Putoline and water

Following on from the various Putoline threads I switched over around a year ago.

During the summer it was great but then come winter I was getting rust on the chain after rain.

To try to stop this I’ve sprayed the chain with wd40 after rain. This has indeed stopped the rusting but now I’ve ended up with black gunk all over the drivechain (derailleurs, and chainrings are caked in it and the chain is black and gunky). This is as bad as I’ve ever seen with Finish Line wet which was my previous go to for winter.

How do you all deal with water? For summer the putoline seems great right now but for winter like this it’s no better than before…

I squirt some lightweight lube on a rag (currently using up a surplus of Viking Lubes Juice Lube) and run the chain through it a few times. If it’s winter and I’ve ridden in the wet I usually hose chain off as well to get rid of road salt.

Seems to work and is best of both worlds, thick wax in rollers but light and non-gunky lube on surface.

WD40 contains a lot of solvent.
I’m not surprised you’re getting gunk everywhere…

I tend to give it a thin film of gt85. It’s not a gunky as wd40.

As above – I wash the bike then spray WD40 or silicone spray onto a rag and wipe the outside. If I can be bothered, that is. If I ride regularly enough it seems to get rubbed off. It’s only cosmetic on the outsides.

I use whatever random chainlube I had lying around for this- which would usualyl mean epic ride, or just some thin oil. WD40’s solvent is pretty much perfect for melting the putoline so it’s not ideal, really all you’re getting out of it in return is a small amount of light oil.

You do tend to get black gunk mind, it’s just that it doesn’t cause any harm. But if you like a spotless chain putoline and winter don’t mix.

I went through same early disappointment with rust last winter then gunk using gt85 trying to stop the rust. Switched to wiping with a rag that has some white spirit on and it works like a dream. Cleans the outside plates a bit so they don’t look as black but gives some protection so they don’t rust before the next ride.