Reading stuff on another thread about The Strathpuffer, there’s quite an evangelical following for using Putoline on the chain so as not to need to re-lube.

What are other folk’s experiences of Putoline? I’m thinking of switching to use it on the commuter. Currently a fan of Scottoiler UBS, but wondering if Putoline would be a better option?

Also, Putoline is a brand name. Which specific lube are the evangelists on about?
Wax?

Its the boil in the tin wax meant for motocross bikes

Its a filthy faff to apply but it means your chain is well lubed for many miles – I reckon a couple of thousand on road, a few hundred depending on conditions offroad. Chain life is extended hugely – IME at least 4 times as long. shifting remains good, no chainsuck.

Heat the tin up till it smokes, add chain and stir, remove from heat and remove chain allowing excess to drip off back into tin. When cool wipe chain with a rag with a tiny bit of solvent on it to remove excess from outside. After the first ride wipe again to remove excess. Then enjoy well lubed riding for many rides until you need to do it again.

Occasionally I have to put a tiny bit of oil on the sideplates to stop them rusting even tho there is plenty of lube left in the rollers.

its around £20 for a kilo and my tin has lasted 3 years. My commuter needs relubing about every couple of thousand miles

I will again repeat the offer – anyone who wants to try it and wants a chain treated I will do it for them – Edinburgh based.

I’m one of TJ’s converts, it is awesome stuff. I got a cheap deep fat frier to speed it up, makes things much more convenient and less likely to burn my garage down.

It lasts well but will it last a wet puffer? Not sure. I generally expect to redo mine after a really filthy normal weekend, a wet enduro race or whatever. It’ll last weeks of normal wet riding though.

What TJ said.

I transferred my tin to a mini-fryer which has temp control. With it set on 190C it’s far runnier than I ever risked it on the stove and runs off the outside of the chain so no need for wiping down afterwards.

I reckon it does about 500miles between lubes in all but the shittiest* of conditions. On the road it’s life can be extended by VERY sparing application of wet lube (a drop every few rollers and let the chaining work it in) as I think it dries out over time.

Cassettes turn black with a thin coating of wax after a few rides, but it’s not the horrible gloopy, muddy mess that wet lubes produce that get’s ground back into the chain, it’s still dirty wax so you just leave it.

I tried UBS and hated it, washes off in the first puddle and even i the dry it left the drivechain making a horrible racket on anything over 50miles (i.e. any road ride). If you’re impressed by that stuff this will seem like witchcraft.

Same offer as TJ for anyone in Reading, I’ll even make a cup of tea.

It’s not cheap initially, but I doubt I’ll ever need to buy lube again.

*it won’t last a wet puffer if the pics are anything to go by, but then it’ll last probably 8x-10x longer than conventional lube.

Thanks Guys …sounds like the way forward for me.

This I like:

but it’s not the horrible gloopy, muddy mess that wet lubes produce

which is what I was wanting to avoid by switching to Scottoiler.

Daft questions — when you need to re-lube, how easy is it to clean off the existing gunk? Also how does it stand up to the (or maybe just my?!) regular hose down?

No cleaning, just put the chain back in the tin/fryer, what grit there is just falls to the to of the fryer and sits there (it’s a wax, half the point is that mud doesn’t stick to the chain to need cleaning off). Just make sure the chain is dry (i.e. not immediately after a wet ride or washing the bike) before putting it in, otherwise you end up with a shed of horrible putoline smelling steam and a boiled over fryer.

It withstands a garden hose just fine rinsing mud off the cassette, chainring, mech, etc.

thisisnotaspoon – Member

I transferred my tin to a mini-fryer which has temp control. With it set on 190C it’s far runnier than I ever risked it on the stove and runs off the outside of the chain so no need for wiping down afterwards.

I’ve ended up cooling it down again, it seems like a “dose” lasts longer when it’s applied cooler. Could just be coincidence though.

I always like to deep clean it first- it’s just me being obsessive maybe but the amount of crap that comes out of even a clean looking chain is ridiculous. But tbh I could just be wasting a load of time, it might make no real difference.

I never clean before putting the chain back in the tin. As for cleaning on the bike – a hosepipe and water gets the muck off no problem.

Right. I’m doing this!

Been reading about it for long enough.

What cheap, small deep fat fryer for chain wax?

And do I need to clean the current lube off first, or does it mix in OK? My chains aren’t dripping in gunk, there won’t be much.

I’d clean it first but I don’t think it importnat

I never clean before putting the chain back in the tin. As for cleaning on the bike – a hosepipe and water gets the muck off no problem

Excellent …thanks. I’m in!!

I’ve never known how hot to get it so just melt it until to chain drops in. I dip it in and out a few times. Typically when I hang it to drain, it collects at the bottom of the chain. I just wipe the excess off with a babywipe.

Lasts well. After a mucky ride, I just rinse and dry.

I’ve never known how hot to get it so just melt it until to chain drops in. I dip it in and out a few times. Typically when I hang it to drain, it collects at the bottom of the chain. I just wipe the excess off with a babywipe.

I leave mine in there for a good 10 minutes, giving it good shake in the basket to wash any much out. I’m not sure what the minimum time should be, but I found leaving it longer must let the chain warm up properly and any remaining solid wax in the rollers melt. It seemed to run off much more evenly afterwards. 10min is 10min just because I leave it and go inside to brew up whilst I wait.

which fryer

This would probably do the job, mine was from lidl but it’s the same volume, and all you really want is the smallest volume you can get away with.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Russell-Hobbs-18238-Compact-Fryer/dp/B00426DNJS/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1484741526&sr=1-1&keywords=Russell+Hobbs+18238+Compact+Deep+Fryer%2C+0.9+L+-+White

Top tips to stop it smoking when warming up,
1) don’t leave the basket in the solid wax, otherwise you can’t stir it as it melts
2) melt it on a low setting until it’s completely molten
3) get a knife and cut the solidified wax into blocks and stir it as it warms, otherwise you get a layer of super hot burning oil under a layer of cold solid wax (and a lot of smoke).

And always do it outside on an extension lead, it stinks, even in an open garage.

I’d just found that same one! Cheers for the link and the tips.

TINAS, I tend to decrease the chain thoroughly before waxing so less worried about melting out the remaining.

Good to hear what others are doing though as chucking in a “dirty” chain would be a lot easier.

I’m guessing that a 0.9l fryer would take the 1kg of wax, which I’m guessing is buttons more than a litre?

I’m guessing the thing gives a enough space for the 0.9l cooking oil bubbling when your chips are in, which isn’t going to happen with wax and a few chains?

While I’m on, they’re an eclectic lot, the purchasers of the Russell Hobbs compact fryer. They also bought:
– Bowler Hat Black Felt – Best…
– PUSH UP PRO BODY WORKOUT ABS CHEST FITNESS KIT GRIPS
– Ohpa 30% Water Saving Showerhead Plus Ionic Filter Handheld Shower Head with 200 % Turbocharged Pressure and Energy Ball Filtration for Fixing Dry Skin & Hair
– Swear Word Coloring Book ( Black Edition ): 40 Sweary Designs on Black Paper. Stress Relief Coloring book:Mandalas, Patterns,Flowers and Animals(Adult Coloring)

I’m currently using a £10 slow cooker from Argos and tea lights to wax my chain. I learned this in Oregon where the trails are dry and dusty so it works a treat. Not so much in a gritty wet winter…

I like the method, though, so I’ll get on the Putolin band wagon.

Not so much in a gritty wet winter…

Like in Oregon? 🙂

Precipitation in the state varies widely: some western coastal slopes approach 200 inches (5,100 mm) annually, while the driest places, such as the Alvord Desert (in the rain shadow of Steens Mountain) in eastern Oregon, get as little as 5 inches (130 mm)

Where’s everyone buying the wax from?

edit: Cheapest option seems to be £26 from here https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/238292

That’s where I’ve just bought mine from. Free postage.

Some German place is a couple of quid cheaper, but I imagine shipping will outweigh the difference.

Ta Ned

I’m assuming the wax is relatively solid at room temperature? So presumably you scoop the stuff from the tin to the fat fryer?

If you don’t want to go the fat fryer route then will any old gas camping stove do to heat the tin up?

Yes and yes – tho I put mine on the gas hob in the kitchen

Yes about as hard as butter from the fridge.

TJ clearly has a very understanding wife and a good extractor fan. I used to do it on my Trangia, the slightly unpredictable naked flame and boiling hot oil added an extra layer to the danger 😈

After knocking over my big tin of Putoline in the garage last time I used it 😡 I’m keen to explore the deep fat fryer / slow cooker options. What is slow cooker option, Jimmy, and what are the tea lights for? Sounds like it would create less smoke than the deep fat fryer.

I took it that he meant he melted tea lights into the slow cooker as a cheap alternative to putoline?

It’d work, although the reason putoline stinks is it’s high sulphur content, which makes it a great lubricant under pressure (gearbox oil is similar), and it’s black because it’s full of graphite. So it’s not quite the same.

ah, now I read it again that makes sense!

I really want chips now.

What soils do you Putoline users ride on? Clay seems to gum up the drivetrain and need jetwashing out – I expect putoline would survive moderate jetwashing. But gritty mud would get right in there and also tends to need jetwashing as it gets right inside the links and makes everything graunchy.

molgrips – Member

But gritty mud would get right in there and also tends to need jetwashing as it gets right inside the links and makes everything graunchy.

I don’t ride much in clay but I find gritty mud not a problem- the wax is pretty thick and the melted application gets it right into the links so it seems to make a pretty good barrier. It only really seems to struggle with heavy, frame-blocking mud, which just seems to wipe it off, and really driving water (kinlochleven style “riding down a river” nonsense). But then what deals with those well? I think the best compliment I can give it is, I’ve never had it not reach the end of a ride.

Scottish enduro racing is a pretty harsh test- I go somewhere, ride all day in the mud, put the bike in the boot without cleaning, next day do it all again. I’d expect to clean and relube it after one weekend like that but I’ve never had another lube that can do a weekend of that without trouble.

jet washing won’t move the wax at all. Only solvent s do that not even detergent will shift it

Acidic peat takes it off the outside but not from in the rollers. Grit just falls off the chain as it can’t get into the links rollers as they are full of solid wax. clay I don’t know.

Once the wax is on the sticky layer on the outside soon attracts dust then its no longer sticky. It just stays on the chain and lubes it from the inside out.

I know it’s not quite the same thing, but how does this compare to Squirt? Everyone seems to love that but I just found in clagged up yet still washed off easily.

Putoline looks like something fun to mess with, and a bonus if I don’t have to relube a manky drivetrain every ride!

It doesn’t clag up or wash off. It just lubes the chain. For a long long time.

squirt is also a few quid for a tiny bottle most of which is solvent IIRC. Putoline is £26 a kilo with no solvent at all.

Just for balance, maybe I’m not doing it right, but it’s not as magical as all that ^^^^ for me. Daily commuter. I heat it up in the tin on a 1500W Portable Single Electric Hot Plate. However it’s made me lazier in my treatment of chains. Tend to put a little oil on when they start to get rattly. Can’t remember last time I used the putoline wax.

My current favourite is Shimano wet lube. It lasts a pretty long time without clagging up, and also cannot be jetwashed off. I mean you can jetwash it clean but there’s still a thin film attached. You then just oil it again in 10 seconds and done.

The re-application is less of a faff. I suppose I need to try Putoline.

Squirt is a really different thing. TBH at its best, I think squirt is pretty much just as good- in dry conditions basically. It doesn’t last as well but it’s so much easier to apply that this cancels out a bit. But there are some conditions that squirt is absolutely shit at, and quite a few that it’s fairly bad at. Same with other lubes. And that’s basically the killer edge for the putoline- I don’t find it as godly as TJ, but there’s nothing it’s really bad at, it’s just varyingly good.

sirromj – not getting it hot enough / leaving it in long enough? Dunno – folks expectations and findings do vary but for me its like magic. Some folk maybe think the wax has gone when the outside of the chain is dry – but if you run your finger along the chain you will get two black lines from the wax that still is in the rollers and that is slowly oozing out.

Convert here too. Argos cheap fat fryer makes whole process a breeze.

Think it gets hot enough – put a wet chain in once and it bubbled a spat a fair amount but not dangerously. It gets all these patterns moving around in it I like watching for a while 🙂

I tend to treat it as something I use when the chain’s got grotty and I want to give the inners a good clean and lube – which I’m happy with it for that. After a couple of weeks I tend to top up with with whatever lube I grab every week or so.

its the topping up that is the problem then I guess – anything with solvent or light oil simply washed the putoline out. It does not mix well with other lubes