How to Choose the Right Lubricants
An overview of 3 essential types of lubrication, complete with brand recommendations.
In today’s tutorial we’ll take a look at lubricants. These are all brands that I trust and recommend after years of heavy use in the bike shop. There are three main types of lubrication you should have: light oil, chain oil, and grease.
Light Oil
When I talk about light oils, I’m referring to a product called TriFlow. There are many other types of traditional light oil available, but a lot of these are vegetable based and tend to gum up. TriFlow is synthetic, teflon-based, and comes with a lubrication tube that makes it easy to lube inside cable housings, pivot points, and other hard-to-reach areas. TriFlow will penetrate quickly and thoroughly, so you only need a few drops of it.
Chain Oil
For chain lubrication I recommend a product called Finish Line Cross Country. I’ve tried a lot of different brands and found this to be the longest lasting lubricant. It’s a synthetic “wet-style” lubricant capable of sustaining high torque pedaling over long distances and nasty riding conditions. See the chain cleaning and lubrication tutorial for some more tips on applying it.
Phil Wood
Another highly recommended chain oil is called Phil Tenacious Oil. It also works great as a lubricant and water repellent, but some people find it a bit too thick for chains. I find it is best used to lubricate the inside of internal gear hubs like Sturmey-Archer 3-speeds. If you have an older bike with a 3-speed internal gear hub, Phil Wood should be all you need for both your chain and hub.
Wax Lubricants
A third type of chain lubricants are wax-based and are best for very dry climates. The best brand I’ve used is called Boeshield T-9. While wax-based lubes don’t collect as much dirt, they are a lot of hassle to apply correctly. You have to make sure your drivetrain is spotless clean before you apply it, which usually requires soaking your chain in cleaning solvent first. Then after you apply it you have to wait 2 hours before riding. It’s also important to remember that wax is simply not as good a lubricant as oil.
Waterproof Grease
You should always have some waterproof grease handy for overhauling bearings and greasing threads. There are so many different brands available. You can get it in a one for shop use or in a smaller tube for occasional home use. You can use the tube along with a grease gun for squirting oil into tight spaces like bearing cages. Another thing you can do is keep some grease in a film container with a small brush, which makes it easy to quickly grease threads.
Related Links
Recommended Tools
- Tri-Flow Superior Lube
- Finish Line Wet Chain Lube (Cross Country)
- Phil Wood Tenacious Oil
- Boeshield T-9 Wax Lubricant
- Super Lube White Grease Tube
- Finish Line Grease Gun
Categories
Discuss this topic in the Bicycle Repairs and Mechanics Forum
Star blubike lube
Lastest post 15 hours agoHas anyone used this for pedals and/ or bottom bracket? Is it any good? I have sounds coming from pedals & BB. 20210528_174952.jpg (Size: 37.76 KB / Downloads: 30) ...
Read moreChampagnolo Say None of Their Cranksets Fit 73mm
Lastest post 16 hours agoI was hoping to buy a Centaur Power Torque crank for my GT Transeo 5.0 build. The shell is 73mm though and I got a message back from them yesterday stating none of their cranks will fit this size Bottom Bracket shell. Be aware—as some retailers list that it is 68/73mm. ezgif-3-3e4fd7bb285f.png (Size: 88.74 KB / Downloads: 7) ...
Read moreCreaking/clicking when putting heavy load on pedals
Lastest post 1 day agoHi guys! I have a used 2007 Fuji Roubaix and it has been creaking/clicking when I'm putting a heavier load on it (could be high or low gear/any gear,) but as long as I'm pedalling really hard (straining on the pedals) it's pretty pronounced from the middle of the bike by the peddles, straight down under the seat. I think it's probably the bottom bracket that's dried out, because I had the peddles...
Read moreSRAM Apex 1 hydraulic vs mechanical lever
Lastest post 4 days agoJust wondering about the possibility of upgrading only the front brake of an Apex 1 mechanical grupo to hydraulic. I figure the front brake does way more and it would save a ton of $$. What I'm wondering about is if the left hydraulic brake lever/hood would have a different shape compared to the mechanical brake right shifter. Anyone know exactly how different they are and if it would f...
Read moreBike Pulling to one side when braking
Lastest post 4 days agoHey. I recently built a gravel bike out of an old mtb and it has been going amazing for the first 200km. Today out of nowhere I noticed It was pulling to my right when I was braking particularly with the front brake. It's a cantilever braking system and I am running 42mm tires on a 700c wheelset. It's a steel frame and forks look fine (at leaset true to the eye). I did tighten the headset befor...
Read moreFinding replacement for a bent Samox driveside crank
Lastest post 5 days agoSo i have bent my drive side crank on my Devinci Kobain 2020 with a SAMOX 170 B148 30T crankset and SAMOX PF BB92 bottom bracket. Will my BB be compatible with shimano crankset and can I replace only my driveside crankarm? I attatched some images that may help 20210612_221824.jpg (Size: 42.25 KB / Downloads: 5) 20210612_221737.jpg (Size: 45.18 KB / Downloads: 5) ...
Read moreShimano Light Action
Lastest post 6 days agoSo I'm repairing a bike that's equipped with Shimano "Light Action" front derailleurs. It looks to me like the gear shifter has 10 settings from low to high. But the front derailed has 3 gears like a regular bike. Any position other than 1, 5 or 10 on the handle and it just rattles and skips. Am I missing something? Thanks in advance....
Read moreRoadbike noise drivetrain when putting pressure on pedals.
Lastest post 1 week agoLong story short. I have a road bike that suddenly makes noise when I put pressure on the pedals. Doesn't matter if I sit or stand or if I keep my hand on the wheel or not. It's there. And become worse when more pressure is applied. Man I tried everything from front to back. I greased the front wheel plus the quick release. The fork bearings I maintanced a month ago. but did it just for sake of...
Read moreShimano front derailleur support bolt backup plate missing on Cannondale CAAD 13 105
Lastest post 1 week agoRecently bought a new CAAD 13 and found that sticky metal plate in packaging with spare parts/bolts. Wondered what it was, searched the internet. Found Shimano manuals which state it's mandatory to use this one if bolt is touching the frame of a bike. CAAD 13 has front derailleur mounting point welded to its frame so actually now support bolt is screwed into painted aluminum surface with glossy fi...
Read more27 1/4 to 700c conversion
Lastest post 2 weeks agoHello everybody! Im new to the forum and I think bikes are what make people happy . Anyways im currently converging my panasonic sport 1000 to 700c. Ask me why im just dumb haha, love the frame for some odd reason but eventually wanna get a new frame. Currently on the bike I have a full tiagra groupset (besides brakes, have longer arm brakes) the only problem i am having is with the holes for t...
Read moreWalmart Mongoose, Unreal!! I thought I had seen it all
Lastest post 2 weeks agoA friend who often stops over to go for a ride showed up tonight with another guy I hadn't seen in years who just bought a new bike. It was a full suspension Mongoose from Walmart. They asked me to adjust the derailleurs and brakes. It had V-brakes and the arms were stamped steel. They flexed so much I couldn't get them to skid the wheels without rubbing the out of true wheels. I finally found a c...
Read moreChain too long after adjusting b-screw?
Lastest post 2 weeks agoSo I'm finishing up a build on a 90's GT Outpost Trail. I took the set from 7 speed up to 10 speed. I got a Zee rear derailleur and a SLX iSpec B Shifter. So I get into tuning the derailleur, and at first I can't get it to shift down into the lowest gear. I realize the integrated hanger probably needs to be pulled out and realigned. So I take the wheel off, do some fine adjusting, and sure enou...
Read morechange speed shifter
Lastest post 2 weeks agoHello, I need to replace my speed shift, the old one got broke, but my bike is quite old, this type of shifter is't available anymore, but can't i simply order a speed shifter with the same gear posisions that also has a cable to the derailleur ? I'm dutch, I hope my english is understandable, Thanks in advance, Laurens...
Read moreFSA Modular Crank Thread Pitch
Lastest post 3 weeks agoDoes anyone know the thread pitch for FSA Modular cranks? I had an issue with a faulty installation using a Cannondale Spider. Despite using the same direct mount profile, the spider was not contoured to the crank properly. This caused the lockring to jump crossthreaded during the fastening process, and stripped out the lockring thread. Note this incompatibility for Cannondale spiders to preven...
Read moreTubeless
Lastest post 3 weeks agoI have a Specialized Sirrus 6.0 on order. It comes with tubeless tires. I’m thinking of having my dealer pull the tubes during setup and put in the sealant. Other than not worrying about flats, are the tubeless setups lighter and what’s the negatives?...
Read more
