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I'm still using Finish Line Dry, but it's pretty rubbish.
What's the recommended selection for road/CX duties?
P.S. It's in the bike forum, please keep it clean and directed. 😉
I'm trying Smoove at the moment. So far so good. Runs clean and feels like a longer lasting squirt. I'm sure I've noticed smoother shifting as well, I think it allows more slide flex than squirt.
P.S. It's in the bike forum, please keep it clean and directed
Friend of a friend joined a group ride at Afan a few years ago. As we were getting ready in the car park, he produced a bottle of Durex lube, dollop on the hand and then hand down the shorts.
Apparently it was cheaper and better than normal chamois cream.
😯
Pure Dry Lube from Halfords works well for me. Wipe and 're apply each ride and doesn't get too messy. Finish line wet for cleaning fork and shock seals.
Squirt.
Because life without cleaning drive chains is heaven.
I'm still using Finish Line Dry, but it's pretty rubbish
Really? What makes you say that?
It's always been my preferred choice.
Legoman - Member
Really? What makes you say that?
It seems to be basically gone after a few dusty rides and seems (unless liberally applied) to be relatively noisy which makes it seem a little pointless. I was thinking a wax might be better?
er, it is a wax, isn't it?
(at least i thought so. it seems to work like one: squirt it on/through the moving chain while back pedaling, leave to dry. the result is a clean, non-sticky chain that looks like it needs an oil, but still runs quietly)
I've been using tf2 blue dry wax. Picked it up at my lbs. I'm pleased with it so far. It was also much cheaper than from crc.
I started using Wickens and Soderstrom No.5 at the start of the summer. While it's still to be tested in sloppier conditions, I've been very pleased so far, but . It claims to be filled with science-y stuff, but all I know is that my drivetrain has been clean and quiet since I started using it.
I have just started using Smoove. Early days and I am trying it out on my commuter bike first. Started last week including a very wet 10 mile commute on Wednesday and the chain is still looking clean and running both quietly and smoothly.
I've been using Squirt for a couple of years and have been very happy with it, so interested to see how much longer Smoove lasts in comparison.
Every 200 or so miles this.
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Thats the stuff - what captain morgan is using. Been using my £20 1 kilo tin of putoline for years ( its now a bit more expensive). Its so superior to anything else its unbelievable. applying it is a filthy faff no doubt - but it lasts so long and lubes so well that you don't have to reapply it often ( hundreds of miles on the MTB, thousands on the roads) and while I have not recorded it I have gone from several chains a year to several years a chain. Once the excess is wiped off its also much cleaner with no build up on the cassette
Why pay £5 for a tiny bottle of ok lube when you can pay £30 for a kilo of much superior lube
It seems to be basically gone after a few dusty rides
You re-apply dry lube after each ride.
I like a nice clean drive chain. Been using RnR blue on my HT and squirt on the FS. I think I prefer squirt except for really wet rides. The HT does the sloppy wet local woods rides.
I hadn't needed to clean/degrease the FS chain in around 700 miles with squirt. Quick rag/brush off (or a squirt with the hose if really mucky and bike is getting a clean) and re-lube after every ride and it been good to go.
Very recently decided to give the Wickens and Soderstrom stuff a go as I picked up some on offer a bit back. Fully degreased the squirt from the FS chain and lubed it up with the W&S no.5 and then wiped of any excess. Did a 20 mile ride on the quantocks after rain and the lube held up well. Rag the chain down, re-applied lube, wiped off the excess. Then did a partially wet (after rain and with a few heavy showers) FOD off piste 20 mile ride and again the lube held up well. So far I'm liking the lube, it seems to last well and the drive train is very clean. I'm concerned I'll want to stick with this lube and it's bloody expensive 😕
Squirt.
Please make allowances for my ignorance. Deep fat fryer and a tube of what? How do you use them?
Every 200 or so miles this.[img]
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Oi that's my pic 😆
Can't remember when I last re applied it, the road bike must be getting on for 500miles at least and is nowhere near dry.
Deep fat fryer and a tube of what?. How do you use them?
Scoop out the big tin of putoline into the fryer, turn it on and wait for it to melt and get upto 200C. You can just put the tin on the hob, but that runs the risk of making a horrible mess of the kitchen and the fryer is cheaper/less faff than a camping stove.
Put chain in basket and give it a good shake.
Give it a while at to soak in, shake occasionally to flush any grit out of the chain (go have a cup of tea, service something else, giving it a good 10 minutes seems to allow the chain to warm up completely and the excess runs off better afterwards).
Lift chain out and wipe off excess with paper towel (and thick rubber gloves, and hold the 200C chain with pliers, it stays hot for a fairly long while).
Enjoy the fact you've now got at least two months (even in shitty winter single speeding conditions) of zero maintenance. About the only ride I've ever run out of lube was on a really shitty day of torrential rain where it was all gone in about 30 miles. But that's 29.99miles longer than any other lube lasted.
or just put the putoline tin on the stovetop - you can hang it up with a bit of wire to drip back in the tin
or just put the putoline tin on the stovetop - you can hang it up with a bit of wire to drip back in the tin
A) I'm too cack handed to risk that
B) It does stink somewhat
C) I think the fryer works better as it consistently goes to 200C rather than anxiously watching it and wondering if it's about to get too hot and burst into flames.
sure the fryer is a damn good idea and safer / easier - just not essential
I carry the hot tin into my workshop and fish the chain out there and hang it over the tin to drip
Stihl sawchain oil.
Goes off to find a cheap or second hand fryer
Goes off to find a cheap or second hand fryer
Freecycle, if not amazon have one for £15.
Needs to be a 'mini' one though, if it holds more than a litre of oil it's too big.
Goes off to find a cheap or second hand fryer
One of these for 12 quid does the job...
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Been happily using Scottoiler UBS (now rebranded Guard) to good effect in all seasons. It's especially good in winter for easy maintenance on the commuter, although when my 5 litre bottle runs out I think I'm going to give Putoline a go
ahwiles - Member
er, it is a wax, isn't it?
No, it's teflon...but it seems to prevent itself adhering to anything, so it's gone in a few minutes
P.S. It's in the bike forum, please keep it clean and directed.
Doesn't that generally apply to all applied lubes?
Still on Rock n Roll Extreme as I have been for eons.
Commenting so I can remember to go and buy a frier from Aldi 🙂
For those using squirt how many applications are you using? I am finding it fine in the dry but was out for a semi wet ride (few puddles/muddy sections) yesterday and it was not running great at all half way round the ride (at the 30 mile mark....the chain is perfectly clean and dry when applied
^^^^ that's how I find Squirt also, great in the dry but some decent puddles and it's gone. I do like it, but if there are wet conditions likely I use Rock n Roll Extreme.
Squirt for me too, works well and I generally apply it the night before a ride so it soaks in well. Can't say I've noticed any major issues in the wet but I'm not usually out in anything too wet anyway.
Squirt here. I have to re-apply after every ride and always leave it overnight. It has survived some 7 hour jaunts in the past (the trails are never dry). Interested to hear how folk are getting on with Smoove.
Cocksnot up the fartpipe is effective apparently...
Still on Rock n Roll Extreme as I have been for eons.
Same here for off road. Finish line green on the road because it lasts ages and its propensity to gather muck isn't an issue. Though when I run out I'll properly degrease the road drivetrains and switch over to R&R.
Yes squirt wants a bit of time, night before, when you put the bike in the car, or when youset off if, like me, you have a few miles of road before anything interesting.
It does also need setting up properly from the off. totally degrease your chain, apply - backpeddle - leave for a bit - repeat.
If you put it on a chain which has any grease then the squirt will treat that grease as dirt, combine with it, and then drop off.
Daffy - Member
I'm still using Finish Line Dry, but it's pretty rubbish.What's the recommended selection for road/CX duties?
Cuckoo spit!! 😀
Got into this now. Rice cooker, melted candles and paragon wax. All drivetrain stripped fully degreaser and cleaned. Chain soaked in the hot mixture15 mins. Seems excellent on 2 rides so far (one wet one dry)
Putoline here as well. The frier isn't essential but it makes it so much simpler and removes most of the risk of burning your house down, deep frying yourself, or just kicking it over and wasting £30 worth of wax.
It performs better than anything, it lasts better than anything, it makes chains last longer than anything else does, and it actually works out cheap too because it lasts so long. It's just that it's the most epic pain in the arse to actually lube the chain. But it's kept me shifting perfectly in incredibly awful conditions.
(I don't get as long life as some do- in fact in winter I'll often relube after just a couple of rides. But the difference is, it keeps it all going sweet for those 2 rides, rather than deteriorating. A full weekend of winter enduro racing in a swamp is testing. But I don't even remember the last time I lubed the commuter's chain. Last year possibly.)
Whale sphincter grease aka Quantum Paradigm Dry Sludge. 60 million Roubles per picoliter. It's really great, better than Apple Jack Stratosphere Jesus Tears........boooooooooommmmmm **** yeah, you don't know you weren't there man 🙄
^^^ Clearly meant to post in chemtrails thread.
Oh and it runs soooooo quietly
UBS. You don't even have to take care where you spray it, just fling some in the general direction of the bike.
Judging by the bike services i do most people are using chip fat and not removing it between applications
Still happy with Smoove here so far, done a few more miles on it and it is smoove! A lot less messy than my old oil lube. Also I have put it on my daughter's bike chain and it's much less messy on her clothes and leg now.
Time will tell though.
Bought some squirt as a result of this thread, very impressive so far, chain much cleaner and quieter
Squirt's great except when it's not- every so often I'd go for a ride and it'd just shit the bed completely. It wasn't exactly really bad conditions, just really specific conditions I think. Never really worked it out, I just stopped using it because it was annoying me.
Squirt is great in dry conditions but like a few others I find it vanishes in the wet.
Which is a shame as I love not having a black greasy drivetrain. Maybe my degreasing isn't good enough?
Tried Rock n Roll Extreme for the wet but it seemed not to last that long either. I also seemed to be going through it at quite a rate when following the instructions on the bottle, which is expensive - do others that like it find this?
Got a free bottle of Finish Line ceramic wet lube at some point and I recently gave that a go. So far I've found it's lasted well in wet conditions and the chain isn't too filthy.
When I move and have a garage I'm almost certainly going to give Putoline a go.