Caveman’s clever trick to lube a needy chain WITH YOUR CAR’S DIP STICK!

June 20th, 2008 by Conrad Stoltz

How to lube a rusted bike chain when you have no (Squirt) chain lube.

Disaster strikes. The airline took your luggage hostage. You have to pre ride the course, so you borrowed a bike, helmet, shoes 2 sizes too big and clothes. (Yay for someone else’s used chamois!) Read more about why and how this was the worst travel of my life: Flying the friendly skies. Amber Monforte

But oh dear, no chain lube to be found!

Levels of lube:

- Best case scenario would obviously be Squirt lube.
- A very distant 2nd would be the other stuff they call chain lube. (But you’ll have to decontaminate your chain before re-applying Squirt once your luggage comes)
- When I was a kid I once sprayed energy drink on my chain every time the squeak got bad. It worked pretty well, but I realized the spraying intervals became really frequent and of course the noise came back worse than ever. And then the monumentous BONK on the way home when all your carbs went on the chain. (Like I said, I was a kid)
- Last resort would be:

Caveman’s clever trick to lube a needy chain WITH YOUR CAR’S DIP STICK!

1) Pop the bonnet. (Hood) in USA. *Read more about the bike at the bottom of post.

2) Pull out the dip stick. (note Specialized gloves from mid 90s. I bet Ned wore these when he was still a spring chicken)

3) Quickly apply dripping oil to chain.

As you can see, this chain is a very needy one. The rain in Wales is a true test for chains and lube alike.

4) Repeat
5) Repeat
6) Repeat.

One can also use grease found on car parts. With new rental cars you’ll find grease in the door hinges, bonnet clip etc. But with older vehicles, like my personal vehicles (87 Sentra in USA, or 88 Toyota Cressida in RSA) they usually has their own oil puddles underneath, so that could be quite handy, except I always have a few bottles of Squirt rolling around in my own cars.

*PS. I really did borrow this bike from gracious Gareth, (XTERRA Wales organizer) It was 3 sizes too small, the rear sag was like 85%, the brakes were the wrong way round, (front brake on the right!) on the steepest part of the course the brake pads ran out and I had to crash at the bottom of the hill to avoid crashing! And yes, the chain was red. But we did get to see the bike course.

One Response to “Caveman’s clever trick to lube a needy chain WITH YOUR CAR’S DIP STICK!”

Lauren Says:
June 21st, 2008 at 5:16 am
Thanks for the great laugh, I know it’s truly not really funny but geez after the worst flight travel ever you would think at least one thing would go right. Maybe tomorrow….. Best wishes to you and Amber for a successful race!!!