Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on September 23, 2010 at 6:52am

You're right, it is a can of worms. I hope it doesn't stop anyone from attempting to alleviate their grossly exaggerated fears about their environmental impact though.

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Permalink Reply by Gin on September 23, 2010 at 9:36am

And when I look at that cartoon, I also think: how much petroleum was used to *produce* that corn (fertilizer, transport, etc). Gah.

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Permalink Reply by Bikefreeek on September 23, 2010 at 9:48am

...and that corn was probably grown to feed beef cattle.

If your concern with using petrochemical lube is avoiding personal adverse reactions to them (I know some who are allergic to Tri-Flow) then by all means steer clear. If your concern is the effect on the environment, then I hope you've already given up on cars, are vegan and grow your own food.

Not that being conscious isn't a good thing and every bit counts in someway, but the environmental footprint that owning and maintaining a bike leaves is totally sustainable compared to being an auto user and a meat eater.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on September 23, 2010 at 10:08am

I somehow missed that the first time. Emphasis has now been added lest anyone mistake which pulpit you're preaching from.

Ezra Hozinsky said:

Wow, that's a can of worms, considering the inextricable and intimate relationship between food production, petroleum, and world military power. Go feed the overpopulated world with that crude oil and soldier on, brother!

Michael Perz said:

Until we reach an age when food riots are a distant memory and everyone around the world is finally enjoying a post-scarcity existence I'll happily continue using the nastiest, most Gaia-unfriendly chemicals to service my various modes of transportation. Sorry, but I just find the use of food products in this manner to be especially foul regardless of whether it fills a car fuel tank or lubricates a bicycle chain.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on September 23, 2010 at 10:20am

ha!

I will go with what others have said; if you are worrying about this from a environmental or anti petroleum standpoint you probably have a long, long way to go before this should be a real concern.

Michael Perz said:

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on September 24, 2010 at 1:52am

Watching and liking this subject, because
A. Current tech is a hazard to skin and eyes.
but more importantly,
B. I'm longing for a lube that's less hard on clothes.
Figuring someday, with the right substance found, I'll completely clean my chain down to dry, and reapply something non-black to invisible.

Coming from the world of precision skate bearings, I wonder why nobody seems to use silicon?

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on September 24, 2010 at 3:16am

It is not the lube that is hard on clothes, it is the dirt that the lube picks up.

Andrew Bedno said:

Watching and liking this subject, because
A. Current tech is a hazard to skin and eyes.
but more importantly,
B. I'm longing for a lube that's less hard on clothes.
Figuring someday, with the right substance found, I'll completely clean my chain down to dry, and reapply something non-black to invisible.

Coming from the world of precision skate bearings, I wonder why nobody seems to use silicon?

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Permalink Reply by Mark Kenseth on September 24, 2010 at 3:51am

I question the water I drink, therefore I'd prefer to use anything but oil-based, chemical-based...etc. It's everywhere these days. I'm just tired of using products that have hazard/poison information on them. If it's a hazard to my eyes and stomach now, why won't it be a hazard in my water or land later?

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Permalink Reply by Green Machine Cycles on September 24, 2010 at 5:26am

We're all preaching, brother.

Me, from the pulpit encouraging an attitude of "let's scrutinize our behavior and choices and really think about the ways in which our ignorance, hubris, and myopia have fixed us with the environmental and social troubles we're in," and you, apparently from the one of "let's not shed our mantle of ignorance, hubris, or myopia lest we appear uncool, frantic, or progressive in our choices."

This discussion is about chain lube, a product that will likely have an incalculably small effect on things that make news, like climate change, ecological poisoning, failing school systems, famine and war, etc., yet you all now see how such a seemingly simple thing affects and influences many larger and more complex issues and the attitudes we hold about them.

I say that if you care enough about the chain lube you use on your bike to contribute to an online discussion about it, you should care about everything that goes into that lube and everything that influences its production, marketing and beyond. It's called "follow-thorough" and the world would be a better place if we all strove for more of it.

Michael Perz said:

I somehow missed that the first time. Emphasis has now been added lest anyone mistake which pulpit you're preaching from.

Ezra Hozinsky said:

Wow, that's a can of worms, considering the inextricable and intimate relationship between food production, petroleum, and world military power. Go feed the overpopulated world with that crude oil and soldier on, brother!

Michael Perz said:

Until we reach an age when food riots are a distant memory and everyone around the world is finally enjoying a post-scarcity existence I'll happily continue using the nastiest, most Gaia-unfriendly chemicals to service my various modes of transportation. Sorry, but I just find the use of food products in this manner to be especially foul regardless of whether it fills a car fuel tank or lubricates a bicycle chain.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on September 24, 2010 at 5:28am

Mark Kenseth said:

I question the water I drink, therefore I'd prefer to use anything but oil-based, chemical-based...etc. It's everywhere these days. I'm just tired of using products that have hazard/poison information on them. If it's a hazard to my eyes and stomach now, why won't it be a hazard in my water or land later?

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Permalink Reply by Green Machine Cycles on September 24, 2010 at 5:41am

Thanks for posting one of the most compelling graphic depictions of perspective, for yet again showing the genius of the Eameses, and for reminding us how insignificant we are. And all done without computer animation.

But although I get your point, that our choice of chain lube doesn't matter at all, I think you'll agree that if we extend that attitude to all our choices and to everyone in the world, we would soon find ourselves in a very alien kind of society, one that has in the past led to the most despicable human behavior imaginable.

The film also shows how everything, despite the vast space between what we consider matter (and what matters), is interconnected. Let's all try to live in the same boat.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 24, 2010 at 5:42am

Don't mix science and religion there. It never ends well. Let them have their gods and devils within 1 oz of petro-oil.

Michael Perz said:

Mark Kenseth said:

I question the water I drink, therefore I'd prefer to use anything but oil-based, chemical-based...etc. It's everywhere these days. I'm just tired of using products that have hazard/poison information on them. If it's a hazard to my eyes and stomach now, why won't it be a hazard in my water or land later?

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