Axle grease, WD40, or K-Y?

What do you use to lube old cams?

I use cam lube, or wax based chain lube.

John D wrote:I use cam lube, or wax based chain lube.

^^^^^This^^^^

I not evan goign to ask why you need KY with a cam, the some freaky #$%%^ right there.

WD-40 will leave a residue in which dirt and other particles will stick to it. Stick with Metolius cam lube

Took this out of climbing magazine-
-dip cams in hot water, one drop of dish soap in the moving parts-
-Scrub with a toothbrush and rinse
-Then let air dry and use "White Lightening" Bike Chain lube.

I was worried about the soap and all of the water-but just water wasn't enough... It Worked Incredibly!!!

I use Metolius cam wash. It's a really good degreaser and it has a kinda waxy finish so it effectively lubes the cam. I find if you treat cams good and wash frequently there is no need to oil. Oil just promotes grime. And grime is gross!

Wax based lube will freeze and render your spring loaded caming devices useless in cold temps.

Frozen White Lightning reduces your cam springs ability to push the cam against the rock and weakens every placement when the temps dip below 28 degrees or so. Learned this the hard way on February ascent in Zion. Fresh White Lightning froze to my cam springs like glue.

I got really good at placing stoppers after my freshly cleaned and lubed cams failed to open inside the cracks. Zero spring pressure thanks to frozen wax. The smaller the cam, the worse the effect White Lightning had on them. TCU's - fail. C4's - fail.

Put your bottle of White Lighting (or other) in your fridge tonight and try to use it in the morning on your cams. It makes a better candle than cam lube in the cold.

WD40 'residue' it 'leaves behind' is actually a dry lube that doesn't freeze and will keep your cams working at least as well as your fingers on the cold days. It works year round unlike White Lightning type lubes.

Mike Manni wrote:WD-40 will leave a residue in which dirt and other particles will stick to it. Stick with Metolius cam lube

Anthony Milano wrote:Took this out of climbing magazine- -dip cams in hot water, one drop of dish soap in the moving parts- -Scrub with a toothbrush and rinse -Then let air dry and use "White Lightening" Bike Chain lube. I was worried about the soap and all of the water-but just water wasn't enough... It Worked Incredibly!!!

After using multiple lubes across a fleet of rental bikes, and my own for multiple years in quite a variety of conditions let me educate you guys on them. Pro tip MSDS sheets/ calling the company are your friend.

1. Most serious bike lubes are either made for dry (dusty) conditions or wet conditions. Each has their particular strengths and weaknesses and ones that are just "general" lubes you def don't want to use since they are closer to the just "plain" 3 in 1 petroleum based oils everyones probably encountered in their life.

2. White Lightening is as most of you know a wax based lube, that is better for wet weather riding. Which means it's made to stick on better and actually form more of a "residue" than WD-40 because it is made to do that. Dust + White Lightening = gnarly gunk. Multiple years of 200+ mtb miles in Tahoe backs this up.

3. WD-40 does lubricate slightly but it sure as hell is not the best lubricant out there. Go and talk to any pro bike mechanic, see if they use WD-40 as lube.

4. A very popular (for biking) and from my research very safe (for nylon) lube is Dumonde Tech Lite Lube. Also Phil Wood Bio-Lube looks like it'd be safe for nylon.

5. Shocked that no one has said graphite for a lube. It's not a petroleum based product, there are wet application versions. I know I use it for a lot of my locker carbiners, and cam parts and it works great.

5. Shocked that no one has said graphite for a lube. It's not a petroleum based product, there are wet application versions. I know I use it for a lot of my locker carbiners, and cam parts and it works great.

+1

I'll second The Word on not using wax based lubes. We were aid climbing last winter with some pretty gummed up cams from frozen wax. It's not something I'd really want to do again. I use some bike lube that smells like bananas.

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pretty much every lube i have used attracts dirt fairly equally. the big difference is that the oily lubes still provide some sort of lubrication while the waxy lubes just cake up and jam things up. as others have noted, the waxy lubes suck in cold temps. after a lot of years lubing a lot of cams, i'll take wd-40 or tri-flow over metolius any day.

slim wrote:after a lot of years lubing a lot of cams, i'll take wd-40 or tri-flow over metolius any day.

Ughh, well how about an alternative that doesnt suck? Any self respecting mechanic would cringe at the mention of wd40 or tri flow, thats a gumby suggestion!

I wouldnt put wd-40 or tri-flow on a $50 walmart bike cahin let alone my nice cams.

Dry teflon lube... Try it.

I need to check when I get home, but I think the Metolius Cam lube is made by the White Lightning people.

metolius and white lightning seem pretty similar. the thing with the waxy ones is that they just gum the cams up. i've tried graphite powder a few times and wasn't that impressed. with tri-flow, the lobes still attract dirt, but still move (although the sand is kind of grinding in there). the key is to use as little as possible, and really try to wipe off any excess.

blood works best.

Blood and spit.

WD-40 is definitely bad beta, for bikes and cams alike. I use WHite Lightning, have never had a problem with it.

Also, I usually wash my cams (no soap) in the dishwasher. Is this legit, or am I going to die?

Gonna give this a try! Let ya know how it works. Thanks for the input!

I like Pro Link in the yellow bottle. available at your favorite LBS (Local Bike Shop). lightweight oil not wax.