Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Is the 75% mineral spirits - 25% motor oil mix a cleaner or a lubricant?

I'm voting with Enigma on this one. I don't use a chemical degreaser either. I run it through a rag to remove the old grease, apply lube, run it through a clean rag so it isn't messy. If you want it out from between the rollers use a toothbrush. I think the chem degreaser removes the grease from between the pins and rollers, exactly where you don't want it removed.

I'm on the original drivetrain except for the chain on both my road bike and mtb. My commuter bike gets a new chain after every winter because the salt kills it. The rest of the drivetrain except the cassette is original on that too. I'm not sure how many miles I put on any of those bikes but it is a significant amount (rode 30 today on the commuter).

Just a side note on chain maintenance:
Some of my friends, who rode high miles, advocated this approach to chain maintenance:
1. To clean, soak in kerosene of diesel fuel. scrub off grime and grit.
2. dip in melted paraffin long enough for the chain itself to heat up to the melted temperature.
3. Remove chain from paraffin and allow to drip.
4 reassemble and ride.

exerpt from Sheldon Brown's writing
"Waxing Chains:
An alternative approach to chain lubrication is to immerse the chain in hot wax. This is a variation on the oil/solvent approach. The hot wax is of a thin enough consistency that it can theoretically penetrate into the private parts of the chain, then when it cools off, you have a nice thick lubricant in place where it can do the most good. The major advantage to this approach is that, once cooled off, the wax is not sticky, and doesn't attract dirt to the outside of the chain as readily. Downsides of the wax approach include the fact that it is a great deal of trouble, and that wax is probably not as good a lubricant as oil or grease. Wax is flammable and should be heated in a double boiler or a warm oven.