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Looking at getting in a load of oil for the winter as my supplies are running low.
Want something to last a few rides as we have 3 regular bike users in the house.
As usual looking for something of good value.
Puitoline chain wax for motocross bikes. Its a solid wax you melt and dunk the chain in. I find it last may hundreds of miles offroad and thousands on road and a kilo tin costing under £40 has lasted me with 7 bikes in the house many years now but is nearly finished. chain and cssette life is also vastly increased.
Its a messy faff to do and a few others on here have tried it - some don't find it as good as I do but many are converts
Its so much better and cheaper than bicycle specific oils IME
Muc-off wet lube. I use it all year, applied sparingly.
Smoove Chain lube - seems to still be running very clean despite 15 hours of riding through slop since I applied it. Chain needs to be very clean / de-greased / dry before applying and then needs to be left a bit.
Bikeradar reviewed it recently with similar results.
Muc-off wet, mostly because they sell it in Tesco so I remeber to buy it.
Put the least on possible and wipe it off and it doesn’t get too grim.
Mud-Off dry lube. Doesn't attract and collect stuff as its non sticky. Nice clean and lubed drive chain.
You can get a litre of weldtite wet lube from Crc for about £12.
It's good stuff and doesn't gunk up as bad as finish line wet.
I use the Muc Off C3 wet stuff cos it's pink and it smells nice. No, really.
(Just buy some flipping oil and bung it on the chain, jeez.)
scotroutes - Member
Muc-off wet lube. I use it all year, applied sparingly.
me too. tried the dry lub once, but wasnt impressed.The dry lube is ok for squeaky door hinges in the hoose tho.
Squirt. Converted a few years ago. Used most, this is better.
Home-brewed wax in an old pan at the minute...
I used to use squirt in the summer, then switch to putoline once it got wetter as I found the squirt washed out too easily.
Tried smoove this summer and found it longer lasting and harder wearing than squirt. So much so that I've not switched over to putoline yet and might not need to.
Putoline is still probably to longer lasting lube but smoove is definitely cleaner, quicker and easier.
Muc Off dry for mtb as it’s usually short (1-2hr) rides so it doesn’t matter as much if it’s washed off quickly. Then just wipe chain and reapply after every ride, takes seconds & chains seem to last just as long as when I faffed with wet lube etc.
‘Gravel’ bike uses Muc Off wet lube as it tends to be our fur longer & used wet roads too so i find dry diesntblast quite long enough this time of year. The noise was driving me insane & frontvshifting really suffered. I do have to clean the chain properly every couple of weeks though.
I used to hot wax my chain too but have slipped out of the habit. So now its x-lite pink wet lube which is really very good.
I started using [url= https://brokenridersuk.com/products/rex-chain-lube ]Rex lube[/url] earlier in the year and it's been very good in a variety of conditions. Think I reapply every 3-4 weeks and I ride 2-3 times a week in all conditions.
[url= http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/products/rex-low-friction-chain-lube ]Rex lube review[/url]
GT-85.
Squirt is great in the summer but just washes straight out once the bad weather arrives, doesn't even last one ride.
Changed to Putoline a couple of months ago and very impressed so far. The commuter gets used everyday and the MTB three times a week, still running on the original application but will probably dip them again this week just in case.
£25 for a 1kg tin and it takes 20mins although I did splash out on a cheap chip fryer to make it easier.
I also dropped in the old Yankee Candles we had, my chains now smell of "Clean Linen"
Smoove user here. I think it's great, stays quite clean and lasts well.
White Lightning Epic Ride here, seems much better than the Muc-Off I was using prior to that.
http://road.cc/content/review/154663-muc-team-sky-hydrodynamic-lube
^^ this.
Apply sparingly otherwise chain goes extra black but it's oh-so-quiet.
FinishLine Dry. Every now and then I try other things and always end going back to it.
Another happy Smoove user. All the benefits of squirt but lasts longer.
Still on leftover engine oil.
As already mentioned, Smoove here, was squirt but just didn't last long enough.
Putoline.
As others said, nothing lasts even a comparable amount of time. Mud doesn't stick, and if you include cleaning its not any slower than conventional lube.
Muc-off wet lub is utter shite, great on first application in garage, back in at end of ride its all gone dry and is proceeding to gum up all the drive train.
Pro link gold if I can find it, trouble is LBS only sell muck off.
I bet the mechanics on team sky don't use Muc-off.
It makes no difference.
"In addition, the chain used for
the lubrication study was fully
degreased and was re-tested for efficiency.
This degreasing operation consisted
of a five-minute scrub with
kerosene followed by a cleaning with
Castrol Degreaser. The measured efficiency
of the de-lubricated chain for
the 52–15 combination at 60 RPM and
100 W was 90.3% and at 200 W was
96.5%. These efficiencies are essentially
the same as those measured for the
chain in the re-lubricated condition."
Just give it a spray with GT85 to stop it rusting and you'll be fine.
5 litres of chainsaw oil off the bay for 13.50 delivered...
Juice lube Viking here. Clean and quiet.
Pro gold / pro link ...... it’s the shizzle
Squirt.
Rock n Roll extreme = Lovely clean chain.
The green Finish Line, all year round.
TF2 wet on the MTB, it's ok but goes gunky. Rock n roll holy cow on the gravel, great in the dry but needs to be warm when applied so that's a pain.
Thinking of trying putoline.
It makes no difference.
It certainly makes a difference to how long you can ride for until the chain sounds like it's scraping itself to death.
Pro Gold Pro link Extreme is excellent I find
So, to summarise this thread, just use anything.
Still found nothing to compare to Putoline wax. It's an enormous pain in the chuff but it works better and lasts better than anything else I've used.
I like....
Rock n roll blue - as per comments on here the latest batch does seem a bit watery.
Squirt - for the dry(er) months, I must get some Smoove to try
W&S no.5 - must be made from unicorn tear or something, but it does work well and keeps a clean drive train
As you can tell from my lube choices I do like a clean drive train.
Edit: Keen to try ProGold ProLink Xtreme as heard good things about that.
I really rate the Fenwicks Stealth lubes. Previously, used squirt which doesn't last in anything other than dry conditions. Stealth is applied in a similar fashion, one link at a time and needs to be left to dry for 3-4 hours, but it last multiple wet rides and the chain stays pretty clean. I like it.
White Lightning Epic Ride here, seems much better than the Muc-Off I was using prior to that.
Was my firm favourite the last few years but then found it really hard to track down.
TF2 wet on the MTB, it's ok but goes gunky.
This is the Weldtite stuff I was referring to. And I agree about the gunk, I have a very aggressive wiping regime when using it.
My ~£7 1 litre bottle, lifetime supply, of Muc Off Wet C3 Ceramic from PX last year... Bargaintastic!
old candles, some beeswax and some carnauba wax in a deep fat fryer.
does the job, drivetrain stays very clean. seems to cope with wet rides ok. not that much a faff to do either (with quick links)
I wipe down chain and re-lube after each ride so whatever is cheap and cheerful does me.