Chain-L High Mileage Oil x 3 Bottles

Ref: OI 3

Price: £22.00 / €27.50 (Including  at 20%)

Quantity:

On our travels Stateside we kept seeing this rather interesting looking bottle on the shelves of all of our favourite bike shops. We bought some, tried it ourselves, loved it and had to share it with you. So we tracked down Francis, the name behind the company. He began developing Chain-L in 2006 to satisfy what he believes are the three most important requirements of a chain lubricant: Lubrication, Lubrication and Lubrication !!

We love the fact that is is made by a small, innovative company in New York who have taken an old school approach to lubrication, added rust inhibitors and designed it specifically for bike use.....and that bottle looks great. It always gets good reviews....road.cc said it ws the finest wet lube they had come across.

While properties like external cleanliness may seem important, the fact is that internal wear of the 112 overloaded, overworked and overlooked bearings is what destroys chains. A road cyclist, riding hiigh-end equipment, will typically wear a chain out in as little as 50 hours of use - often destroying the cassette or chainrings in the process. On a high-end bike, drive train, wear is the most expensive maintenance cost per mile.

Chains operate at extremely high bearing loads, generally over two thirds of the load of the bottom bracket, which has vastly larger ball bearings. At these pressures, any material will wear away at the point of contact.Typically, five thousandths of an inch of steel will be worn off the chain pin and inner plates in 50-100 hours of riding time, so you can imagine how long a thin, dry lubricating film might last. The solution lies in wetting action whereby the lubricant re-applies itself to the contact zone after each cycle. Dry lubes can't do that.

Is it only for road bikes ? From a wear point of view, all road and mountain bikes chains are the same. They wear internally as they flex onto and off of the sprockets and this is independent of what happens on the outside. Chain-L was originally targeted at the high-mileage road cyclist. Later, he learned that mountain bikers also benefitted though they might adjust the basic approach by leaving excess oil on the outside for extremely wet or muddy conditions where its going to be messy anyway, or wiping the outside as dry as possible for dusty conditions.

How Do I Apply Chain-L ?

Almost all chain lubes are applied the same way -- apply, soak in, wipe off excess -- and Chain-L is no exception. Because of its unique properties, it requires some extra attention to detail and we suggest that you follow these instructions, keeping in mind that only the oil inside counts and any excess is counter-productive.

1. New chains should be oiled off the bike by stretching out on newspaper with the rollers up. Oil generously. This will do a better job of lubricating and save time on cleanup of the cassette and chainrings. Install and skip to Step 4.

2. Used chains should first be cleaned as well as possible to avoid wicking dirt in. If the chain has a reusable master link, consider cleaning and oiling it off the bike. If you wash yourr chainsbe sure to thoroughly dry before applying Chain-L or any other lube. Otherwise water still within the gaps keep the new stuff from penetrating. Newly washed chains can be dried with a hair dryer on high for at least until the chain is hot to the touch, so as to drive any trapped water out before re-lubing. Drying the outside with a rag simply doesn't cut it.

3. On the bike, oil chain in high gear (outer ring and smallest cog) or using a chainkeeper. Chain-L soaks in very slowly, so give it 10 minutes or so. While turning the cranks, wipe excess oil off the chain and derailleur pulleys, leaving only the thinnest film possible. Any excess will only make it messier than it needs to be.

4. Turn the cranks and look carefully for fans of excess oil spinning off the pulleys. There shouldn’t be any. If there are, rewipe the chain and pulleys and repeat until no oil spins off.

5. Change gears and wipe off the outer chainring. Then run the bike through the gears to spread a bit of the oil throughout the cassette.

6. Don’t forget to wipe off any oil that got onto the derailleur, chainstay, etc.

By now, the chain should have a thin, sticky film of oil on its surface. Leave this on for rust protection. It will attract dust on the first few rides but the good news is, after the stickiness is blotted up, the chain won’t get any dirtier. If you wish, you may “dry clean” the chain from time to time by wiping with a paper towel, but don’t add oil unless the chain asks for it.

PLEASE NOTE:This is the triple pack, so you receive three bottles of Chain-L. You save on the bottle price and shipping. The UK shipping for 3 bottles is £ 2.95. For Europe, shipping for 3 bottles is £ 6, we also ship worldwide.

We also sell Chain-L in single bottles.