chain oilers

I knew that some motorcycles had a chain-oiler on their swing arm.

First you filled the hollow swing-arm with oil through a cap on the
top. Then you adjusted a screw to let the oil dribble out a plastic or
rubber tube onto the lower chain run (at least until dust and mud
clogged the drip tube).

***

But I didn't know that some bicycles had a top-run chain-oiler on the
seat tube, before and after World War II, or that pros used them.

Single-speed flip-flop 1936 Gloria with chain-oiler built into frame:
http://gallery.mac.com/bbattle/10015...ankset/web.jpg
http://gallery.mac.com/bbattle#10015...&bgcolor=black

Here's the same model of chain-oiler on a 1935 rear derailleur bike:

http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/...geViewsIndex=1

A 1937 Claude Butler British bike with chain-oiler:

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Bri...r_Warnick2.htm
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Bri...aud_butler.htm

***

Now that you know what the little built-in chain-oiler dingus looks
like, you can see it here in 1927:

http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/...View sIndex=1

This chain-oiler one is turned and ready for use on a 1955 Chemineau:
http://sports.webshots.com/photo/275...27374678oBfTQi
http://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2007...chemineau.html

***

1951 Tour of Flanders, a clamp-on chain-oiler with external reservoir:

http://www.wooljersey.com/gallery/v/...geViewsIndex=1

The chain-oiler is next to the seat-tube shifter and looks almost like
a miniature gonfleur, but the real gonfleur is on the down-tube.

***

I suspect that the chain-oiler, like goggles and tire scrapers,
vanished as the dirt roads were paved. Nowadays, chain-oilers are more
common on chainsaws.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Carl Fogel wrote:

I suspect that the chain-oiler, like goggles and tire scrapers,
vanished as the dirt roads were paved. Nowadays, chain-oilers are more
common on chainsaws.

You can still buy them from Old Blighty, where corroded chains are
evidently one of their many blights:

http://www.scottoilerusa.com/

Oiling the chain through orifices in the derailleur pulley is rather
ingenious.

Chalo

Chalo wrote:
Carl Fogel wrote:
I suspect that the chain-oiler, like goggles and tire scrapers,
vanished as the dirt roads were paved. Nowadays, chain-oilers are more
common on chainsaws.

You can still buy them from Old Blighty, where corroded chains are
evidently one of their many blights:

http://www.scottoilerusa.com/

Oiling the chain through orifices in the derailleur pulley is rather
ingenious.

Chalo

Or with Teutonic precision or whatever:
http://www.rohloff.de/en/products/lubmatic/

--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

On 11/8/2008 11:54 PM Chalo wrote:

Carl Fogel wrote:
I suspect that the chain-oiler, like goggles and tire scrapers,
vanished as the dirt roads were paved. Nowadays, chain-oilers are more
common on chainsaws.

You can still buy them from Old Blighty, where corroded chains are
evidently one of their many blights:

http://www.scottoilerusa.com/

Oiling the chain through orifices in the derailleur pulley is rather
ingenious.

Well, I'm all for anything that "extends drivetrain life by 2 to 7 times,
increases efficiency, and eliminates over 90% of drivetrain maintenance."

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"
Bend, Oregon

On Sat, 8 Nov 2008 23:54:24 -0800 (PST), Chalo
wrote:

Carl Fogel wrote:

I suspect that the chain-oiler, like goggles and tire scrapers,
vanished as the dirt roads were paved. Nowadays, chain-oilers are more
common on chainsaws.

You can still buy them from Old Blighty, where corroded chains are
evidently one of their many blights:

http://www.scottoilerusa.com/

Oiling the chain through orifices in the derailleur pulley is rather
ingenious.

Chalo

Dear Chalo,

Selling a gallon of "Scottoiler Active Fluid" for about $200 is even
more ingenious--twelve bucks for 250 ml!

Applying about 2 ml to each roller on a ~114 link chain would use up a
$12 bottle, but the company claims that its scheme saves money.

At that price, I'd apply the "Active Fluid" by hand with a Q-tip to
individual chain rollers instead of "squeezing the Scottoiler squid"
to pump the precious stuff through the Rube Goldberg contraption.

The stuff looks like orange juice (~$5 per gallon):
http://scottoilerusa.com/images/reservoir%20001.jpg

Somehow I doubt that we'll see Scottoilers used by any pros.

Dr. M. Kidd of "Herriot-Watt" University's claims that a dry chain
loses 13% of its efficiency:
http://www.scottoiler.com/UserFiles/...w_it_works.pdf

Kidd's claim would be news to Spicer, whose chain test showed that a
degreased chain's "efficiencies are essentially the same as those
measured for the chain in the re-lubricated condition."
http://www.ihpva.org/HParchive/PDF/hp50-2000.pdf

"Herriot-Watt" is usually spelled with only one 'r'. A search for the
details comes up empty, but shows that Kidd's thesis is indeed out
there somewhe

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...+efficiency%22

Darned hard to find a photo or diagram of the Scottoiler beast on the
site.

Here's a nice photo of the oil tube wound around the rear derailleur
cable at the bottom of this page:
http://scottoilerusa.com/dirtrag125_p060.pdf

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:43:43 -0800, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote:

On 11/8/2008 11:54 PM Chalo wrote:

Carl Fogel wrote:
I suspect that the chain-oiler, like goggles and tire scrapers,
vanished as the dirt roads were paved. Nowadays, chain-oilers are more
common on chainsaws.

You can still buy them from Old Blighty, where corroded chains are
evidently one of their many blights:

http://www.scottoilerusa.com/

Oiling the chain through orifices in the derailleur pulley is rather
ingenious.

Well, I'm all for anything that "extends drivetrain life by 2 to 7 times,
increases efficiency, and eliminates over 90% of drivetrain maintenance."

Now why does this device not come under the warning "do not lubricate
a dirty chain, it just pushes dirt to where it does the most damage"?