New chain advice

[jharsha]

I'm starting the build on my new Kirk. I know there are people that leave the "lube" on a new chain and those that don't. Is there any consensus of opinion? I tried a search without much luck.

Thanks
Jim

[Erik.Lazdins]

First off Congratulations on the KIRK!!!!!!!!!!
On the lube - I've tried both and prefer stripping the factory waxy stuff and applying the real stuff later.

I have found the factory lube (Campagnolo) is a bit thickish and waxy and attracts dirt moreso than the real chain lubes.

Best,
Erik

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . off of eBay last winter that had obviously only had a few rides on it. Good deal for me, but when it came it had the most vile, thick, greasy lube all over the chain. It was like automotive grease. The biodegradable chain cleaner I had wouldn't touch it. I finally had to load up my chain cleaner with straight mineral spirits to get it all off. That's all the experience I have, but based on that I'd speculate that the stuff on the chain when it's brand new may be designed more for protecting the chain from rusting in the package than for real riding lube purposes. I'd play it safe and take off the original stuff and put on your favorite. I use ProLink and it works great . . .

BBD

[jharsha]

Thanks guys. That is what I thought. I'll clean it off then hit the Prolink.

Jim

[bagochips3]

Sheldon Brown says to leave it on. But you have to do it yourself sooner or later anyway, so I don't see it being a problem either way.

[Ahneida Ride]

My LBS guru always strips it off.

He claims it is there to pervent rust.

[malcolm]

I've always stripped and then applied whatever I was using at the time. There was a thread recently here about that and the consensus was to leave in on, which was news to me.

[bostondrunk]

What's the latest and greatest recipe for homemade chain lube??
Looking for something that'll be similar to Pedros Road Rage...

[victoryfactory]

I degrease with Finish line citrus degreaser in a chain washer (doesn't
really matter which brand, they all suck)
Then I use liberal amounts of prolink, wipe off the excess completely and
finish off with a small amt of pedro's syn lube for some body.

I've found that although the prolink works well and runs clean, It's thin
viscosity allows the chain to "sing" a little too much. The pedro's keeps it
nice and quiet and in small amounts, still runs pretty clean.
I got about 5K out of my last DA10 chain.

VF

Yes, I admit this sounds like a teenage girl talking about how
she washes her hair......

[rockdude]

I leave the factory lube on. I wish I could buy the stuff, I love it.

[xjoex]

I leave the factory lube on. I wish I could buy the stuff, I love it.

I bought a jandd rack off of ebay and it came with a bottle of chain l no 5 (http://robonza.blogspot.com/2008/08/soon-to-be-review-chain-l-no-5_13.html) "
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Jz4f840sc_c/SJ4liWlMEiI/AAAAAAAAA5M/pyPKP20dODc/s400/100_2224.JPG

Which is supposed to be used over the factory lube. I have not used it yet. But I admire the packaging...

-Joe

[Louis]

Jim, we discussed this a while back here (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=47444)

[zap]

Factory goop from Campy works fine. Great in fact.

Sram factory stuff is useless. Apply fav. mobil 1 recipe asap.

Shimano. Have not used that stuff in years but the old 9spd chain came with good lube.

[chuckred]

think about it...

why would Campy, Shimano, Sram put something on that made the chain work poorly? Waste of time, effort and $ to strip it.

[rustychisel]

+ 1.

Leave it there until more lube needed.

[onekgguy]

I bought a Dura-ace 10 speed chain a couple days ago and was very surprised to see that they no longer use the sticky, pasty grease they've used in the past. Instead, it was packaged in a much lighter oil which I can live with.

Kevin g