Chain Lubrication on BMX Bike

[Phishin]

My 10 year old son got into BMX racing this summer. This is our first year. He started off on aa 8-10 year old used bike. But being the OCD BITOG'er I am, I had to upgrade!!

This is a full carbon fiber build. Carbon fiber frame, forks, and cranks. Most of the metal on the bike is titanium, scandium, or aluminum.

There are a lot of people who clean their bike chains with solvent and then soak them in hot paraffin wax. Wipe excess before it cools, and reinstall. Supposed to be good for hundreds and hundreds of miles.

There was even a study done comparing 50 lubes, where an electronic motor drove a sprocket and chain system similar to a bike. The guys compared the amps needed to keep the RPM constant using various lubes. And the paraffin wax trick WON!!

How can a non-flowing lubricant likes wax outperform these very expensive high tech liquid chain lubes?

Here is a link to the "study"
http://www.scribd.com/doc/262044061/Velo-Friction-Facts-Chain-Lube-Efficiency-Tests#scribd

And then as a result of this test, these guy came out with a "spiked" paraffin wax producted called Molten Speed Wax....I think it's just paraffin wax with MoS2 in it.

 

[Robenstein]

Well there are many of us in the motorcycle world that have found chain wax to be a very good chain lube on our bikes. The nice thing about them is they dont sling off and tend to not attract grit and dirt like some of the wet lubes do.

The trick you mentioned is similar to what guys used to use in the days when open chains were common in the era before O ring and X ring designs.

 

[Phishin]

When the bike was delivered, the chain was not lubed.

I went into the garage and looked around. I had many options. To be honest, I ended up cleaning the chain with some carb cleaner, and then applied a healthy dose of LubeGard Biotech to the chain. A few mls is all that's required.

I plan to clean the chain and relube after almost every race or practice anyway....so I'm not super worried about the dirt attraction of wet lubes.

 

[IndyIan]

Nice bike! what does that weigh? must be less than 20lbs, 15 even?
What do they use for hub bearings? Sealed?

 

[Wheel]

I think that the low speed of the moving parts and the lack of any pump, splash or reservoir in the chain system doesn't create the correct situation to help a liquid lube work at it's best.

As I read it, the company that made the best performing lube also ran the test. I also don't see any result for a chain with no lube, which seems like an important baseline. Maybe I'm just the suspicious type.

I have ridden with folks who used paraffin to lube their chains, they seemed no faster than those who didn't. The best way to tell who had done so was the somewhat different drivetrain noise that appeared to create. Many modern chains have a link like an old master link that would help if you decide to use paraffin as a lube.

 

[Phishin]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Nice bike! what does that weigh? must be less than 20lbs, 15 even?
What do they use for hub bearings? Sealed?


The bike weighs 14 pounds 4 ounces. It's really, really light.

The bearings in the hubs and cranks are ceramic with titanium races.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Its a bicycle chain, exposed to the elements and un-sealed... just clean it often (in a tub of mineral spirits, diesel, gasoline, etc...) and apply "oil" to it. I use a drop of gear oil on each link, wipe chain and done. Besides that, replace the chain regularly.

Spray waxes are okay, but they don't really penetrate the links/pins/rollers well. I find them also harder to clean off and generally messier.

On my motorcycle, since its a sealed chain, I only apply WD-40 to clean it, disperse water and prevent surface rust on the plates. They last thousands of thousands of miles.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Like you said, if your planning on cleaning the chain after every race... then stick with an oil lubricant and apply sparingly. There are some nice, PTFE "dry" lubes (go on wet and dry to a light film).

 

[sunruh]

+1 on ptfe dry lube spray

 

[Kamele0N]

Chainsaw bar oil with some LM MoS2 works ok....

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb..._Recommendation

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Paraffin you say? Why not some Pennzoil Convetional

I take mine off, soak it in some sort of solvent, then put it back on and lubricate with silicone spray.