Is chain lube a waste of money?︱Cross Training Adventure

http://crosstrainingenduro.com http://tractionerag.com Are chain lubricants a complete waste of money? I think so. Are the chain lube manufacturers deliberately ripping us off? I'm not sure. But I cannot find any evidence for lubricants extending chain and sprocket life. If you disagree, I am keen to hear of hard evidence supporting chain lubes, and ideally with scientific research. Let me explain myself. So is chain lube a rip off? WD40 and kerosene can maintain chains? Early motorbike chains had no internal lubricant. You had to lubricate them if you wanted the chain to last. And these roller chains are still used on trials bikes because they are lighter. Many use a similar technique and find it works for motorbike chain lubrication. I have yet to find anyone who says this is less effective than chain lube. It is important in motorbike chain maintenance to never use chemicals that could deteriorate your seals, such as gasoline or carb cleaner. And many of us argue that all the external lube is doing is attracting dust and mud to form a grinding paste and just wear things out faster. Some lubricant manufacturers have countered with chain lubrication products like chain wax that apparently don't attract dirt. People who support the use of lubes say it's still important to lubricate the rollers. So is chain lube a waste of money? As an experiment, 10 years ago I stopped lubricating chains on my dirt bikes and adventure bikes. To date? And on many motocross bikes because there's slightly less friction and thus more power. Roller chains definitely need lube to last. But then the o-ring chain was invented in 1971.The o-ring traps the grease where it is needed for motorbike chain lubrication. At a later point the x-ring chain was developed, it has less friction and the seals can last up to twice as long even without chain lubrication. Now the important point here is that an externally applied lubricant can't get past those seals. I don't pressure wash the chain as water can get pushed past the seals. I just hose the chain off, then apply WD40 or a similar product for lubing motorbike chains that dispels water and leaves a residue that will prevent rust. I have spent hours trawling the forums for the experience of others. No difference for motorbike chain maintenance. I find on my DR650s that the chain starts to kink at around 20,000km and need replacement with or without lube. And on my dirt bikes the chains start to kink at around 150 hours of use. I believe the key to making o-ring chains last is simply keeping them clean and preventing rust. WD40 and motorbike chains has proven to be fine, pause to read about this experiment. Just pause to read. So personally I think expensive chain lubes are just a scam nowadays, at least on dirt bikes and adventure bikes mainly ridden on dirt roads. But if you can prove otherwise with hard science then I am all ears. I know I might be wrong. I would not be surprised if the situation is different for road bikes, or adventure bikes doing lots of highway work, and therefore chain lube is a waste of money. The Fortnine Youtube channel did a pile of lubing motorbike chains testing as well, they concluded that the important thing is just to ensure your chain doesn't rust. I agree. Any surface rust around those o-rings could wear them prematurely. Here are just some of the comments from guys running dry chains, pause to read. What do the scientists say about motorbike chain maintenance? Well unfortunately I could only find one study about motorbike chain lubricants, and they only tested roller chains, so it's only relevant to trials and motocross riders. Perhaps the rollers wear much faster in those cases, and external lube is a great idea especially when it's not attracting dust and grit. I'd love to see some research on this. So what do you guys use? How do you look after your chain? Do you think not using lube is crazy? We are keen to hear your thoughts, let us know in the comments.
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