I just recently started Mountain biking. As maintenance you lube the chains up with a waxed base lube. I was wondering if that would work on reels as well.

Any thoughts?

 

Ed 

I've been a road cyclist for many years, and often I've found that wax or "dry" lubricants work really well for fishing applications. White Lightning, Pedro's Dry, and others seem to do well. I personally use Boe-Shield T-9 and have great success. In essence the same things you're lubricating on a bike are being lubricated on a reel - gears, bearings, chains (being pivot points) - so it just makes sense the lubricants are similar and somewhat interchangeable. 

6 hours ago, Preytorien said:

I've been a road cyclist for many years, and often I've found that wax or "dry" lubricants work really well for fishing applications. White Lightning, Pedro's Dry, and others seem to do well. I personally use Boe-Shield T-9 and have great success. In essence the same things you're lubricating on a bike are being lubricated on a reel - gears, bearings, chains (being pivot points) - so it just makes sense the lubricants are similar and somewhat interchangeable. 

And coincidentally Shimano makes both bike components and fishing reels

Viscosity verses clearance, precision cut gears are very close tolerance and clearance requiring very low viscosity lubricant. Very low viscosity with slick nearly zero friction is what fishing reels need.

When you consider fishing reels operate at near ambient temperatures, rarely below freezing or above 105 degrees and with low rpm's under light forces, the lubricants main purpose is to provide low friction without being contaminated by dirty water.

Bee's wax brings little to improve a reels performance and dry lubs still need cleaning to remove contaminates.

Tom

A dry lube may have a slight advantage in exposed apps like level wind worm gears but that's about it. In the grand scheme reels aren't all that demanding an application for lubricants. Keep them clean and appropriately lubricated and sleep well. 

Over 35 years in the bike bis, certified mechanic, and over a decade competing on a bike, first let me say that properly lubing is more important than minor differences in the lubes themselves. There are a few caveats, as some additives can break down plastic parts, and certain lubes don't play well with others, but these are rare cases. That being said, I've tried everything made in the bike lube market, and while nearly all work well, found no advantage. I use Shimano drag grease for gears, Phil wood on the worm, and sewing machine oil on my bearings. So short answer, yeah bike lubes work fine, as do many other non fishing specific ones. Oh, and do yourself a a favor, if you have hydraulic brakes, put something (an old cut credit card works well) between the calipers when you remove the wheel(s). Unless you were planning on bringing it to one of our shops, in which cas squeeze the lever with the wheels off...

On 11/2/2017 at 10:25 AM, georgeyew said:

And coincidentally Shimano makes both bike components and fishing reels

Indeed! I am am mtn and roadie all in one and love Shimano mtn shifters and I never even knew they made fishing equipment until I started fishing in 2004. However I prefer campagnolo shifters for road bikes. 

 

Giod to know that about the wax lubes. 

Phil Wood and T9 in all my reels.