Why wd 40 is bad for bike chain

However, after applying the WD40, you should thoroughly wash your chain and follow up with regular chain oil. In an ideal world, you would dry and clean your chain after every ride.

However, that is just not realistic. If you can take the time to clean and lube your chain once a week, you will be able to prolong its life span and prevent that annoying grating noise that rusty chains create. WD40 dissolves contaminants, leaving metal nice and clean. However, that does mean that WD40 will strip away any existing lubricants you have on your chain. As your chain has many moving parts and is put under a lot of stress, it needs lubrication to run smoothly and efficiently.

There are many cyclists who primarily use WD and have had no issues. In dry conditions it can arguably keep your chain cleaner longer than regular bike lubricants, because is less oily. WD is best for cleaning off gunk, grime, and dirt from your bike chain and derailleur. You could also use it as the only lubricant on your chain, and it will last for 8 to 12 hours of riding in dry conditions. Want to know what they use to lubricate the chain? For all you naysayers out there — perhaps you need to give it a try before you bash on it!

Side Note — WD Grab a can of WD off the shelf in your garage, and give it a go on your bike! If you are still not onboard with using WD on your chain there other popular bike chain lubricants.

I first purchased it, because it was what my local bike shop was carrying. It stays on the chain for a long time, keeps things moving well, and keeps things clean. Will WD remove rust from the bike chain? WD is great at removing rust from your bike chain. Bicycles Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people who build and repair bicycles, people who train cycling, or commute on bicycles.

It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Also I saw WD launching their new products of bike lubricant and degreaser. Did anybody try those? WD is mostly a solvent with a very light lubricant mixed in. It's great for getting stuck parts moving again. When you spray it on, the solvent dislodges whatever gunk may be causing the part to stick and then evaporates, leaving a light lubricant behind. This will allow the previously stuck part to move again.

The reason it is generally not considered a good bicycle lubricant is because it is a light lubricant. It's just fine for household items like door hinges, which aren't exposed to weather and don't get moved a couple hundred times a minute. Some people do use it for loosening up shifters in the winter time they stick when it's cold or cleaning chains and derailleurs.

You will notice in the answers and comments on the aforelinked question, and this one , that whether or not this is good practice is highly debatable. Some people will use WD as a cleaner and degreaser followed by a bicycle-specific lubricant, with or without a cleaning inbetween, depending on personal preferences.

I don't have any experience with their bicycle-specific products, but they're a solid company that's been in the business of cleaning and lubricating mechanical parts for a long time. They also make Lava soap and 3-in-1 Oil, a product that was originally designed as a bicycle lubricant although they did acquire both of those from other companies. I actually didn't know until I read this question that they were making bicycle-specific lubricants now.

Given their history and the number of patents that they have to draw ideas and develop from, I'm certainly willing to give them a shot. The worst case scenario is that I have to clean it off and go back to my previous products. WD original can be used as a de-greaser on bike parts. It is a bit harsher than other bike specific de-greasers, or common house hold degreasers like Simple Green that are often used by bike mechanics but essentially does the same thing.

Keep it mind that it is NOT a lubricant, but a de-greaser. After using any de-greaser you want to wash the area with soap and water and then apply a lubricant. I have used the WD bike specific lubricants and don't have any complaints. The wet lube held up well in a few nasty cyclocross races, and the dry lube is what I've been using on my "indoor trainer" bike. They have thrown a lot of money into the launch of these products over the last few months and I expect that with this type of support, their products will become a household name in the bike space in the coming years.

The "W" in WD stands for water and the "D" stands for displacement, and the 40 stands for the 40th. WD doesn't really lubricate much of anything. It's actually a de-greaser, so it will remove any lubricant from bicycle chains, cables and other pivot joints. If you're cleaning your chain for re-lubrication purposes with a product other than WD, then WD will be fine to use.

It's also said to "rust proof" items, but probably because of it's ability to displace water which commonly causes rust to form. I haven't tried any of the new products yet. They have a bike "degreaser", a bike "foaming wash" and two different chain lubricants, as well as a frame protectant. It will be interesting to see some reviews about these new products as far as pricing and how well they work. I have used many types of bicycle lubrications over the years.

The short answer is that WD can be used; my experience pretty much the averages out of all the comments above. The strength of WD is that it is time efficient and cost efficient.

A small amount of money buys you a big can, and one application both cleans and lubricates a little. When you spray it on you will see all the grime etc. The slightest bit of rain will wash it off, and even with no rain it will disappear quite quickly. However it is very easy to re-apply. I would just give it a spray every 2 rides or so or every time after rain. I turned to this after years of using expensive bike-specific lubes.

They definitely do a better lubrication job, but I found the dry ones were washed off easily by the rain while the wet ones attracted a lot of dirt, while both required the chain to be properly cleaned before application.

The bottles were always expensive, so in the end I found that for that particular bike WD provided a cheap-and-cheerful time and cost effective soln. The chain will also wear out a little quicker if you use WD The very best way to lubricate your chain is to properly wax it; this will take a whole morning but will then last a year, which also provides a good cost performance if you have a morning to spare on it.

I used WD on my oil starved bike chain and gears, and it totally brought it back to life. It was like magic!! Ordinary, boring WD can be used on your bike drivetrain.

In fact, for around five thousand miles it has been the only product I use on my single-speed bicycle drivetrain other than rags and an old toothbrush. It keeps my drivetrain spotless and silent-running. My rides range in length from a quick trip to the shops, to around miles round-trip. Most of my rides are around 40 miles in length.

I live in the UK, and so the weather conditions are highly variable. I get away with this because WD contains within it everything a bicycle drivetrain needs: anti-rust agents, penetrative agents, de-soiling agents, degreasing agents which help with cleaning and lubrication yes, WD contains a lube.

In fact, I would go so far as to say it is the perfect product for those that prefer light, non-viscous lubrication and cleaning of their drivetrain. As other answerers have correctly pointed-out: the lube in WD is very light.

For this reason, after every ride during which water landed on my drivetrain , I use WD to drive the water out Water Displacement, 40th formula , clean and re-lube my chain.

In the summer, when it is dry, if I am feeling lazy I might not touch my drivetrain after a ride. There will be no observable ill effects. Perhaps if I then left the drivetrain untouched for two or three rides the lube will then have worn too thin, making the drivetrain noisy, and mandating a re-application.

But I would very, very rarely let my drivetrain fall into that state.