At temperatures that low, the pour point of the lubricant would start to matter. Phil Tenacious Oil is probably molasses at -40. I can't find detailed specs for Tri Flow, but the MSDS says its flash point is pretty low (170 degrees), indicating a fair portion of it is pretty light oil so it probably does flow at a low temperature. Sewing machine oils or 3-in-One would perform similarly.
I'm not a huge fan of using motor oil outside of engines, but you could go to a 0W-20 synthetic motor oil to get a very low pour point. Synthetic oils have an inherently high viscosity index, which means they don't change viscosity with temperature as much as mineral oils. That same property would help maintain lubrication film strength when the weather warms up. If you stick with Tri Flow, consider using it as a winter-only oil, and relubricating with something a bit heavier for the warm months. No sense wearing out an expensive hub prematurely. Bill Stockton, CA On Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 1:05:09 PM UTC-8, Mark Reimer wrote: > > Good question! I did a quick Google and it seems they have their own brand > of 'all season' oil, but I didn't find anything else. > > I've tried Phil pawl lube, tenacious oil, 10w40 motor oil, various chain > lubes, etc. Triflow is the only thing I've found to work consistently below > -10C. Even -5C was getting my 10w40 lube sticking a bit, which I found > surprising. > > Strangely enough, my older 3-pawl phil wood road hub has never skipped in > any temperatures, ever. But this new and 'improved' 4-pawl design Phil came > out with a year or two ago has been brutal. This is my third freehub and my > first time since getting the Atlantis that I've been able to ride in the > cold without it skipping. > > I got the minimal and ultra light lube idea from some riders up in Alaska > who used a few drops of Singer sewing machine oil. It's pretty similar to > TriFlow. TriFlow is supposed to be good to -60C. I've had the 'pleasure' of > trying it down to -40C and it's been working well. > > A friend of mine just bought a Rohloff, I'll ask him about its low temp > performance. > > On Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 2:50:47 PM UTC-6, dougP wrote: >> >> What lube is used in Rohloff hubs? That would seem to be a tricky >> problem, given all the whirling bits. And the Germans deal with real >> winter. Maybe ATF? >> >> dougP >> >> On Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 12:18:04 PM UTC-8, Deacon Patrick >> wrote: >>> >>> Amazing how our mitochondria adapt to the seasons so swiftly, helping us >>> generate heat more than go in the winter and go more than heat in the >>> winter. perhaps poor Phil's pawls need a mitochondria lube? Grin. >>> >>> Love your pictures as always! >>> >>> With abandon, >>> Patrick >>> >>> On Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 12:37:51 PM UTC-7, Mark Reimer wrote: >>>> >>>> After sitting in the deep freeze so long, my body is all out of wack >>>> and was feeling quite happy to ride for a few hours in nothing but a wool >>>> jersey and jeans. It's funny, because come October I would be freezing >>>> cold >>>> in warmer temperatures with more clothes! >>>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
