My tall bottles of bike oil (TriFlow, Pedro’s, ProLink, whatever) can usually be found tipped over in a pool of expensive oil.
This little oilcan I got at a thrift store has never tipped over. It looks like they run about $10 each on eBay, which is a pretty good deal if you count all the $5 bottles of oil I’ve wasted!
This one I fill up with synthetic motor oil – whatever’s left in the cans after an oil change.
If I were an industrial designer… I would package my oils in short, squat little bottles shaped more like these old oilers. They were designed like that for a reason.
Curse those Pedros bottles! I got a free bottle of their eco-lube or whatever at a bike event once and I felt like I was trolled. It has oiled up my workbench or papers on multiple occasions. I must be an optimist though since the bottle is always more than half full it seems.
My variety of bike lubes/solvents/greases/oils/glues reached critical mass though and I modified my tool bench with a “Lube Trough’ last winter.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrjoeball/5538904928/in/set-72157626172318435/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrjoeball/5538326729/in/set-72157626172318435/
“I ‘felt like I was trolled!” That’s hilarious. “Is this a bottle of Rickroll?”