To save you reading any more of my ramblings – my answer is Finish Line Green Top Aerosol on one bike – a cupped hand full of motor oil on the other. I’ve absolutely no frigging idea of the relative merits of either.
Has any independent body properly tested chain lubes? Magazines are not independent, they dare not p!ss off the distributors. Forum posters, such as me, are not independent as we all have a curious desperation that our choices show our erudition and ascendency.
I have a conspiracy theory that all chain lubes actually stay in place for v little time, getting squooshed out of the wearing surfaces quite quickly.
I can get a new chain for the price of 3 cans of greentop lube. I use way more than 3 cans for every chain change on my nice summer bike.
On my horrible winter hack (which lives outside, never washed or otherwise cared for) I turn the cranks until the dried mud from the last ride cracks off, then I run the chain through a cupped hand full of motor oil.
Perhaps tenderly caring for the chain, and pretending that this matters, is all part of the fun – it makes us feel like we’re doing something clever, worthwhile and important. Or perhaps I’m wrong.