Does Bicycle Lubricant Penetrate around Chain Pins and Bushings where it is needed? Some manufacturers tell us not to remove the packing wax from new chains because the lubricants we use will not penetrate around the bushings and pins like their packing wax does. Now I usually accept manufactures recommendations, but here, based on my experience with chain lubricants, I was not so sure. So, we decided to test this out. We cleaned a new chain by letting it sit overnight in Gum Turpentine (shaking the container from time to time) to remove the packing wax and then dried the chain thoroughly.
After we applied bike chain lubricant and wiped off the excess, the question was "does any chain lube penetrate the chain" to the bushings and pins? To answer this question, we colorized some Finish Line Dry Lubricant (yellow) and coated the chain. We then worked it back and forth to enhance penetration and let the chain sit several hours. Following this, we wiped off the excess from the plates of the links and rollers (as is the case when we clean and lubricate a bike chain). To access where the lubricant remained, we disassemble to chain. We could see yellow lubricant on the sides of the rollers, where the rollers contact the inner links and where the inner and outer link plates come in contact. We also noted lubricant around the bushings and pins. This penetration of the lubricant is more important than lubricant on the surface of the rollers or on the outside of the chain links. Penetration of lubricant to the bushings, pins and contacts of the rollers against the plates of the chain is what decreases wear while lubricant on the surface of the chain just picks up gunk and grime leading to a shorter chain life.
We tested several other wet and dry lubricants, all of which showed good chain penetration. We did not test all chain lubricants, but the point here, is when you read recommendations that don't make sense or for which there is no evidence, dig a little deeper, look at other sites, ask questions. When it comes to bicycle chain packing wax, we have been misled. More to come on this topic.