under the WD-40 brand, which I think is confusing, but nevertheless, your criticisms of the video are off the mark.
@@Jodyrides Whoooosh
I have always used Hilco Lube! Better than WD-40. It never dries plus with electric e-bikes it's safer than WD-40. Hilco Lube is expensive,but a can goes along way. Also the best rusty nut breaker I ever found. There's a video on UA-cam about Hilco Lube and it's uses. Thanks for another great video! ❤️
I messed around with LOTS of chain maintenance last year after building a couple mid drive ebikes and doing 30+ miles a day on each of them. The cassette does not need to be lubed; the pins & rollers of the chain are what need lube. That WD40 stuff is OK, but it's a tiny bottle, and I'm not sure if its a cleaner AND lube in one- I think it's just a lube. The spray lubes usually go all over the place and are not economical. For aerosol spray lubes, I like the Finish Line 1 Step Cleaner & Lube - it comes in a drip bottle version as well. In the past I would spray that for a couple complete rotations of the chain to really blast it in the chain and clean it, then use the (less wasteful) drip bottle to lube each roller+pin. Since half of the aerosol lube usually misses your chain, I try to spray it on the chain where it goes through the jockeywheels of the derailleur- so you are at least lubing two birds with one stone and putting some of that over-spray lube into use. The 1 step cleaner+lubes are quick and easy, but not the BEST at cleaning or lubing, and don't last long. For me they would barely last one 30mi ride and thats it. I used 1 step until i found wax lubes, which lube the inside of the chain, and ALSO coat the chain in wax. The wax coating sheds contaminants and prevents the inside of the chain from becoming dirty. For the initial application, you do need to clean the chain really good with mineral spirits, and then I completely submerge the chain in the wax. I'll admit the initial application takes a few minutes. BUT then after that initial application, you can put more wax back on with a drip bottle after each ride. The wax is kinda self-cleaning, and you can go much longer intervals without needing to clean the chain again. For me its worth putting in the time to wax the chain, when it works so good and saves me lots of cleaning and solvent. That's another thing about wax I'd emphasize - in general wax lubes can be removed with really hot water and a detergent, so after the initial application you don't need a solvent to clean the chain, and in the long run you end up using much less solvent. Finish Line has both a dry and wet version of their ceramic wax lubes. And there is White Lightning Clean which is similar to the finish line ceramic dry wax. They are available in big jugs like 28oz etc at a cheaper price. Thats the best i've found and my go-to method at this point.
Like I say in the video, I only use this between actual chain maintenance every few rides. It’s only a lube, no cleaning power. Nice write up though
@@TonyHob It was not my intention to offend you or burden anyone with a "write up". I'm just a guy in the comments offering my thoughts about spray lubes, and lube in general.
@@EBikeBuilder_ whatever gave you the idea that I am offended or burdened? Maybe the “like” I gave your post? It’s a good write up, did you want me to say it was bad? For whatever reason you seem to be the one offended 🤷
I use the Homemade wax method. The best thing ever but my friend hate it ha. He trust more the lubes as shown in the video.
@@junboo8730 what type of riding do you do? Years ago (actually decades, lol) I used wax for my road bike but I have never tried it on my MTB. Curious to know how well it works for mountain biking
I hav me friends that do it every single ride and their bikes are fantastic. I do all sorts of maintenance and can’t tell a difference in results at all, but huge difference in wallet, I just can’t try it on my bikes as they’re too expensive
the spray lubes are usually a dry lube that gets dirty quite fast, so you apply every ride for best results. Its quick and easy but i'd say depending on the conditions only lasts like 10 - 20 miles until the chain is screaming for more. That wd40 spray bottle is so small you could easily bring it with on a ride. In terms of value and $$ though the spray lubes are not economical. If you ride a lot and are using the spray every time it can get expensive fast.
Dupont chain lub is the best. It's wax base. It attracts least dirt.
Designed for chain saw, works great on bike chain.
I’m going to check it out 👍
I’ve had very good luck with the Dupont stuff too!
Wax base? Dry film base? Non stick? 3 choices. Which do you use? Please
Or you can use the straw that’s given with it. That lets it spray directly where you want it.
@@TonyHob I cleaned mine drive chain today. I’ll spray it down with WD for bikes tomorrow. Trailing on Thursday if the weather permits.
The red color stick is the straw right beside your can isn't it?
@@TonyHob You didn't lose it.... its taped to the side of your can! 🤣 It's visible in the video.
Yeah, crazy how people would click on this video when you mislead them to think it's about something that it's not...
That's a little thing called "Click Bait". 🤦
I used WD-40 to lube my chain, where’s the click bait? Your ignorance of WD-40 products is your own fault. That’s actually the purpose of the video and you clicked to criticize. That’s on you.
BTW, read the pinned comment and replies. Great example of people jumping to conclusions
That cardboard is a great idea. My gf was just talking about getting some plastic disk shield from Amazon. This is even better!!
Shower caps from the dollar store work great too
I use that same thing
Will motor oil work?
That's a tiny bottle or comtainer for $6 or $7. I would let it dribble on the chain, not spray it. You just barley press the button to let it dribble. Let the straw touch the chain.
What should I use on a bike that has a lot of rust?There is rust where the handles and the fork meet,the chain is also rusty and other spots too.We got this Schwinn bike for my daughter,which was not ridden much but kept outside,so most likely rained on.
You will need a rust remover like Evaporust
I used to use wd40 on my cheap mtb when I was little. Never had any issue.
Wd40 bike…. That looks to messy to be honest. As it cloud and aerosol … you can’t guarantee that it won’t go into pads.
I've bought some but haven't used it yet. Came here to watch a few use it. Wondering why you didn't use the red tube & spray downwards close to the front sprocket to avoid getting it on the gears.
I lost it 😂
Getting lubricant on the cassette is not a problem. You're going to get some transfer from the chain to the sprockets just through normal riding anyway.
Why not just apply the spray at the front sprocket ??
Are you really asking, or have you never tried it? The crank and pedals hit you when you turn them 🤷♂️ Like I say in the video, this is just for a quick lube before heading out to the trail. Definitely not how I usually do a proper clean and lube 👍
Try so Ballistol!
you dont do it like that, with any kinda spray on lub, you use the applying straw and spray into the pully wheel with continuous backward pedaling. never spray lub on to the cassette, its the chain needs lubrication, not the cassette. Its okay to use WD 40 branded chain lub though, but if you have ceramic bearing OSPW, just dont use spray on lub, its too thin and will get into the seal...eventually wash off bearing lub as a solvent
Gear oil is WAYY better and 10x cheaper.
Gear oil? Like vehicle rear and front differential gear oil? 😅
Perfect 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
uh oh
PTFE is very bad for the environment!
Ooo..Kkk…….