Grease chat

[sjcprojects]

Hang on, so are we saying you don't have to use vintage Campagnolo grease that costs a mere £142 direct from Italy (plus £44 postage for some reason)???



Speaking of lubrication, and on the subject of chains, I recently watched a YouTube video where the bike mechanic guy says he only uses GT85 as a chain lube, with no oil at all. Googling this, it seems some people swear by it, though only really for dry conditions, not for winter/wet. I'm trying it out on one of my bikes as a test. It does appeal to my laziness, but I can't help but feel a bit sceptical.

 

[db95]

Can i hijack.. my question isn't worthy of it's own thread..

Last summer i bought a new chain.. removed the factory grease.. cut it to length and put it on my bike.. had to do a bit of fine tuning on the rear mech but every change was perfect.. i thought 'new chain, new lube' rather than switching lube part way through the life of the chain and bought this stuff.. the reviews are fantastic .. 10,000+ peeps can't be wrong.. right?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ANNR15G/ref=pe_27063361_485629781_TE_item?th=1

I followed the instructions to the T.. applying liberally and waiting to dry.. "don't worry if you put too much on and it drips from the chain" i didn't put that much on?! ... anywho, i rode around the block with the limit screwdriver in my pocket for fine adjustment but non of the gears were seating properly.. crunching sounds, chain bouncing up and down the cassette.. i didn't have my reading glasses on so just started adjusting the limit screws willy-nilly.. noth9ing worked so i rode back to work and put the bike back on the bike stand and the cassette was thick in globs of waxy chain lube which had deposited themselves between the cogs.. so i removed the chain and the cassette and degreased this waxy substance from everything.. picking globs of wax out of the jockeywheels with a toothpick.. once cleaned, i sprayed everything with GT-85 and used a bit of good old 3 in 1 readjusted the mech.. and all was gravy.

What has gone wrong here?.. 10 thousand ppl think this is a fabulous product.. it cost me £15 so i'd like to use it.. it's foolproof apparently?

Only thing I can think of is maybe it'd been sat on a shelf for far too long and either A) went off or B) required more mixing, or perhaps a reactionresidue left on chainrings/cassette/jockeys etc, or sometimes you unfortunately just get a dud.

I use a similar product from Silca and their process is a bit more intensive; degrease, atleast one drop per roller but no more than two, work into rollers with fingers whilst backpedalling, shift to the top of cassette so the chain gets put on an extreme angle thus opening up gaps between plates, go through all gears on cassette atleast once, then wait 24h for it to fully dry and reapply after first three rides. Bit more involved than the average lube but thats probably why it scores so high in ZFCs testing. Runs silent and clean, never any black gunk transfer to the legs etc.

 

[LondonClassic]

molypendium disulfide.

to be fair, anything but silicone grease will be fine.

Copper grease would also be a no no.

 

[novocaine]

Copper grease would also be a no no.

very true. I don't think of it as grease, I think of it as the spawn of Satan, destined to get on any item of clothing (including underwear) and work it's way back to the house and destroy the posh sofa.

 

[LondonClassic]

Copper grease on underwear eh?

 

[novocaine]

Copper grease on underwear eh?

I don't know how either, I wear an overall most of the time, there really is no way for it to get there, after all, it isn't a lubricant.

 

[Betsy]

Only thing I can think of is maybe it'd been sat on a shelf for far too long and either A) went off or B) required more mixing, or perhaps a reactionresidue left on chainrings/cassette/jockeys etc, or sometimes you unfortunately just get a dud.

I use a similar product from Silca and their process is a bit more intensive; degrease, atleast one drop per roller but no more than two, work into rollers with fingers whilst backpedalling, shift to the top of cassette so the chain gets put on an extreme angle thus opening up gaps between plates, go through all gears on cassette atleast once, then wait 24h for it to fully dry and reapply after first three rides. Bit more involved than the average lube but thats probably why it scores so high in ZFCs testing. Runs silent and clean, never any black gunk transfer to the legs etc.

Maybe just got a dud.. i did buy it from Amazon, i shook it up well.. they're selling 700+ units/mth so it hasn't been sat on a shelf in the lbs.

 

[Betsy]

Speaking of lubrication, and on the subject of chains, I recently watched a YouTube video where the bike mechanic guy says he only uses GT85 as a chain lube, with no oil at all. Googling this, it seems some people swear by it, though only really for dry conditions, not for winter/wet. I'm trying it out on one of my bikes as a test. It does appeal to my laziness, but I can't help but feel a bit sceptical.

It does work.. but i can't image it does anything to prevent wear to cassette and chainrings.

 

[sjcprojects]

It does work.. but i can't image it does anything to prevent wear to cassette and chainrings.

Yeah...maybe that bike mechanic had an ulterior motive...

 

[db95]

Maybe just got a dud.. i did buy it from Amazon, i shook it up well.. they're selling 700+ units/mth so it hasn't been sat on a shelf in the lbs.

Return and buy Silca