I unexpectedly have to ride my bike to work the next couple of days (iin about half an hour–eep!), and I’m pretty sure my chain needs some lubing before I take off, or I might not make it very far. Is there any MacGyver-like substitute for the standard lube that I could use, just to get me by the next couple of days? I’ve heard that I never want to use WD-40, so I know that’s out of the question. What about cooking or motor oil?
If it’s only for a couple days or a few miles use whatever is handy, but clean the chain well when you put something better on.
Motor oil will work in a pinch but it will also attract grit which will wear down the chain very quickly. A better choice is a dry film or wax lube which won’t attract dirt. Hope you have things like a helmet,pump,patch kit,tubes and tools.
I’d use motor oil over cooking oil. Try to get the chain as clean and dry as possible before lubing it.
Thanks, everybody. I realized my motor oil was in my truck’s tool box…and my truck is in the shop. I used cooking spray, and it seems to be nicely lubed for now. I only have to go a few miles, so here’s to hoping that damn chain doesn’t fall off!
Get that cooking spray off as soon as you can! Haven’t you ever noticed how gummy oil gets on the outside of the bottle?
Yeah, I hate that I had to MacGyver it, and not very well. On Friday, I should have plenty of opportunity to properly clean and lube everything. Happily, I did make it to work with no problems.
If you ever do use motor oil dillute it with something like mineral spirits.
As near as I can tell “white lightning” chain lube is very close, if not the same, as Dad’s homemade dry fly dope: Parafin wax disolved in coleman latern fuel. (white gas)
Why wouldn’t WD40 be better than cooking spray?
On a cycling forum I read of a poster that made their own wax lube. He said you had to be careful, he’s started a fire mixing the 2.
It’s a very light lubricant - too light for this application (e.g., there’s a WHOLE lot more pressure on the parts of a bicycle chain than on a door hinge). It also could dissolve and clean out residual lubricant that’s already in the chain. While it’s strange to think of vegetable oils as lubricants, some refrigeration system oil, which lubricates compressors, is vegetable based.
WD40 has a lot of volatile components (basically mineral spirits), which quickly evaporate. There isn’t actually much oil there. It’s great for light applications that don’t need a lot of lubricants, since it will penetrate joints and leave a small amount of oil behind. However, for a bike chain, the volatile components will dissolve any oil that remains and drip right on out, and you might end up with less lubrication than you had in the first place.
I bike 11 km each day to work (and then the same in the evening) and, in a pinch, I recently applied butter to my chain. It was spectacularly successful at smoothing out the ride and eliminating the frequent chain derailments I’d been having. My motto last week was “The butterbike is the better bike.” 
A friend has warned me that the butter may be acidic, and not a good idea in the long run.
I have also, in the past, successfully used canola-based margarine. I never cleaned the margarine off the chain of that bike, and it continued in successful service for years after.
This is a fabulous idea. Now you can clean your chain with a piece of bread. I think I would use wheat, although for obvious reasons maybe you should use a roll. 