So, Winter 2011 arrives. Bike out in the snow already.
Any new (or old) lubes that anyone knows about that are good at doing the thing I thought Rock n Roll Extreme was good at: cleans chain as part of application, doesn't attract too much crud. Chain stays cleanish and easy to clean after.
Seemed good for mud rides if reapplied afterwards and so on.
After trying it in Winter though I found it always froze so was useless or was so 'thick' you couldn't get it shaken up properly. Which is frustrating. (ps no not keeping it in the house). Or just froze on the chain on application.
So anything out there that does a similar job? But doesn't freeze?
Had decent results with Squirt for a while but don't fancy it for sub zero + mud.
Thoughts?
squirt is a no no in the wet.
Purple extreme for me, even at the baltic temps of the last few years. Excellent chain / ring life. If smells like crayons - I guess its a wax in a solvent.
I've had no problems with finish line. Was even fine on a ride last winter where the water in my water bottle froze solid.
A senior member of this forum once told me he thought that finish line wet was not good for chain suck. I've never had chain suck since.
Muc Off Wet Lube for me, it's great stuff. It doesn't attract dirt like finish line, lasts ages doesn't get washed off by water, it's a nice colour 😆 and it smells nice 😆
A senior member of this forum once told me he thought that finish line wet was not good for chain suck. I've never had chain suck since.
Sounds like superstitious nonsense to me. Chainsuck is mostly caused by rubbish chainrings, bad shifts, filthy conditions, worn chains, etc. Lube may play a small part, but minuscule compared to everything else.
Never used Purple Extreme - will investigate.
Last year in particular thing just got bad when lube froze. Keen to avoid !!
Squirt was hopeless for me in sticky conditions, it's like chain glue. Great in summer though.
Used Muc-off wet lube (from the aerosol but I'm not sure it's any different to the bottle) all last winter, never had any issues with freezing, even on days when the bike was outside all day and needed the frozen snow kicked off the mech before it could shift...
PE here. Appears to get a bit of a marmite reaction, but it works well for me in all conditions.
used to use PE, but use Jucie Lubes viking Juice, bit cheaper just as good.
+1 Muc off wet lube but I'm not sure I have used it at temps well below zero or not.
Finish line works well enough. Must have done over 100 snowy frozen rides over last 2 winters and I've never suffered from a lube problem!
Muc Off wet lube, used it last winter in -6
[i]Chainsuck is mostly caused by rubbish chainrings, bad shifts, filthy conditions, worn chains, etc. Lube may play a small part, but minuscule compared to everything else.[/i]
Agreed but I do think lube like the Finish Line stuff build up the dirt on the chain/chainrings which can't help with chainsuck so I wouldn't say it's impact is minuscle. Chainsuck for me reduced greatly when I switched to Purple Extreme as it didn't attract the dirt like the FL stuff.
That said, I found Purple Extreme a bit too thin and it didn't last long in wet conditions. Squirt was just a fail partly because in summer it normally 'dries' from it's white colour...in the cold of winter I'd put it on and it'd just stay white (Great lube for warmer conditions though). Currently using RnR Extreme...still not perfect as I found if applied in the real cold, the wax in it would harden as soon as it was applied to the chain and before it had got into the inners of the chain as it were.
putoline chain wax again.
Progold Prolink works well in freezing conditions. Goes on very thin and you wipe away the excess.
I just cake my chain in GT85 and let it dry off a bit! Will probably get shot down in flames I know. I'm even shaking as I'm typing for the responses!
Finish Line Wet was working at -12C
I just cake my chain in GT85 and let it dry off a bit! Will probably get shot down in flames I know. I'm even shaking as I'm typing for the responses!
If it works for you then carry on!
if you really llike the rock n roll extreme lube, why not just store it inside over winter? its only a bottle, store it away in a cupboard, and apply it when needed? cant really see why you cant store a bottle of lube in your house, or am i missing something? does the rock n roll extreme lube just not work in winter?
RealMan - MemberChainsuck is mostly caused by rubbish chainrings, bad shifts, filthy conditions, worn chains, etc. Lube may play a small part, but minuscule compared to everything else.
Don't agree at all. I got less than 20 minutes from my house with new Squirt on, one ride last winter, before it started chainsucking constantly. Freewheeled home, cleaned the chain again and relubed with finish line, went for a 4 hour ride, no chainsuck. Bad lube is [i]all[/i] you need.
i found squirt lube bloody awful, and i only used it in the summer - it was great for the first 10miles of pure dry sunny bliss, but after that, its must have worn off as the chain was so noisy, obviously not doing it much good in the process and annoying me to death! i still have a more or less full tub somewhere...
switched to rock n roll extreme and its been brilliant! just had 4 rides in submerged mud and its done an excellent job at keeping noise at bay, keeping mud from the drive train, and smooth too.....chain and cassette today looked like it hadnt even been out after 40 miles of peak district!
does the rock n roll extreme lube just not work in winter?
Just that if it freezes so easily in the bottle makes me think it isn't great on he chain if it's all frozen up once applied.
I've never tried PE or MO wet lube. So will try one of these as need new stuff pretty much now'ish.
Ta for all replies.