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Showerthought: Most shop lubes are just repackaged mineral oil with a premium price
I was looking at the MSDS sheets for a few popular chain lubes last week and it hit me. Like half of them are basically just mineral oil with a few additives, but they charge $15 for a tiny bottle. I found this out by cross-referencing the chemical names on a forum post from a guy who worked at a blending plant. Kinda makes me want to just grab some food-grade mineral oil from the pharmacy for $3 and test it out on my own bike. Has anyone else tried this or am I overthinking it?
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aaron_mitchell1mo ago
Yeah I tried this exact thing a couple years back. Grabbed a bottle of food grade mineral oil from CVS for like four bucks. Worked fine for about a week but then it got really gunky and started dripping off the chain way faster than the fancy stuff. The problem is those additives actually help the oil stick to the metal and stay there through rain and grime. The plain mineral oil just doesn't have the same staying power. I ended up mixing a little bit of cheap gear oil in with the mineral oil for my old commuter bike and that actually worked better than either one alone. Not saying the expensive stuff is worth the money but straight mineral oil isn't the miracle hack people want it to be.
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Honestly, have you considered how the additives might actually be corrosive to your bike's seals over time?
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