What lube are people using? Same all round or winter/summer ones?
so many options out there, and so many differing online reviews so be good to actually get a wider rider feedback.
Smoove works for me and my local dirt which can be quite sandy in dry conditions - just don't try to re-apply too much as it can result in build-up on cogs.
I tried Peatys premium lube for 2 months due to Smoove being temporarily out of stock, but that turned to a black mess quickly
Pedros make excellent chain lubes
I use their Synlube and ChainJ
last reasonably well, but does not make the chain go all mucky.
Weldtite TF2 is also good in my experience.
avoid anything made by MucOff…
Whatever the LBS has when I need to re-stock, but same all year
Not this again!
But Smoove. Plus occasional boil in Molten Speed Wax.
I use squirt in the drier months as it works and very easy and quick to use. I'm tempted to try waxing but it seems like a lot of fuss
I tried rock and roll extreme lube this winter on a 9 spd bike and got less than 700km out of a chain so went back to a cheap wet lube.
I'll second avoid MucOff
Need to leave overnight after applying, it's one of those that goes on runny to get into everywhere, then the solvents evaporate out to leave it quite thick/firm/solid. (I keep the red bung in the top of the bottle to stop the same thing happening to the rest of it!) Lasts about 200 miles per application; if the chain is making pretty much any noise at all, it's time for some more.
Doesn't smell very nice though.
Zero Friction Cycling
White Lightening Clean for Summer and Wet for the rest of the time. Been using it for years. Does what it's supposed to so see no reason to change
I've used a few over the last year looking for 'the one' and now have a collection in the garage and for me they all have pros and cons, so i've started using them for different bikes that get used in different ways, I have:
Smoove - best all round, great longevity, relatively clean though can get build up on the jockey wheels, good weather resistance, used on the gravel bike.
Squirt - A bit cleaner than Smoove but not great longevity, less than 100km per application, not great in the wet, used on the mtb.
Purple extreme - supremely clean, average on the longevity and weather resistance, used on the road bike.
Fenwicks pro - Good longevity, good weather resistance, not overly clean, used on the tourer.
I use a lanolin spray. Tiny bit on a toothbrush lasts a couple of weeks, doesn’t attract dirt and doesn’t wash off in water. Even on wet rides the chain stays quiet.
Weldtite TF2 usually, but I'm on Fenwicks at the moment and that's decent too.
Rock and Roll blue for everything all the time.
Squirt.
I’m willing to sacrifice longevity (although it does improve over multiple applications) for drivetrain cleanliness.
I doesn’t work so well with cheap chains though, there’s a tendency to get surface rusting.
Silca Super Secret, no more gunky chain. I'll second having a read of Zero Friction Cycling.
Been using Peaty's lubes for a while now after they bought out Wickens and Soderstrom who made my favourite at the time. The blue one is a great summer one and the white one great for winter. Was on Fenwick's copper colored one before so might have to try their Pro one mentioned above at some point.
Been using squirt for a while and it's really good. Chain is still clean even after a muddy ride.
So impressed I'm looking to go full waxing the chain.
Zero Friction Cycling
I’d be onto trading standards immediately.
Rock and Roll blue for everything all the time.
This. Always get comments about how clean the drivetrain is. And I haven’t needed to clean it (e.g. brushes, or solvents or degreasers) in over a decade, no matter what the conditions.
Peatys link lube dry when it’s dry and premium wet lube when it’s not.
I’ve tried a few. At the moment I like white lightning clean.
goes on easily, keeps the chain nice and clean, doesn’t get claggy.
on the minus side it doesn’t last long, so needs frequent application.
Rock N Roll Extreme has been my all-year go-to the past few years. Runs clean, cassette and chain go from silver to grey after a while, but easily restored with two trigger pulls of degreaser and a little bit of brushing. However I do end up reapplying it every 2-3 rides (might not be necessary), and in winter every ride as I rinse mud out of the drivetrain.
Put a new chain on recently and am giving Wolf Tooth WT-1 (SCC Tech Drivetrain Treatment) a go, hoping it might go longer without reapplying. Massive black mess the first few rides which I assume is the factory grease coming off, perhaps I should have just degreased the chain before fitting.
Revolubes
Correction, Peatys Premium All Weather, not Wet.
Pedros Synlubs seemed to be a dust magnet for me. eventually only ever used that for lubing Mavic freehubs.
Mostly used Finishline green or red ever since.
Did try Peaty's coconut flavour lube the other day in Morzine, which seemed alright. Think it was the dry? but a bit gloopier than Finishline dry, so it stays on the links and doesn't dribble straight on to the floor.
Squirt - but tbh its very dry dusty where I am and its easy to get ,if UK I'd be using the Blue Rock and Roll stuff.
Putoline 😁
Reminds me that I need to do my chain tonight after the last couple of wet rides.
Though, tbf, it's done 200km since the last dunk.
When it's super dry... finishline dry (the runniness means you need to be careful not to get it everywhere but that's also what gets it right into the links.)
When it horrendously wet, Finishline Wet, its a very 'use specific' option but great in truly horrible weather.
For everything else, White Lightning Epic ride, nice 'Jack of All trades' works pretty well in all circumstances, if I had to have just 1 bottle it'd be the one.
Another vote for Rock and Roll blue. Always seems a little wasteful the amount that ends up on the floor when you apply it but a bottle does last quite a while despite that.
Squirt for me all year round on gravel and mtbs. Got a cupboard full of lubes I've bought to try and always end up back on squirt. It keeps your drivtrain clean and quiet. Works best on a spotless chain and don't over apply it.
Juice Lubes Viking.
Squirt or mucoff c3 ceramic dry
Been having great results with morgan blue lubes both dry and wet depending on the conditons. The best thing about these is they come off really easy when washing the bike
Squirt, but after replacing my jockey wheels (bearings had collapsed), I've noticed I'm over applying it as the mech hangar is also coated...so I need to apply less.
Works all year round for me...it gets applied when the bikes gets a wash - so 6-7 weeks in the summer and about 3 weeks in winter (unless it was a proper manky ride then it gets a wash as soon as I'm home).
Been using it for about 12 years now (I think it is about that time)...and get great results with it.
Only complaint is it is £45 for the litre bottle, it lasts me a good few years but I still grudge that amount as I'm tight fisted!
- that surely isn't great if the bikes gets wet whilst out riding, no?The best thing about these is they come off really easy when washing the bike
Chainsaw chain oil. £6/litre, sticky as so don't use too much but it doesn't wash off in the wet
Josh helps you crack the code of Zero Friction Cycling Lubricant Testing Data
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Molten Speed Wax for a spotless drivetrain and silky smooth shifting in the summer; Putoline for the same but with a bit of gunk on the jockey wheels etc for the rest of the year.
Morgan Blue race lube, and as above its easy to clean off.
Smoove for me for 3 seasons, peatys in winter.
If you're not into hot waxing then anything which leaves a solid residue like Fenwick's Pro, Squirt, Smoove etc.
I was amazed when I cleaned the old Putoline off a chain and re-lubed with Viking Juice. The drivetrain basically stopped working! I think lubes that leave a reasonably solid residue will mask or prevent chain wear.
Squirt for me.
Avoid Muc-Off like the plague! It’s such a shit lube no matter which version you use.
Muc-Off is nothing more than a marketing exercise.
Lil bit o this all year round for me
GT85.
Something from Juice Lubes, I think it’s Viking Juice, but I tend to just grab whichever one is to hand.
I’m still a fan of Finish Line wet lube as well.
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muckoff spray ebike lube in a spray can. thin enough to not get gunky and actually seems to work.
Smoove, year round. Degrease, dry, apply, leave 24hr, one more light application, leave dry and ready to ride.
I get about 100 miles per application.
Putoline. Use year round. dump chain in pot, heat, take it out, wipe it and refit. I get hundreds to thousands of miles per application and 5000+ miles out of a chain
Put a new chain on recently and am giving Wolf Tooth WT-1 (SCC Tech Drivetrain Treatment) a go, hoping it might go longer without reapplying. Massive black mess the first few rides which I assume is the factory grease coming off, perhaps I should have just degreased the chain before fitting.
@iainc, how long did it take yours to start running clean? I'm 250km in and still wiping black mess off the chain and cassette every ride, albeit not nearly as much as the first three or so rides.
Homebrew wax mix. Way better than lube.
Clean and once you are set up, a load less faff and cheaper to boot
Loving the Juice Lubes Viking Juice. It's actually a wax in a solvent, so it goes on super-runny, then the solvent evaporates off and leaves the chain clean and non-sticky, but with long-lasting wax where it matters.
@iainc, how long did it take yours to start running clean? I’m 250km in and still wiping black mess off the chain and cassette every ride, albeit not nearly as much as the first three or so rides.
probs similar, around 4 rides, it does get pretty clean and is certainly long lasting. As per the thread you linked, I have recently tried Peatys Premium on one of the gravel bikes and will be going back to WT at the weekend as it works much better for me than the Peatys stuff ( which in its previous form as Wickens and Soderstrom was my goto lube).
so for me, it’ll be WT-1 on MTB and gravel and Smoove on the road bikes.
MucOff Dry... am I odd? Whats actually wrong with it?
Whats actually wrong with it?
I actually idly picked up a bottle of Muc-Off Dry in Evans a while back, and it says on the label "water soluble" ...I put it back on the shelf at that point. I think if you do a brief scan of the sites that test lube, Muc-off stuff is consistently the worst performing.
@rickmeister I've tried muc off dry and wet lubes in the past and found the dry lube to be meh, noisy drivetrain, didn't stop dust adhesion and would wash off if you went through a puddle or found yourself in a rain shower.
The wet lube was like super glue any grime would be stuck up and sucked in leaving me with a noisy gritty feeling chain even after extensive cleaning.
I think most peoples problem with it is it isn't very good at what its designed to do, and there is hundreds of other brands out there which still aren't that good but still do a better job. Combined with how well muc off markets themselves as well I think people feel cheated that such an influential company is selling crap lube to the less informed and likely causing them to have to replace chains and cassettes sooner than if they'd have used a better lube.
Take some of the other lubes for example which are actually good, you don't always find them in every bike shop, in halfords or aldi or asda etc, but you can find muc off lubes in every bike shop near enough and even in supermarkets
I haven't had an issue using muc off dry for years now, it stays clean for me and chains last long enough. When it's really wet I stick their wet lube on and again it cleans off easily enough with a few sprays of bike cleaner and a hose down which I'd be doing to the rest of the bike anyway.
I've used Putoline for 2 years now and I'm sold. Previously used a 1L bottle of TF2.
Have tried the drip-on-wax lubes and light lubes in the past but I was regularly caught out on a long or wet ride with a dry chain. So ended up on TF2 which works well, albeit with a fairly mucky chain.
Finally tried Putoline and have found myself in the it-lasts-ages camp, and it's much cleaner than a wet lube. I was worried about the smell but using 120 degree on the fryer it's not been a problem. On the pub / station bike it's also brilliant: the chain is completely rusty on the outside but still lubed on the inside.
Squirt, all year round. Never need to clean the chain. Any wax lube really though. Oil lubes will suck in the crud, "wet" more so. Wet lube is only really suited for riding in rivers and road riding IMO, should never be used in wet mud. I've had better results with dry lube in winter, though not as good as Squirt.