WD40

[JohnW]

A lot of interesting issues above.

I get 4500 to 7000 miles from a chain - depending upon the weather it's been ridden in. In the winter months, on a work bike, you collect salt, crud and all sorts - on a best bike in the summer my chain stays bright as new even when it's worn to the point that it's graunching over the sprockets.

I never use water to clean any part of my bike - to me the whole point is to avoid wet.........I can't help the weather of course. When I've got the bike wet I spray the chain , the gears and spindle-ends (and anything else that may rust or bind) with GT85 as soon as I get home; it's a water repellent and leaves a bit of lube behind it. I never let a wet chain dry out, because it develops rust. I prefer GT85 because my LBS sells it, but I can't honestly say that I think it's better than WD40.

Both are water displacants, and both are degreasers, but they do leave a film..........if you're going to consider them as a lube, then I'd say that you'd have to apply before every ride.

I spray the bike with Mr.Sheen or similar to soften hardened crud, and to protect it if it looks like getting wet. It leaves a nice shine once the deposits have been removed and it's polished up a bit.

I spray Mr.Sheen on the wheel-rims. It gets them clean, removes deposits and as someone said for WD40, it makes braking more effective. That's not what you'd expect, but that what it does for me.

I've tried wet lube and dry lube on the chain, and I can't decide which is best. Applying dry lube is a lengthy business, but wet lube gathers crud and removing crud is a lengthy business.

I spray all the pivot points (in gears, brakes, brake levers etc) with the silicon based aerosol lube that starts fluid and sort of sets into a very, very light milky coloured grease. At the moment, the stuff I'm using is called "Superspray Lube".

But............I never use water, and certainly never use detergent. I don't do mountain biking or any kind of off-road when I can avoid it - I may think differently if I did.

[Vantage]

I use it to clean my rims. It has the complete opposite effect to what you think it would.
Also polish the frame and components with it as it makes cleaning easier.

What do I think it would? I'm confused.

Not you specifically Mark. You as in general, the wider audience.
Lots of folk think of WD40 as an oil in that it makes things slippery, which it kinda does really, but not on my rims. My brakes work much better having used it to clean them. Weird really.

[tim-b]

Hi

WD stands for water displacement and it was first used "to protect the outer skin of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion".
I didn't realise that WD40 had acquired the 3-in-one oil business in 1995 so I have three of their products that I use on my bike, but I don't use them on my chain or my wheel rims

Some info here that the chemists can make sense of...
http://www.wd40.co.uk/Files/WD40-TDS2013.pdf
http://www.wd40.co.uk/Files/EUF0002_0017_19-01-2011_EN.pdf

Regards
tim-b

[mig]

I use it to clean my rims. It has the complete opposite effect to what you think it would.
Also polish the frame and components with it as it makes cleaning easier.

What do I think it would? I'm confused.

Not you specifically Mark. You as in general, the wider audience.
Lots of folk think of WD40 as an oil in that it makes things slippery, which it kinda does really, but not on my rims. My brakes work much better having used it to clean them. Weird really.

do the brakes not squeal like blazes after using WD40 on a rim? if i have accidentally dripped some on a rim then i tend to get that effect for a while afterwards. maybe though that is because it's only in one spot on the rim and the brakes pulse through it every so often..?

[Vantage]

I never really noticed it in the past tbh, but last night coming home through the graveyard, they could've woken the dead.

[The Mechanic]

I would be interested to know this from those of you that get circa 7000 miles out of a chain when using WD40 as the only lubricant; when you do change your chain, do you change the cassette at the same time? The reason I ask this is that I have had a mountain bike that was 20 years old and still had the same chainset, cassette and chain as when it was new. I had raced, commuted and generally mountain biked on it for most of those 20 years. I have no real idea of the mileage but I bet is was over 10000 in that time. It all still worked. However, when I tried to put a new chain on it, well, you can imagine the the result. This demonstrates that, chain breakages aside, a drive train will last for thousands of miles provided you don't change any of it. But after those thousands of miles, you have to change it all.

PS Those of you who use proper lubrication for your chains need not reply.

[Brian73]

If you do bike fettling in the back room, as I do, you often get oily spots on the carpet. A quick squirt of WD40 and a soft cloth and the missus is none the wiser.

[Mick F]

I would be interested to know this from those of you that get circa 7000 miles out of a chain when using WD40 as the only lubricant; when you do change your chain, do you change the cassette at the same time? The reason I ask this is that I have had a mountain bike that was 20 years old and still had the same chainset, cassette and chain as when it was new. I had raced, commuted and generally mountain biked on it for most of those 20 years. I have no real idea of the mileage but I bet is was over 10000 in that time. It all still worked. However, when I tried to put a new chain on it, well, you can imagine the the result. This demonstrates that, chain breakages aside, a drive train will last for thousands of miles provided you don't change any of it. But after those thousands of miles, you have to change it all.

+1

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

If you do bike fettling in the back room, as I do, you often get oily spots on the carpet. A quick squirt of WD40 and a soft cloth and the missus is none the wiser.

Old sheet on the carpit before you start.

[landsurfer]

Basics here ... feel free to tell me I'm wrong .. WD40 is vegetable oil with a solvent and a propellant. really good for your skin .... not in the top 50 of lubricants I've come across ... but good water displacement and VERY short term lube for chains ..... Ideal for removing that sticky glue that remains after you peel stickers off your frame etc

[JohnW]

..............Ideal for removing that sticky glue that remains after you peel stickers off your frame etc

Absolutely - it's brilliant for that.

[Mick F]

Mrs Mick F makes chutneys and jams. People give her jars and usually they still have their labels on. Some come off easily with hot soapy water, and some don't. Believe me, it's my job to clean her jars!

WD40 is indeed good for removing the sticky residue, but far and away better and quicker is white spirit.

[Brucey]

Basics here ... feel free to tell me I'm wrong .. WD40 is vegetable oil with a solvent and a propellant. really good for your skin ....

IIRC it is mainly a mineral oil plus solvent, propellant and a corrosion inhibitor (that is not that good) and it is not at all good for anything living. It probably isn't as bad for you as (say) washing your hands with petrol or white spirit would be, but it is likely to be in the same league.

The internet is a wonderful thing but it has been the conduit through which a good deal of misinformation has been spread about WD40, (including the above) to the extent that the WD40 company have had to put information on their website that debunks many of these myths.

http://wd40.com/cool-stuff/myths-legends-fun-facts/

cheers

[c53204]

If you do bike fettling in the back room, as I do, you often get oily spots on the carpet. A quick squirt of WD40 and a soft cloth and the missus is none the wiser.

Isn't that what laminate flooring was invented for?

[cycleruk]

If you do bike fettling in the back room, as I do, you often get oily spots on the carpet. A quick squirt of WD40 and a soft cloth and the missus is none the wiser.

Isn't that what laminate flooring was invented for?

My latest laminate flooring squeeks when walked on.
Will WD40 stop this.??