Chain oiler or Not?

[jasonbc]

I commute around 100 miles a week in 30-50 zones in all weathers and wandering if it’s worthy fitting a chain oiler or just stick with my current way of putting chain lube on the bike every other week while up on paddock stands.
I have bought one of those Loobman manual chain lube things but still haven’t got around to fitting it and wander if it is really worth the hassle?

would be foolish not to fit one with the amount of salt around at the moment

[Dee Duble Yuh]

I looked at the Loobman oiler for the first time today. Thanks for the hint! Only £18 for dual-sided delivery? Bargain. And no messing with vacuum tubes!

I'd pay £18 just to avoid kneeling by the rear wheel on dark and rainy nights. It's going on my list!

As I explained above, I'm sceptical about the financial argument for the Scottoiler. It costs roughly the same as a C&S set, so even it it doubles the life of a chain, you'd be only breaking even until about 30,000 miles.

As I said once before (adjust the figures for your situation if you like):

         | Without Scottoiler  | With Scottoiler
0 miles  |   £0                | £120 plus a lot of your time.
10,000   | £120                |   £0 (breaking even so far)
20,000   | £120                | £120 (still breaking even)
30,000   | £120                |   £0 (ahead slightly now)
40,000   | £120                | £120 (still only slightly ahead)
50,000   | £120                |   £0 (at last we're making headway)

[francis_geoff]

I had a touring Scottoiler on my @, it took me about a month to sort the flow (Travelling around the tight bends in Spain with oil over the back tyre was good for the cheek muscles), but once the flow was sorted it was a good investment. Did 20K and chain was OK when I sold it.
Now have a Vara, and am in two minds about fitting an oiler - it has not yet lost its novelty so I lubricate the chain after most rides. A few long trips may convince me to put an oiler on as oiling at the end of each day gets to be a pain, as well as having to carry the oil.

[shack]

OSCO here. No fiddling with settings, as it's a manual system. Chain maintenance is all well and good if you have a garage and/or a shed to park in, but if you do 2-300 miles per week year round and park on the streets then it is a pain to trudge inside up a flight of stairs in your soaked gear to get a can of lube.

So yeah, lazy way out, pull the knob every so often right before you get home, then just park it and don't worry.




Won't be cheaper, but it will save time and a bit of chain. (Though the NX still has a more than healthy appetite for them, never made one last past 12k miles.)

Though I have to admit my laziness works out very well with my current shaft drive.

I like the way the tube runs along the top of the chainguard, I think I might use that for my loobman, aren't pics of other folks bike great

[antti]

I have had Pro-Oiler in use for one season, about 16 000 km.
I`m very, very happy with it.

It isn`t cheap, but if my next bike also has chains it`ll follow.