Deacon, how good to connect with you again, even when I think you are wrong! At one level you are right. If we are discussing energy lost to friction in the drivetrain then nothing makes a difference, wax, chain oil, heavy or light oil or even no lube at all. Under all conditions the energy loss is vanishingly small. But that's not the issue. The purpose of any lube is either to fill the space between two metal parts and thereby prevent dirt from entering and prematurely wearing those parts out, and/ or the lubricant can flush out microscopic metal particles which also abrade the surface. That's why you put a lubricant on a stone before sharpening a blade - to flush out metal bits, same as in a car's crank case. The real benefit comes not from the lube per say but from keeping the chain clean. A dirty chain not only wears itself out much faster but wears out the rings and cogs. In a sterile environment a steel roller bearing (AKA a chain roller) can move over a piece of 7075 Al. for most of a human lifetime w/out wearing it out. Introduce grit and both the gullet and sidewalls will be worn away quickly.
So the real issue is, how much of my life do I want to give up trying to extend the life of chainrings? And which process will optimize the tradeoff? That's probably a different answer for every rider. I'm tired of the answer I've been giving to that question and am looking for a better deal, a clean chain with less work. Here's a research report you might enjoy. https://pages.jh.edu/news_info/news/home99/aug99/bike.html blessings, michael On Friday, May 29, 2020 at 3:27:05 PM UTC-4, Deacon Patrick wrote: > > On the opposite side of the spectrum from wax, I use chain saw oil. One > drop per link, whenever the chain begins to talk. I worry not one whit > about cleaning it. Works great in all environs, all year long. > > With abandon, > Patrick > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d80734ed-46dd-4c47-8229-59f9e52de876%40googlegroups.com.
