What exactly does chain lube DO?

mxtech1 wrote:

Chain lube has two primary jobs 1) provide a micro-film layer of lubrication between the pin, bushing, and roller surfaces to prevent wear & 2) wash...

Chain lube has two primary jobs 1) provide a micro-film layer of lubrication between the pin, bushing, and roller surfaces to prevent wear & 2) wash away wear/fretting debris

Each time a chain link enters a sprocket and engages with the tooth, there is a collision between the pin and roller. This collision causes wear on the parts. Traditionally, the pin is going to be softer than the bushing, so the pin will wear thus creating elongation of the chain. As the pin wears, small particles of carbon based material are ripped away from the pin surface. These particles then get trapped in the joint between the pin & bushing surface which accelerates wear. Getting an adequate amount of oil into the INNER joint extends chain life quite a bit as the lubrication carries the wear particles out of the joint.

I have thousands of hours testing roller chain in a controlled lab environment. In fact, right now I am running a test to understand how a lubricated standard chain compares against an unlubricated Oring chain. With the Oring chain, samples typically lasted 350-400 hrs on the lab stand. We then ran several samples of standard chain (without lube) and they all failed at less than 250 hours. So conclusion #1 was that a sealed chain (Oring) will have a service life of 100hrs or greater than a standard chain if the customer does not lubricate it at all. Next, we added a lubrication schedule to the standard chain and re-ran the test with 3 more samples. The average life of the standard chain with regular lubrication was ~530 hours, which is a 100+ hour increase over a non-lubricated Oring chain. Conclusion #2 was that the application of lubrication to the chain significantly reduced particulate wear material in the joint and since the lubrication was flushing out the wear debris, wear and elongation was much slower and linear.

We ran another test, lubricating an Oring chain, but the hours gained were not significant. We found that externally applied lubricant has a much more difficult time penetrating the joint due to the Oring, so flushing of the wear debris was not as efficient as compared to the standard chain.

So yes, a standard chain that is cleaned, lubricated, and tensioned regularly can in fact have a much longer service line than an Oring chain that is not lubricated. However, it is very important to understand that you have to get alot of lubrication into the joint to achieve this. Spraying chain wax on the outside of the chain once per week isn't going to do anything. Lubricate the chain every single time you hit the track and really focus on getting the chain lube to flow down in between the link plates which should channel it into the roller joint. This is critical. Another effective method is to remove the chain from the bike, clean it with a brush, and then let it soak in an oil bath for a few minutes. Agitating the chain while it is in the oil bath helps lube work into the joint. I understand most folks won't do this oil bath step to pick up a few hours of chain life, I am just trying to stress how important it is to get lubrication into the roller joint.

As far as power transfer goes, anytime you can increase the mechanical efficiency of the drive, you will have more power available at the DriveN (rear sprocket) since less power is being robbed parasitically.

I could write pages on this subject, but will stop here.