Best lubing strategy

Hot immersion waxing can be straight forward and easy to live with once prepped and set up.

I've also found Smoove to be clean running and easy to live with.

Have a look at the zero friction cycling site. Loads of information there. It's not all about converting people to hot wax. Adam does make the case for different lube types and cost to run for various methods on different price drivetrains

You don't say what lube you're using at the moment but from the description of caked on gunk I'm guessing Finish Line or Muc Off. Switching to a cleaner running drip lube should mean that grime just comes off with your normal routine, though adding a quick wipe of jockey wheels and chain ring wouldn't hurt. Peatys All Weather or RnR blue have been pretty clean running year round for me.

Try running a standard "dry lube" oil, it picks up way way less crud, but you need to apply more regularly. Halfords stuff is fine. "Wet lube" is like a crud magnet and ends up as that black caked on grinding paste.

New chain every 3-6 rides. It's the only way to be sure.

Possible you're using too much lube. Finish Line (wet) is fine but you really don't need much.

lube applied

You don't say what you're using. I've had good success with Juice Lubes Viking. Dries dry. last well enough. The more you put on over tome, the better it gets. You do have to put it straight after washing/cleaning the chain, and not right before a ride though.

What wordnumb said. Apply a drop to each roller on the bottom run of the chain, when done do a few circuits of back pedal to move it around, then wipe off the excess. I use finishline green once a week. I remove gunk from the jockey wheels and the front ring once a week prior to oiling. I don't have dirty cassettes.

After you've got consent.

Always grease the pole, not the hole.

Silca have done some testing in the best way to apply drip lube.

Set the chain up for maximum cross over and on the largest cassette sprocket. Add each drip to the top of the chain at the link just before it engaged the cassette while pedaling backwards. The sudden change from crossed to relaxed actually pumps the lube deeper into the chain.

Once the dry lube has dried, bit of gt85 or similar on a rag, a wipe the excess off the outer plates.

I'm currently half way through experimenting with Squirt drip wax for this very reason.

Perhaps a hot wax regime is not so bad, but I've settled on Peatys premium.

Drip on after washing. 20-30 rotations backwards and wipe off excess. Every ride or evryotger ride depending on trail gunk.

After its mobilised all the built up crap in the chain, it will run nice and clean is is pretty persistent.

If you have a hysroshot or similar, that's just enough to blast the chain out during washing, so I don't have to muck about with taking the chain off.

Best balance of faff vs wear for me.

I generally use Finish line ceramic wet. You really just need one drop on each roller, spin it, and wipe the chain with a rag. Been using the finish line ceramic wax recently as I ordered the wrong one. Runs very clean, but doesn't last an 8 hour off road ride - had to re-lube mid way - we were on a four day ride.

I've used all sorts, but I find ceramic wet is the best, so long as you don't over oil.  Some of the sticky wet lubes are a muck magnet.

just hawk tuah and spit on that thang

I use Rock-n-Roll wet most of the time on most of my bikes. It seems to keep things relatively gunk free and running smoothly.

I don't find it lasts all that long so on really long rides that are likely to be wet, particularly off road I tend to use a wet lube. Currently go mucoff ceramic which is quite good. If I do this then I'd generally give the chain a proper clean at some point shortly afterwards. Things like Fenwicks foaming chain cleaner are much better than the generic spray on foam cleaners.

If it's relatively dry, experiment with some of the options above. A dry lube might be a good option. If it's filthy then put on something heavier. I don't have any problems with gunk building up on my CX bike. Wet, muddy races are a very effective degreaser.

Clean with Gt85 after every ride.  Then spray clean chain with more GT85.  Chains last for ages.  I know I'll get crucified for saying this, but chain lube for bicycles is snake oil.

Username checks out ^ ?

Peatys has been great this year for me, it leaves the chain very clean even after 100km rides.

https://peatys.co.uk/products/linklube-all-weather

This is also really good but leaves more of a residue, better for wet weather IME.

http://www.joes-no-flats.com/Products/677/Joe%27s-Ceramic-Chain-Wax-%7Cfwsa%7C-Wet

But, the best remedy to expensive drive train wear is riding singlespeed. An £8 chain every 12 is ideal when you're skint.

Cleaning your chain with GT85 or WD40 is good, but won't lubricate your chain much in wet weather, it's just too thin IMO.

Never bought into the chain waxing trend. Too much faff for me.

Rock and Roll blue. Put plenty on but then wipe off the chain thoroughly.

I’ve been using Finish Line Dry and putting up with it not being the best in wet weather. The fact that it stays so clean and doesn’t go black & gloopy makes up for the amount it needs reapplying.

BUT

I’m going to try something a bit more long lasting that will hopefully stand up better to the wet. Just not quite sure what yet.

I knew I'd be attacked.  However, I can only go off my own experience over the last 20 years or so since I last used expensive chain lube.  Maybe if one could be arsed to clean their chains after every ride and then apply gear oil, they might get a few more miles out of their transmission.  Maybe.

I hope you don't feel attacked. The statement and the username was just too much of a gift. What appeared as a question mark was supposed to be a winky smile.

ZFC testing does show a massive range of different chainwear depending on what lube is used so there is some science in it. There is a lot of snake oil out there as well

Chain gets hot waxed with Putoline.

Mech gets a squirt of GT85.

Fork stanchions, dropper upper post, rear shock get a regular squirt of Fenwicks suspension lube.

Never bought into the chain waxing trend. Too much faff for me.

After the initial setup it's honestly not a faff.

Pot at the end of the work bench, chain off and in the Putoline for a few minutes, out, wiped and hang to cool.

No more hassle than this applying a drop to each link lark that people go on about.

I can't seem to get much more than 100km out of one application of any lube on the gravel bike! Fenwick's Professional has been the best so far and I include two different brands of hot wax in that.

Even Fenwick's is no good for applying on the trail though so I'm going Silca Synergetic next which can be applied and go. Just give it a wipe down once applied I guess to avoid gunking.

What chain? Seems some kmc tin and dlc chains prove difficult for any lube to adhere to.

I’m going Silca Synergetic next

works a treat for me on gravel bikes and my eMTB

What chain? Seems some kmc tin and dlc chains prove difficult for any lube to adhere to

Not sure if that was in response to me, but originally a gold YBN, but more recently 11spd Ultegra.

I'm curious myself as to why I seem to get worse results than some, but life's too short to keep experimenting!

I'm a Squirt user and if I'm feeling fancy, very hot water on chain, chainring, cassette and jockey wheels and any Squirt wax and dirt is removed.
My best solution for this is a Worx pressure water set to widest spray and lowest pressure - like a mist and give the drivetrain and good going over...it lifts it all and is incredibly low pressure.

Try Weldtite TF2 All Weather for the wetter months.

It's a lot cheaper than most and doesn't go gunky. I get it by the litre and it lasts years. Just run a bit on the chain after cleaning, or before riding if you've not washed the bike.

I think on reflection to the OPs query, I think the answer is that there isn't a best or ideal solution.

There's only ever going to be the one that works best for you, at a cost you're happy with, that you'll stick to, that works well enough in the terrain you broadly ride in for the length of ride that you're regularly doing which the time space equipment, and level of faff that you're prepared to input.

For some that's a squirt with GT85, for others that's a whole solution that involves multiple chains, ultrasonic baths and time.

So, I’m going to see if STW hivemind can come up with something given my bike cleanliness (or lack of) routine. No putoline or anything crazy like that, though.

If you have no routine, wax/putoline is probably least bad.

But this:-

Mid-week night ride cleanup involves a wash with a worx type battery washer. A wipe of the stanchions. Chain wiped. GT85 on the chain, cycled a bit, wiped, lube applied. Weekends similar but with some bikewash brushed on and some de-greaser on the chain and wiped etc.

Says you have a routine. Just not very good at cleaning chains!
If you want to stick with oil based lubing, get a better chain cleaner (Park Cyclone is the benchmark.) do that immediately after you've knocked the mud off the bike, then leave the rinsing and final cleaning of the gears and chain until the very end. So it gets a chance to penetrate and loosen the oil and muck up a bit.
"Drying" the chain with GT85 is just adding extra, unplanned for, elements to your actual lubricant. So you've probably got a mix of old oil, GT85, GT85 carrier/solvent and water inside the links of your chain... Before you add the actual lube. A proper clean and rinse will at least remove most of the dirt, getting the water out is either a matter of shaking and/or waiting (depending on where the bike goes, inside to dry or outside to, well, not dry...).

Then add lube.

Bot sure about best but least faff for me for road or MTB has become

1. not using a jet wash or chain cleaner
2. not using oil or GT85
3. wax on the chain (Fenwicks Professional applied with a hairdrier is good if you're not into wax melt tubes etc)
4. don't bother adding any more or anything else until the chain's sounding a bit dry again, then wipe any excess dirt off at the chainring end (it's exposing the roller area well there) with a rag and re-apply

I've been using Peaty's All Weather and it's decent, but I still get the black gunk building up after a while (although not at much as with the Shimano PTFE lube that I was using previously). I think my cleaning and de-greasing routine may have room for improvement though.

My very expensive SRAM XX1 Copper chain seems to hold onto the lube for longer than any other chains I have used. It is rather expensive but has also outlasted any other chain I've had too (excluding single speed chains of course). I find Shimano 11 speed chains rust a bit after even hosing down after a ride, and although the KMC X11EL chains on my gravel bike didn't rust, they did wear out quicker than the 11 speed Shimano or SRAM ones I've used.

https://www.wolfcycles.co.uk/product/sram-xx1-eagle-12-speed-gold-chain-2/

I now fit 12 speed SRAM GX chains to my gravel bike and hardtail as I bought a load cheap.

For £18 a litre, I think this might be my next lube purchase, cheers @chakaping

https://www.biketart.com/products/tf2-all-weather-lubricant-with-teflon?variant=40809555984563

Might be of interest or not...

2 bikes, 2 new drivetrains. Both done about 10 near enough identical rides. Both cleaned properly with chain cleaner at the start of this trip, ridden twice and hosed off between rides (to get rid of particularly sandy / gritty muck) and lube re-applied after.

These pics are halfway through the 3rd ride.

First pic using Lifeline Dry. Second pic using Peaty's All Weather.

From this unplanned experiment I'll be sticking to Peaty's as it does seem to work as advertised: "Peaty's LinkLube actually cleans your chain as you use it!"

All lubes allow contamination into the chain. There’s no such thing as self cleaning.
if you want long life out of a drivetrain use 2 chains in rotation and Silca hot wax immersion process.
washing off the wet chain with boiling water takes it virtually back to “clean as newly degreased).
a hot wax habit isn’t hard once you’re used to it.
the only pain in the past was getting rid of manufacturers packing grease which prevents wax sticking to the metal. This used to take 3 baths of white spirit and 3 of meths on a new chain. I did my two 2 years ago so it’s never often.
now there’s Silca chain cleaner which is a single bath or even their “stripchip”.
A chain with regular drip lube is never going to be contamination free after the first muddy ride. Some drip wax lubes (Silca have the best as it has really good penetration - unlike Smoove) can it can be cleaned off along with the contamination in 3 rinses of boiling water.
But lubes like that must sit overnight before use so the carrier liquid can evaporate.
as Onzadog wrote. ZeroFrictionCycling is good dust for chain care info.

I feel like I'm going full circle and returning to wet lubes for durability and ease of re-application, but with regular chain baths to try and flush out contamination and extend chain life.

I'll finish off my bottle of Fenwick's Professional first, it certainly seems to outlast hot wax treatment in mixed gravel conditions but still needs to dry overnight. If I thought I could get up to 200km out of an application (the single longest gravel ride I'm likely to ever do) then I'll maybe stick with it.

^^ I recall you were going to try the Silca Synergetic ?  How did you get on with it ?

No putoline or anything crazy like that, though.

Just bite the bullet and do it.

I suspect there are now better options than putoline, and I'm not sure it's not changed recipes over the years, my 2nd tin was a lot softer than the first.

Currently I'm working on a DIY formulation, but I'd not recommend it.  There's a bit more to it than just adding some tungsten disulphide or PTFE powder to some candlewax.

 I recall you were going to try the Silca Synergetic ? How did you get on with it ?

That's the 'wet lube' that I intend to use once I've finished up the Fenwicks.

I don't know whether to run a Fenwick's chain through a chain cleaner or not, I get the impression the Fenwick's accumulates over multiple applications, but don't know if it's also accumulating grit and contamination!

I cleaned mine pretty thoroughly in a park tool cleaner with Muc off degreaser before applying the first dose of Synergetic.  I remain impressed with it after 6 months or so use on the gravel bikes.

I’d just like to say that, other than on this forum, I’ve never, ever heard of anyone in my world hot waxing their chain. I’ve come to believe it must be a STW thing.

There’s no such thing as self cleaning.

Maybe not self cleaning but it does seem to have made it more repellent to muck sticking to it.

There’s no such thing as self cleaning.

No but (and I've found with my recipe experiments) you can trade off between a hard/dry wax which flakes off (taking any contaminants with it), which is "self cleaning". Or a softer blend which is till pretty hard which seems to leave a is super hydrophobic smear* over the drivetrain to which nothing wet seems to stick.  The stumbling block i have at the moment is really dry dusty conditions.  The hard wax doesn't last long enough (~100miles before the drivetrain starts to whirrr), and the softened wax picks up dry dust. So my next set of experiments are going to be making a a very hard "grease" via saponification of stearic acid and lime in the molten wax which if I'm right should make the softer wax blend harder, but more malleable without flaking off.  The other option is a to use tallow rather than stearic acid,  which actually has the advantage of working better when wet!

*it's a mucky grey from the WS2 additive but i guess if it was just the wax, oil and PTFE it would be clear/white.

I’d just like to say that, other than on this forum, I’ve never, ever heard of anyone in my world hot waxing their chain. I’ve come to believe it must be a STW thing.

Well then this forum is clearly sustaining a small industry including (off the top of my head) at least four manufacturers of hot wax, several dedicated products, two or three dedicated online stores, countless podcasts/YouTube vids and of course some world tour professional teams and riders.

Good job STW! (winky/smiley emojji etc. etc.)

I too have gone back to wet lubes after trying all sorts of other types. For 100km rides in wet dirty terrain nothing else stays on the chain long enough.

Id rather have a so-called ‘grinding paste’ of soft mud than dry metal on dry metal, and I need to wash the bikes down every few rides anyway at this time of year.

Id rather have a so-called ‘grinding paste’ of soft mud than dry metal on dry metal, and I need to wash the bikes down every few rides anyway at this time of year.

I think I'd rather the bike industry looked at developing drivetrain solutions which don't rely on exposed metal chains running on metal components with no protection from contamination. It feels like, bar the number of expensive metal sprockets involved, mainstream bicycle transmission technology has moved at a glacial pace. You pay £10k for some carbon fibre, lightweight, full suspension e-mtb thing and there, at the heart of it, is basically the same last century technology you'd find on a 50 quid bike-shaped object.

I can't believe that anyone creating a modern mountain bike from scratch would spec an exposed metal chain drive for year-round use, yet here we are. Meanwhile brakes have gone from cantis, to vee, to cable discs, to hydraulic ones with ongoing optimisation, seatposts go up and down at the touch of a button, tyres have gone from tubed to tubeless, forks and rear wheels go up and down etc etc, but we're still stuck, mostly, with the whole unholy combination of chains and derailleurs.

We shouldn't be discussing chain lube at all because in a saner world, we wouldn't need it.

Surely it’s because they have a vested interest in continuing to sell you replacement ‘consumables’.

I like to imagine that somewhere in the world,there is a person that has just bought a new MTB.

They ask the shop person " What do I need to do about chain maintenance?"

Shop person : "Well, first get yourself a small deep fat fryer...

😀

Surely it’s because they have a vested interest in continuing to sell you replacement ‘consumables’.

Possibly, I was thinking about this from the perspective of general sustainability and it's pretty horrendous how wasteful it is throwing away steel and aluminium cassettes and chains because of a millimetre or two's wear.

But this is just going the direction of multiple gearbox threads. We should follow the Honda DH bike example of encasing the drivetrain in a carbon fibre box or something.

We should follow the Honda DH bike example of encasing the drivetrain in a carbon fibre box or something.

I think the E-mtb market will push this forward with things like fully enclosed belt drive.

Coming from an MX background,part of my weekend routine used to be boiling up chains.

I tried it for a while with my commuter bikes over the winter,but in the end I went back to a fit and (almost) forget chainsets practice.

Along with cleaning and wet lube,for me the seasonal swap thing also worked.

Take the cassette and chain off the summer bike and fit to the winter/commuter bike...destroy.

The summer bike then gets a new cassette and chain.

Rinse and repeat.

Surely it’s because they have a vested interest in continuing to sell you replacement ‘consumables’.

You overestimate the value of the market of active hobbyist mountain bikers for consumable parts. I'm out in all weathers (rare) I ride 2-3 times a week, and do over a hundred miles a week (rarer still) and I can easily get 18-24 months form a chain with an off the shelf wet lube from dropper bottle, If people like me are the basis for a business model selling replacement parts, someone's not done their sums properly.

I can’t believe that anyone creating a modern mountain bike from scratch would spec an exposed metal chain drive for year-round use

They don't have to, see my previous answer, the riders going off road all year round in the sorts of weather that UK riders face is a teeny segment  that can pretty much be ignored. Proper all road commuter bikes solved this a long time ago with fully encased drive-trains. Beside chains are what upper 90's percentage efficient, something like that, any alternative has to over come that and buyer inertia.

Am confused by how you are cleaning the chain after every ride and yet lots of crud has built up

Maybe look at your cleaning routine.