Loading…
9
Found out my chain lube was making things worse after 3 years of using it
I was at a shop in Portland last month and one of the older mechanics overheard me talking about how often I clean my drivetrain. He asked what lube I was using and when I told him, he just laughed and said I was basically grinding sand into my chain every time I rode. Looked it up later and he was right - the stuff I was using had a ton of dirt-attracting additives that made it wear out my cassette way faster than normal. I switched to a simple wax-based lube and after 200 miles my chain is still running clean. Has anyone else found out their go-to product was actually harming their bike?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
drew7914mo ago
Three years? Man, that's a long time to be running bad lube without realizing it. I used a "ceramic infused" wet lube for about eight months before I clued in, and even that felt like a waste once I saw the metal shavings in the rag. I can't imagine finding out after three years - that cassette must have been totally thrashed. Glad you caught it, though.
6
taragrant4mo ago
Oh man, the "grinding sand into my chain" part hit home hard because that's literally what I was doing for like two years with this fancy wet lube that claimed to be "all conditions." Switched to a basic dry wax about six months ago and my drivetrain actually looks clean after rides instead of caked in black gunk. The mechanic was right, I was basically paying extra money to destroy my own components faster.
1