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Just want a decent all round lube for the mtb, road bike and commuter.
Preferably one I can get one little drop on each link, don't like the ones that spray everywhere when you apply them.
Ta.
Not sure if it's flavour of the month, but Finish line green wet for most of the year on most bikes, however when (if) it gets proper dusty then i prefer Purple extreme.
DumondeTech wet lube. A drop per link and the chain goes silent.
ive gone from muc off wet (horrible) to finish line wet (slightly better)
For a wet type lube I just mix some engine oil with white spirit in a ratio of about 2:1. Seems to work as well as anything else. Dry(er) lube I like Prolink gold.
Putoline wax for me still, can't see that changing. Only downer is it's not great with road salt- it lubricates but it doesn't corrosion protect as well as some others. So for the commuter I spray over the top with a light oil.
Chain L.
Still using finish line wet here too, I've only ever tried 2 other types of lube though; finish line dry, which is completely pointless for anyone in this country who actually rides, and a wax lube, of which I just plainly didn't like the application procedure.
Finish line wet lasts for a couple of dry rides, or one wet ride, it will wash off though on really soggy rides which most have been of late. I clean the chain with a chain cleaner after these rides and reapply.
I've tried loads of different lubes and always end up going back to Finish Line wet lube. A dab on each link is all that's needed.
Have also used Finish Line for yonks but couldn't get it locally so have been using this over the winter and it's been really good. UK made too.
http://www.juicelubes.co.uk/chain-juice-wet-100ml.html
I've only ever used Finish Line wet but came across my free bottle of squirt the other day. Put it on the commuter to give it a try and it seems very good. I just ordered a new bottle and will try it on all our bikes for a while.
Finish Line is great but unless you're anal about cleaning your chain I find wet lube just attracts and holds dirt.
Fenwicks Stealth MTB lube - the best I've used so far.
Changed from Purple Extreme to Rock N Roll Extreme a few months ago. Well impressed with Rock N Roll Extreme, seems to last longer, and cleans and lubes in one application.
White Lightning Epic
+1 for Rock and Roll
I use Juice Lubes Viking lube and reckon its pretty good in all but the wettist conditions. It doesn't pick up dust like Finish Line wet lube which is awful stuff.
Rock n Roll Extreme
I'm a tight-fisted sod, so currently using an old Tesco Value contact lense solution bottle with gearbox oil in it. Stinks, but sticks wekk to the chain and is nice and slippy.
Well impressed with Rock N Roll Extreme
I'm not. New bloody chain rusty after 24 hours. Back to fnish line for me
I use squirt wax lube which I'm well impressed with. If you get the chain really clean before you do the first application you shouldn't need to clean it after that really. just re-apply and off you go.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/squirt-chain-lube/
+1 for Squirt. Cleaned the chain in white spirit before the first application and it's been clean every since.
Another for squirt, brilliant
It doesn't pick up dust like Finish Line wet lube which is awful stuff.
pick up dust? hahahahah which country have you been riding in?
FL wet lube. or the white wax stuff depending on which is closer to hand whenever i remember to oil my chain...
GT85
Muc off C3 at the moment...seems to be a cross between wet and dry. And you get a free UV pen so you can see where you applied it in the dark.
Just started using Squirt on the road bikes - brilliant stuff.
May use it on the MTB in the summer but while there's gloop around, I'll stick (ha!) with FL Wet.
pick up dust? hahahahah which country have you been riding in?FL wet lube. or the white wax stuff depending on which is closer to hand whenever i remember to oil my chain...
We do actually get dry trails you know - the last few weeks and my local ones have dried out big time. Cwmcarn at the beginning of the month was getting that way too. I had FL wet lube on that day following the forecast of biblical rain and despite not using much of it my chain was a horrible black mess afterwards. It's evil stuff to dry and get off too.
I tried some of the finish line ceramic lube and that was pretty good although a pain to apply. I thought that it would be great on my road bike, but the chain got very noisey quickly.
Seem to be several consensuses (?) then!
Thanks for replies so far
We do actually get dry trails you know
technically we should yes. but its just started raining again....
you change your chain lube based on forecasts?? obviously i`m doing something wrong...
Fenwick's Stealth Lube... Used to use Finish Line Teflon lube but this new stuff is the dogs danglies
Squirt is great but, in my experience, has to be reapplied after every wet ride.
I stopped using FL Wet lube due to the black gunkiness on the chain. Went to RnR which was good but now use White Lightning which seems as good as RnR and is easier to find in decent size bottles.
Rock and Roll extreme.
White lightning Epic lube
I'm using Rock n Roll Extreme at the moment and I don't see what's so great about it. Seems average in all respects to me. I will try something else next.
I used Finish Line Dry and Wet lubes for years, but have tried quite a few other in the last few.
Current fave is Juice Dry lube - stay very clean and works well as long as you reapply after every ride.
Juice Wet is good, but not as tenacious as Finish Line Wet - which is still my go to lube for nasty conditions.
I found Juice Viking good for wettish road use, but was too much of a fence sitter for off road use int he wet - ie now sticky enough to cope with nasty conditions, but sticky enough to attract a lot of muck.
Squirt is great for minimal maintenance applications (as long as you reapply after wet rides), ut it does build up a waxy residue that's a bugger to clean off. So I only tend to use it on the commuter and the kids bikes now, and only the kids singlespeed bikes as well, not the geared ones.
you change your chain lube based on forecasts?? obviously i`m doing something wrong...
I use Viking Lube for 99% of my riding, but find that it gets washed out easily when the weather gets really grim, hence a grim forecast for a trip to Wales saw the FL lube used.
Finish Line red or green, depending on weather, and whether I feel like using a sticky or runny lube.
Did consider trying something else, but always end up "sticking with what you know"
Finish Line Wet/green.
Got some Muc-Off Wet too - smells nicer than the FL but doesn't work quite as well.
Finish Line ceramic wet lube has served me well this wet winter, nice combination of stickability and keeping the chain clean and smooth running.
Applied sparingly to a clean chain every week (150-200ish miles) I've used barely 1/4 bottle since September
Finish Line used to do a 4 litre container of the green I think it was. If you have a lot of bikes and clean your chain often it's a winner
Squirt seems really situational, it's great in the dry and sometimes even in the wet but other times in the wet it's just awful.
Before I switched to the putoline wax I was always pretty happy with epic ride- it's often not the best but it's never terrible.
squirt convert here, I have several bottles of other lube in the shed that will get used for other things but will never be used on any chain of mine again.
works in all weathers and conditions for me and doesn't turn into black grinding paste like most other lubes.
make sure you apply as per instructions to a clean chain and give the chain an occasional clean with white spirit.
White Lightning Epic
^^ this for where I ride in the desert (haven't seen a wet or muddy trail for over a year), but not sure how well it would work in the wetter conditions in the UK.
Thread resurrection! Anyone using rock n roll extreme on their Road bike? If not what's a good dry lube for road bikes? Can't be dealing with black chains anymore
Yes in short but just changed as the chain was getting very noisy around the 35 mile mark every ride and by 45 sounded horrendous. Just switched to Fenwicks Stealth road bike lube, have to apply it the day before to let it cure but used it on my commuting bike when I was working and it had good rust resistance too as well as only needing minimal cleaning and reapplication.
Davosaurusrex - I use squirt on my road bike chain.
Pro Gold for me.
Pedros Ice Wax
I had some of the muc-off molybdenum lube. Not dry (so didn't flake off) but lasted ages before going darker.. didn't get black and gummy at all.
Lost the flippin bottle now tho 🙁
The Fenwicks Stealth is very similar IMO to MucOff C3 Dry lube in application and durability and indeed picking up muck etc but I think Fenwicks version just seems to last a bit longer before needing a proper clean.
Suggsey - that is exactly what I would suspected would happen from using it on the MTB and you've just confirmed it. Just looked up a few reviews of the Fenwicks Stealth and it sounds like exactly what I'm after so will give that a go, thanks.
Your welcome 😉
Squirt +1! 😀
I found squirt was useless come the rain, for fair weather riding only
Squirt for me but I tend to only ride when it's reasonably dry and it works fine.
Beware of Pro Gold if you have any E13 plastic components on your bikes as it embrittles the material - ie it goes hard and cracks easy. Oh and the rubber rollers on the old chain guides swell up and go all floppy. Otherwise it's great stuff.
Funny you should say that- I've got an e13 top guide on my bike and rock and roll extreme is also on the list of non e13 friendly lubes. Anyone recommend an alternative with similar properties?
when i run out I use 3 in 1 oil..... seems to work and keeps everything running until the next shop!
just finishing a bottle of rock n roll extreme and can't figure out if I like it or not, seems to be an expensive option.
Pedros chainj has been my favourite for years, a proper oil that doesn't go black and manky like that terrible finish line green stuff.
I'm well known for being a bit picky about chain lubes and I've tried a lot of different lubes. I've recently been quite impressed with the muc off C3 ceramic, both the wet and dry stuff.
I'd just started using Squirt as this thread was posted. 3 months on I have to say I'm well impressed with it on both the road and MTB - even in the wet. I've found out that you have to a) thoroughly degrease and clean your drivetrain before application and b) apply liberally and [i]leave overnight[/i] otherwise it does come off easily in the wet.
I've tried lots of chain lubes, including a lot of the new fangled "best ever" lubes of recent years.
Definitely sticking with ProGold ProLink, can't believe how much of a difference it made through the winter especially. Didn't collect much crud and cleaned to spotless with minimal effort. Wouldn't touch wet lubes again and it was better than wax lubes I've tried. Through the drier months I just give it a small amount after every few rides and once in a while pedal it through a cloth with some degreaser on if I'm feeling overly OCD and want it looking like new.
think we need a graph or pie chart....
Another big recommendation for Juice Lubes Viking Lube here. Provided most of the protection of a good wet lube, whilst keeping the chain as clean as most dry lubes. In real wet conditions I use the Juice Lubes wet lube though, which is thicker and does attract more dirt, but it's still a lot less gloppy than most wet lubes and does a very good job of living the chain too.
Tried some Muc-Off wet lube recently... Absolutely, positively, most definitely the thickest, dirtiest chain oil I've ever used! It's like a magnet for crap. Won't be using that again that's for sure!
Tried some Muc-Off wet lube recently... Absolutely, positively, most definitely the thickest, dirtiest chain oil I've ever used! It's like a magnet for crap. Won't be using that again that's for sure!
Pretty much exactly my conclusion! Finish Line wet here (all year round, life's too short to be changing lubes according to the weather).