Living In The Green World

A Reader Writes The Green Guide:

I am an avid triathlete, and as such spend a good deal of time on bicycle maintenance. I am concerned about the impact of the products I use, such as chain cleaners and lubricants. Surely they must be toxic, especially given the fact that I have no choice but to use them outside, and they do spill on the ground. Are there any environmentally friendly products for bicycle enthusiasts? If so, is their performance comparable? Thank you in advance for your help!
Sara

The Green Guide Responds:

Annually, approximately 2.5 billion gallons of lubricants are consumed by American industries. Most of these are used in the automotive industry. Over the last 20 years, huge advances have been made in the development of vegetable-based lubricants and fuels. Changes in the logging industry have also lead to more environmentally friendly chain lubricants. Bicycles, motorcycles, chainsaws have chains that require constant lubrication. All three require what's called total-loss lubrication: Whatever is used on the chain will end up in the environment. A chainsaw will expel nearly a quart of lubricant into the environment every hour. To give some indication of the potential impact from a single chainsaw, one liter of petroleum lubricant can contaminate a million liters of water. Needless to say, such facts have led to pressure on the logging industry and subsequent innovation in the development of biodegradable chain lubricants.

Since bicycles already possess great green aspects, bicyclists should have no problem adopting (and adapting) alternatives to petrochemicals lubricants. Because of the relatively small market for bicycle-specific biolubricants, though, bicyclists must piggyback on the products developed for similar applications, such as chainsaw and motorcycle lubricants. Lubricants are by necessity extremely specialized. According to a recent assessment, over 5,000 different kinds of petrochemical lubricants are needed to accommodate their various applications. The significant difference between bicycle and chainsaw chains is the amount of friction and subsequent heat produced during use. Chainsaw and motorcycle lubricants must be optimized to work at sustained high temperatures far beyond the demands of a bicycle. Consequently, these products penetrate well but have higher viscosity and can attract gritty debris when used on a bicycle. The mixture of sand and oil is extremely abrasive and will actually shorten the life of the chain.

As far as how well they work, biolubricants hold their own against conventional petroleum products. Once study done by the Alberta Research Council, concluded that "the performance of the biolubricant in the field of application was very comparable to the petroleum-based oil." However, a general weakness of what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) calls "biobased" oil is it's tendency to oxidize more quickly, which leads to an unwanted increase in viscosity even at high temperatures. To counteract the problem, biobased oil usually contains many additives. The USDA considers these products biobased as long as they contain a minimum of 51 percent biomaterial. Further, the problem of oxidization has lead to the creation of genetically modified soybeans (for frying oil), by companies like GM, that have high levels of oleic acid which organically resists oxidization. Genetically-engineered soybean oil has, however, been too expensive for bio-based lubricants so far.

There are now a handful of biolubricants marketed specifically for bicyclists, which claim to be vegetable-based and petroleum-free. It would be more economical to use a product for chainsaws if you can figure out someway of thinning it, though it may be a while before there's a biosolvent that can be mixed with a biolubricant. When using conventional chain oil, bicyclists often use paint thinner to lower viscosity. With regards to a biosolvent that can be used to clean a bicycle chain, you're in luck. Several biodegradable, non-petroleum chain cleaners are available.

Resources

Biodegradable degreasers made from citrus extracts:
Pedro's Oranj Peelz.
16 oz bottle $9.99
www.pedros.com

Citrus Chain Brite
16 oz $5.88
www.branfordbike.com/bikecare/bcare2.html#item1

Finish Line Citrus Degreaser
20 oz $9.88
www.branfordbike.com/bikecare/bcare2.html#item1

Biodegradable detergent degreasers:
available at www.branfordbike.com/bikecare/bcare2.html#item1

Finish Line Ecotech
12 oz $7.88

Bio Chain Brite
16 oz $8.88

Pedro's Bio-Degreaser
$12 oz $6.88

Biodegradable vegetable based lubricants:
SoyClean Penetrant and Lubricant
22 oz spray $6.49
www.soyclean.biz

BioBlend Chain and Cable Lube
www.bioblend.com

Prolab Bio-Chain
1 418-423-7507
www.alibaba.com