What lube to use for touring.

[Pat Lamb]

On an '85 Schwinn, did you have 5 or 6 cogs on the rear?

[froze]

There was 6 gears on the rear, I removed that cluster and put a Sunrace 7 on with a 34 tooth bail out gear, I did this thinking future when I would be touring across the US loaded and may need a really low gear to climb a steep grade.  I have the original gears, they only had about 800 miles on it, the new gears had about 100 miles on it.  The factory original chain is being used with the new gears and worked fine.  The Mountech derailleur also had no issue going up into the 34 gear from 24, in fact it was as seamless as the original going from 23 to 28!  that actually surprised me, I thought the derailleur would have to work at it make the jump but nope, no problem.

Note; the specs from the 1985 Schwinn catalog said it came with a 5 speed cluster, mine is was all original when i bought it, I knew the guy, he bought in 86 on sale, he rode it about 200 miles when he fell at his house off a roof and severely injured his back, he kept it covered under blankets in his garage all those years until 7 or 8 years ago when a conversation he and I was having revealed we had the same goal, to travel the US, he could no longer do that so he sold me the bike so i could do it.  It had the original seat and tires even, it was in showroom condition when I got it.  Another odd thing about the bike was the catalog said it had 36 spokes wheel on the front and 40 on the rear, mine had 40 front and rear; I think that 40 spoke wheel screwed me when I hit the barrier because the darn wheel didn't even come out of true even the slightest, had it been a 36 or a 32 it would have maybe collapsed saving the fork?  I did remove the original pedals and put on a set of Shimano 530's, but the seat I left on because the Avocet was comfortable to ride on. 

The other change I made was after trying to adjust the brakes myself but with zero experience with cantis and getting nowhere I took it into a shop, they put on a set of new Jagwire cables (even matched the original goldish colored housing) because the old brake cables didn't have the slicker internal technology of modern wires which made the cantis work stiff; cleaned and lubed the all the pivots; and put a new saddle wire of different length, can't recall if they went longer or shorter, just one size different; and they replaced the brake blocks with Kool Stop Salmons; the brakes worked a day and night difference afterwards. 

That's the only changes I did to the bike, I even used the original rack for the first tour but later switched to Tubus stainless because I didn't trust the original Blackburn aluminium one to hold up forever.

The only thing I didn't like about the bike, and this fault all touring bikes had back in the 
 day, was that it didn't have water bottle mounts on the fork, so my touring bike will have those; also it did not have a third water bottle mount on the bottom of the down tube, but again this was typical of all touring bikes back then, so I added a third one via a clamp system specifically made to do that.

Of course I didn't use the original tires because flat protection is so much better today so i went with Schwalbe Marathon Greengard tires, but I have the original Passage tires, they're not cracked so they can still be ridden.

[misterflask]

Hey, dkoloko,
What are the nut and bolts of rewaxing a chain on the road?  I'm a paraffin fan and at home I just keep my paraffin/moly/teflon concoction in a junk-store mini crockpot.  But I haven't figured out exactly what I would do on a long tour.     

Regarding variations in chain life,  I think one factor could be the type of aggregate used regionally in the pavement, as worn-away aggregate is likely a good part of our chain gunk.  I expect the granite aggregate here is more abrasive than, say, the limestone aggregate used in Florida. 

[staehpj1]

Hey, dkoloko,
What are the nut and bolts of rewaxing a chain on the road?  I'm a paraffin fan and at home I just keep my paraffin/moly/teflon concoction in a junk-store mini crockpot.  But I haven't figured out exactly what I would do on a long tour.

I can't imagine dealing with doing the paraffin thing on the road.  I used to do it at home, but long ago switched to wax based liquid lubes like T9 or Pro Link.

Regarding variations in chain life,  I think one factor could be the type of aggregate used regionally in the pavement, as worn-away aggregate is likely a good part of our chain gunk.  I expect the granite aggregate here is more abrasive than, say, the limestone aggregate used in Florida.

FWIW, my chain life reported in this thread would be a pretty good cross section of conditions across the US.  I lived in Maryland at the time of most of the reported mileage, but rode coast to coast on the Trans America, did the Pacific Coast, the Southern Tier, and generally distributed the mileage all over the US.  I have since been living in Tallahassee.

[dkoloko]

Hey, dkoloko,
What are the nut and bolts of rewaxing a chain on the road?  I'm a paraffin fan and at home I just keep my paraffin/moly/teflon concoction in a junk-store mini crockpot.  But I haven't figured out exactly what I would do on a long tour.     

Regarding variations in chain life,  I think one factor could be the type of aggregate used regionally in the pavement, as worn-away aggregate is likely a good part of our chain gunk.  I expect the granite aggregate here is more abrasive than, say, the limestone aggregate used in Florida.

Wax I take on trips is in a can with lid. I put the can in a pot that has a bit of water. I carry a stove, so this is no trouble. I do not play chemist and add ingredients to "improve" the wax, although I start with a new chain and throw it with the lube it comes with into the pot. I cannot see all the bother waxing a chain is supposed to be. I do not clean the chain when rewaxing, beyond giving it a wipe. For mitigating chaindrive wear, numerous studies over the years have wax coming out on top. I tried liquid bicycle wax and found it very unsatisfactory; messy and not long lasting. I get about 500 miles between waxing. This means for a 1000 mile trip, I wax once on road.

[staehpj1]

Wax I take on trips is in a can with lid. I put the can in a pot that has a bit of water. I carry a stove, so this is no trouble. I do not play chemist and add ingredients to "improve" the wax, although I start with a new chain and throw it with the lube it comes with into the pot. I cannot see all the bother waxing a chain is supposed to be. I do not clean the chain when rewaxing, beyond giving it a wipe. For mitigating chaindrive wear, numerous studies over the years have wax coming out on top. I tried liquid bicycle wax and found it very unsatisfactory; messy and not long lasting. I get about 500 miles between waxing. This means for a 1000 mile trip, I wax once on road.

For a 1000 mile trip wouldn't it be easier to just carry a second prewaxed chain and swap at 500 miles?  When I waxed chains I usually rotated between two chains any way.

FWIW, I prefer to apply T9 every few days with no cleaning, just apply, spin the cranks for a minute or so, and wipe off with a napkin or rag.  The chain stays shiny and lasts very well.  I don't find it to be much trouble or all that messy.

[dkoloko]

Wax I take on trips is in a can with lid. I put the can in a pot that has a bit of water. I carry a stove, so this is no trouble. I do not play chemist and add ingredients to "improve" the wax, although I start with a new chain and throw it with the lube it comes with into the pot. I cannot see all the bother waxing a chain is supposed to be. I do not clean the chain when rewaxing, beyond giving it a wipe. For mitigating chaindrive wear, numerous studies over the years have wax coming out on top. I tried liquid bicycle wax and found it very unsatisfactory; messy and not long lasting. I get about 500 miles between waxing. This means for a 1000 mile trip, I wax once on road.

For a 1000 mile trip wouldn't it be easier to just carry a second prewaxed chain and swap at 500 miles?  When I waxed chains I usually rotated between two chains any way.

Easier, maybe, but better, no. With the wax can I am prepared to rewax more often if needed.

[driftlessregion]

Back to the OP, though I use ProLink religiously at home, on tour I use whatever comes in the smallest container. Using something is more important than what to use.