[Closed] Smoove or Squirt ...

I found smoove lasts longer in dry conditions.

Squirt is shit, so Smoove can only be better.

Been using Squirt for about 7 years...seems to work, but I do apply a coat fortnightly during wetter months. Summer it is 4-6 weeks between coats.

Smoove fan here. Can get a bit of 'build-up' if you put too much on, but pleased with how clean it runs otherwise

Took me a while to understand the application of Smoove: very little and not very often.

Neither. I use Chain-L.

Use to switch between squirt and putoline depending on the season. Since moving to smoove, I've not gone back to putoline.

My god, smoove's expensive stuff! £13 for 125ml...

It lasts a lot longer than squirt though.

What isn't working from Squirt? I'll happily admit I don't do a lot of miles on my bike, but it is used a couple of times a week and in all weather conditions, but Squirt definitely seems to be working for me.

Could it just be the distances I'm riding aren't long enough compared to others?

6 of us in a team using Squirt in all conditions including a 4 day marathon race without any issues

Squirt for me on the mtb .
Awesome stuff .

Has to be Squirt! First time a met it a bottle was thrown at me with the instructions 'Have some elephant @@@'. Look at the bottle says made in South Africa - where there are elephants. With such an ingredient you can't go wrong and it works. Stage racers in SA all use it - but this is now the UK...

Now Smoove - should be spelt Smoof - and a word used when knocking back your first brandy and Coke in a game reserve with the big copper ball dropping fast from the sky. And in the best company - involving a really good red or malt would be pronounced ' schmoot.

Sorry no help at all - but go with Squirt - great provenance.

^^ What the hell just happened there??😳

Those who are recommending squirt, have you tried smoove?

It has all that you want, including the south African connection, but does it all better.

I haven't as I've no issues with Squirt as it does everything I need it to do - decent periods between applications, chain is clean and silent.
As Squirt works, I've no need to change, hence why I asked what didn't work for people with Squirt.

only issue i have with squirt is i wash my bike after each ride. If i dont re apply the chain goes rusty. If i do it cakes up after a while.

any suggestions?

im thinking of moving to peatys lube?

Squirt was fine in the dry but for me it didn't last wet rides at all well. Smoove lasts much better, just have to learn to not apply too much or too often.

ive got bottles of each. not noticed any difference tbh... but i do tend to apply either quite regularly.

Similarly, I found squirt was great in the dry but washed out really quickly on wet rides. And t s, this was on a spotless drive with 24 hrs drying time.

No such issue with Smoove

I've changed from Squirt to Pedros wax. For no other reason than I fancied a change. I've had great results with Squirt when applied per instructions. The main one being applying the day/night before and allowing to fully dry, so I tend to lube the chain when I get back rather than before going out.

The Pedro's stuff looks and feels identical but is a tenner cheaper for the 500ml bottle. So far, good results.

im thinking of moving to peatys lube?

I believe this is the same as the W&S lube, which is good in winter but attracts a bit too much dust in dry conditions where the dry wax lubes work best.

+ 1 for Squirt.

im thinking of moving to peatys lube?

I hope to be corrected, but frankly everything that Peaty has sold his name to since his retirement has been total crap IME.

I've never used Squirt.

I've been using Smoove for about a year now (still got about 2/3rds of a bottle left).

It's very good IMHO, I was always (and am) an notorious over-luber, you still get a bit of a build up with it if you use too much, but nothing like the crude oil slick I got with traditional wet lubes.

I do find it hard to work out if I need more or not, I've ended up wit some rusty bits on the outside of the chain now and again, it's best to put on as little as possible, but sometimes I think it doesn't reach the outside and anyway...

Despite all that, it's great it meant my XT cassette lasted a year and not 4 months like the last one that was coated in black grinding paste all winter.

Smoove > Squirt

Lasts a long while on the road bike/brompton. On the mountain bike I tend to put it on every ride if i've washed the bike or every couple of rides if not. Less is more - small drop put on each link, wipe off anything on the outer plates.

Needs more if it's not running quietly basically. Don't worry about a bit of surface rust on outside of the chain.

I've been using Squirt since last autumn and to be honest it's brilliant, lasted as long as I did at WEMBO at Fort William in October and that was anything but dry, got a ridiculous work out at HtN VI the other week an the shifting was still bang on.

I also use it on my road bike and have applied it 4 times in 1200km over winter up until now, won't be using anything else.

Once on, Smoove stays on until you choose to remove it in a bath of chain cleaner. When you so, a great deal of dirt comes off with it. For this reason, I do this every dozen rides or so.

Once on, Smoove stays on until you choose to remove it in a bath of chain cleaner. When you so, a great deal of dirt comes off with it.

So. The 'staying on' bit is 'good', presumably?

But. The 'great deal of dirt' not so much? This is what I'm trying to get away from by switching from a wet lube, the gunk that the lube attracts (particularly in these nasty dusty trail conditions!)

What I liked about Squirt was that it didn't really get that dirty, and when it did get a bit grubby, was easy just to rinse off and reapply.

Squirt for me was weird, it worked great except when it didn't and when it didn't it was just incredibly awful. I had a few rides where it just totally failed, due to prevailing mud conditions or something, but others where it was heroic- one very muddy innerleithen enduro in particular where it seemed everyone else was jamming up. But it was so annoying on those rare rides that I binned it and went all putoliney.

Once on, Smoove stays on until you choose to remove it in a bath of chain cleaner. When you so, a great deal of dirt comes off with it. For this reason, I do this every dozen rides or so.

Yeah, I read similar comments in reviews which put me right off Smoove, if I want something dirty sticking to my chain that needs cleaned periodically then I'll just stick to a thin smear of wet lube every so often, Finish Line green was always my go-to, although am trying some Morgan's Blue Syn Lube at the moment (works well but seems dirtier than the Finish Line).

Squirt on the summer road bike, it's one of the many little joys of having a summer road bike that you can look down and see a gleaming silver chain glinting back at you, whilst still enjoying a smooth drivetrain. I've never paid much attention to the durability, usually assume one or two long rides before re-applying. When it's rained I've still managed to complete long rides without any drivetrain distress, and as a bonus just need to rinse the chain, let it dry and re-apply.

Using it on a bike-packing trip was a mistake though, it doesn't set properly inside cold damp bothies!

Once on, Smoove stays on until you choose to remove it in a bath of chain cleaner

I really don't find that, with me (I apply it at least 12 hours before riding). It'll last a really wet ride, but not two and doesn't stand a change against a usual Muc-Off and hose down clean.

The only place is really collects is the jockey wheeels when I over-use it.

until you choose to remove it in a bath of chain cleaner

I was very dubious about Smoove's own cleaner (expensive for a small bottle) but it does remove the stuff better than anything else and you do only need a tiny amount. Not really necessary on the mtb (a really muddy ride and wash tends to get rid of everything) but on the road bike it does tend to collect a bit.

I've been using squirt for a few months, it's not been a great experience. I'm gravel riding and most rides involve a few hours of wet gritty mud, the lube gets washed off, and before the chain is dry enough to brush off and reapply it's going rusty! So now a new chain, and a different choice of lube - unless anyone has any advice on how to deal with a wet muddy 'squirt lubed' chain at the end of the ride?

I've been using Squirt for a few weeks now. It was great when the weather was dry and the trails were dusty, very little build-up of gunk, nice clean and well working chain.

Not really had a chance to test it in crap conditions. Did a commute home last week just as the heavens opened and the splattered-up mud did seem to cause some chain-suck issues that I've not had before (but that might be equally or more to do with my drivetrain now being quite worn)

the lube gets washed off, and before the chain is dry enough to brush off and reapply it’s going rusty!

Also my experience with Squirt.

I keep coming back to MucOff C3 Dry Ceramic. Can be applied to a wet or dry chain; lasts for a decent ride (wet or dry); hoses clean afterwards and doesn’t build up.

Yet to try Smoove, however.

If I was going to switch from using web lube to squirt, what would I need to do 1st, give the chain a thorough degrease I'm guessing???

If I was going to switch from using web lube to squirt, what would I need to do 1st, give the chain a thorough degrease I’m guessing???

I don't know about Squirt, but with Smoove they want it cleaned first, they recommend a citrus degreaser.

I used to really rate Squirt, but as others have found, it's staying power in the wet is poor IMO. I tried Smoove but over applied and it became a gunky mess. I have since bought some of their proprietary cleaner and degreaser and will give it another go at some stage. I can't see past Wickens and Soderstrom No 5, now labelled as Peaty's though, so not in a rush to re-experiment with Smoove.

they recommend a citrus degreaser.

having spent many years trying to prepare new chains with citrus degreaser I tried a little bit of white spirit this time. Much quicker and easier - didn't need very much at all to get all the thick grease off. Then a dip in citrus, then a rinse.

Not tried Smoove.
Squirt is good in isolation.. I need to reapply after most rides. My indication is tapping the chain, if I hear the rollers rattling then it needs some more.

The only bothersome build up I get is on the side plates of the chain, hardly anything just enough to make it non shiny.
Any build up on the jockey wheels and chain ring just falls off during riding. (note, use a turbo matt if using indoors, it stops the crusty bits of lube getting on your carpet after they have fallen off.)

I used Smoove + Maxima chain cleaner on all my bikes and our demo bikes - works well with no excess gunkiness.