Squirt chain lube - am i doing something wrong?

I find it gets better with time and application, but similarly I only use it on a road bike which rarely if ever sees rain or even puddles!

I think it gets better with repeated applications, but I'm also very fastidious about giving it time to dry, I'll even bring the bike in to the warm dry house for 24hr after application.

Still wouldn't use it for any big days when repeated splashings were expected, wouldn't use it on the gravel bike for this reason sadly, Fenwick's Stealth seems a bit more tenacious and only a little bit dirtier

Sounds exactly like my experience. You need to reapply after ever ride. I hated the stuff.

In gave up with squirt for this reason. I assumed it was for California

Smoove is better

But need a really really clean chain to start with

I found it runs much cleaner than finish line, but washes off very easily and has to be reapplied after every ride

Yes, you are using Squirt "chain lube". In my experience you'd be better pissing on your chain, it'd certainly last longer.

Not sure were I read it but I've always believed that you are supposed to reapply every 80km or so which for me is every ride or every 2nd ride on my gravel bike...wet rides are a rarity though live in a wetter part of Aus'..I like how quiet running it is and chain life seems longer...dislike degreasing chain to start with and the other week I mislaid the bottle so had to go to bikeshop to buy some more as couldn't just stick any old lubticant on
Will sometimes do up to imperial century and just don't worry but 300km wet no idea...guess just the wrong product or have to swop out chain

I must be the odd one out as Ive been impressed with it so far. It needs reapplying every 5 or 6 rides and keeps the chain much cleaner than anything else. I do make sure I apply it the night before a ride so it has time to dry and do its thing. Certainly much longer time gaps between hamster squeaks from the chain

On the contrary to some of the comments up there, I've been using it on the MTB for best part of 10 years, it's brilliant if you follow the instructions 👍 this is on the Peak District where it's rarely dry and not gritty af!

It's for long dry rides or short dampish ones. Definitely not for a dirty reiver or other similarly long and likely wet rides. It also works very well in sandy areas to avoid the sand pick up you get with wet lubes.

Try fenwicks professional. Also dries on and doesn't attract sand/grit like a wet lube, but takes wet rides pretty well.

I forgot to say as per Chrismac I reapply when I get home so ready for next ride

I use it because its probably the cleanest lube I've ever used but do agree it could last longer.

Yeah, I use it on my road bikes but it's not really up to mtbing.

Just noticed they do an ebike one now which they say is slightly stickier and lasts a bit longer in the wet. I need some new so might get that instead.

I tried the Green oil wax and its a brilliant lubricant but so so messy.

i use it in summer, in winter if you dry your chain/bike with an air compressor and then apply squirt it seems to work,
otherwise i've had partly rusty chains having applied squirt.

i find the rock n roll extreme blue (merlin cycles) is better for my needs, i use weldtite tf2 otherwise

Totally useless for me - I switched to Viking Lube which will at least complete a wet ride without the chain being bare at the end of it.

Really clean dry chain. Over apply first lube and let it dry for 24 hours. It then just needs a quick reapply once every 3-4 weeks - in my experience. Works well but does need time to properly dry.

I've stuck with Squirt for 3 or 4 years now but have never quite worked out why sometimes I can get ~500km from an application and sometime barely 100km before my drive chain sounds like a hacksaw. It doesn't seem as simple as good in the dry but poor in the wet, and wonder whether it's how well it's set before use?

I've been using squirt lube for several years with absolutely no issues and no chain growth across three bikes. First few applications need a dry chain, but now I just hose off the bike and stick it on the wet chain. Yes it definitely needs reappling every ride, but with good maintenance you get massively extended use out of your drivetrain with it. Can't stand these so called winter wet lubes that just gather mud and grit and gather a grinding paste for your drivetrain.

I wouldn't say i'm a fan, but it's the least worst thing for me. Just find all chain lubes have their drawbacks, probably why there's so many of them, none are "outstanding".

When it's dry, i can get a couple of weeks (6-8 rides) worth of riding from a single application, if it's damp, probably 3-4 rides, 1 ride if it's wet.

For me, i'd much rather my drive were easy to hose off and clean at the end of a filthy ride, is everyone doing a thorough degrease and clean after every wet ride? I definitely never am, so feel it's better my drive is free of all lube/contaminants after a quick hose than letting the difficult to remove grinding paste to accumulate.

I'd also love to see some data on efficiency/life of a wet but relatively clean chain versus a wet chain with wet lube, which has built up a grinding paste base.

is everyone doing a thorough degrease and clean after every wet ride?

Absolutely not, but then working in a bike shop it never failed to amaze me just how much chain lube folk would apply.

I get a lot more than 80km out of an application.

1. Make sure the bottle is warmish. Put it on a radiator or whatever.

2. As you apply (quite liberally), use a finger to roll the rollers in the centre of the links. This helps work the liquid into each link instead of just having it sit on the surface. I apply lube to the inside and roll from the outside.

Lazily i defer to deanfbm experience of Squirt as mirroring my own.

I have always considered Squirt a lube for dry conditions but frankly i don't both swapping to a potentially more suitable lube in the wetter months.

Ran out of the standard Squirt last month so, having read the marketing for the ebike version re wetter conditions despite having no ebike, i spent the extra £1 and got that version but too early to tell if an improvement yet

I'm a long time fan of Purple Extreme... seems to last long enough for me (I do reapply regularly) and works well all year round and the drive train stays relatively clean. I tried Squirt once and didn't get along with it either!

I'm amazed none of the deep fat fryer crew have chimed in yet. Peaty's is my current lube of choice, seems clean and long lasting enough for road and MTB, smells minty and is available in bigger refill packs to avoid accumulating/chucking loads of small bottles. Before that it was RnR but that went through supply issues a while back and could get a bit cloggy when applying in the cold.

I'm not one to get overly concerned about having the perfect application. I just apply it regular and it seems to do the job. Have used it for multi-day stuff and nothing disastrous has happened. In those scenarios I have a small sample bottle which I apply whenever required - I'm not convinced waiting for it to dry is essential. Even with regular applications a bottle must last me a year.

I still use it because I never fail to be impressed how clean it keeps the drive train, which in itself must help with chain wear.

Well it's reassuring, if a little disappointing to hear that i'm not the only one who finds the time between applications a little on the short side. I'll keep using it on the mtb as that rarely sees wet weather and rides are even less rarely over 50km.

I need to put an order in with Merlin this week so it looks as though i'll need to find another brand of chain lube to add to the basket, so thanks to those who offered up viable alternatives.

Merlin do Rock N Roll which is my lube of choice - in one of its 3 varieties. Follow the instructions, apply liberally and wipe off (leaving a cleaner chain then you started with), and ideally leave to dry before riding. Can definitely be applied to a dirty chain. Extreme (blue) last pretty well in manky conditions, but does need reapplying after every ride. Benefit for me is that they clean off a chain really easily - quick run through a chain cleaner with some degreaser, wash with water and they're sparkling. I used Squirt for a few years but ended up hating it due to the build of of wax you get.

I find it lasts ages and ages on the road bike, but barely 2 rides (20 miles each) on the mtb and I do everything the same between each type of bike when it comes to cleaning and application. However, I still like it on the MTB as it is so clean to use compared to a wet lube

I’m a long time fan of Purple Extreme… seems to last long enough for me (I do reapply regularly) and works well all year round and the drive train stays relatively clean.

+1 to that.

Another for Purple extreme...came in handy on Sunday morning as my chain was rusted from a wash the week before...applied the lube and its ready to go...no need to wait for it to soak in...Best lube ever!!

Just bought some for the road bike. Will wait and see what it is like.

I found often it worked great, and occasionally it worked incredibly badly, and so I could be really happy with it for ages then I'd just hit a patch of the Wrong Sort Of Mud or whatever and it'd totally fail. I ended up assuming that every positive reviewer just didn't have any of that sort of mud.

For my girlfriends bikes I use: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193239923113?hash=item2cfdff39a9:g:4TEAAOSwGnpd5pyb&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA8LZt%2BdFFJkYQPap7yY5%2FtdHu9qXQQRTNsrNcyjhvi%2FmlaaGaKhfLSHZsgH%2FkGStBj5qTnHrcod9YzTkfzjKyoRZgPke3GAEk9BMh32xRZ%2BnQUxy79b24kqYSVa0sAOJvXKujF0rL2HPypqnPk61zaN3%2BCK2Wzs5gfgiP0tZxfLGlnZixMf5aCHwgGIQhaaQ2VCnErpIIlb%2BM6U4koVFesEQ9CmJSwLrvAjapCdSAWHOLs9Flg7kpE013dNWKkkSYeWBp65d5IIJ8u6YTOt5khGCWCQdaNELLkAAzOLD21FN0ASwabbiqcSmHmi8Sfp69mA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMhKucyNJh for the road bike because she never dries the chain of after wet rides. Good stuff. For her mountain bike and Audax bike I used to use Smoove but have moved to https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/latest-zero-friction-cycling-news-effetto-mariposa-flowerpower/ which i find much better than Smoove.
As for myself, I use a hot immersion wax like our fathers and grandfathers used!

I love squirt, I've used it on all of my bikes all year round for the last 5 or 6 years. I just reapply as and when, I've ridden immediately after applying on occasions with no ill effects. I think it sort of builds up over time, I very rarely wash my bikes.

I did dabble with Smoov and found it to be useless, probably as a result of not cleaning the bike enough.

Fairly recent convert to Squirt, I think it's fantastic stuff. Just reapply after every ride, no issues. OK so I got through a bottle a little quicker than I was getting through Viking Juice before hand, but not drastically so, and as it builds up on the chain the less you need to apply. What I have noticed is that my chains are staying cleaner and that they're lasting longer too, which is worth the small increase in consumption I feel...

I've been using about 3 years. Mainly on the road and TT bikes.
I do like it for not being a gunky mess.
But as per most other replies, I do reapply after each ride (max I've done in 1 go is about 110-120 miles and it was still OK - that was road in the Peaks on a dry day. And the chain needs to be mega clean with no lube or solvent left in the nooks and crannies. I start with soaking an oily chain in turps/ white spirit, then rinse, then sonic Bath, rinse, and IPA (rubbing alcohol not hoppy beer) to get it completely dry and de-solvent-ed.

Tried it on my road bike chains but unimpressed. I was hoping for a nice clean chain and cassette. Squirt runs smoothly for a short distance but chucks little dirty waxy balls everywhere (so no good for Zwift inside) and unless I wipe the chain link-by-link the day after application there are stick waxy bits on the chain too.
Per the instructions you're not supposed to degrease either, just keep applying. My other chain strategy is to use a chain cleaner device with a hefty magnet, then re-lube with something like Finish Line Dry. This pulls out a remarkable amount of swarf from the chain which the Squirt technique is leaving in there as a grinding paste.

Seems they do one specifically for eebs too 🤔

I generally use putolene but top up with Squirt. My 500ml bottle is getting low and it's pretty spendy now for a new one.

I've been using Squirt exclusively on all my bikes since 2015. I'm a big fan.
The tips are all in the replies above but to summarise:
- start with a clean chain
- warm the bottle in winter
- apply a dot to each roller
- run the chain round a few loops to let it cover the rollers
- let it dry
- hose down when dirty and use a chain cleaner tool if very dirty but don't use degreaser. Dry with a rag and reapply
- in the dry wipe with a rag every 5 rides or so and reapply

I've been using it for years, from normal dry rides to 24hr races in gopping conditions and have no complaints. You need to get the initial application right in the first place, totally degrease chain, chainring(s) and cassette and get them properly dry, apply one coat and let it dry, then apply a 2nd coat, let it dry and then you're good to go.

After a ride if its been a wet one, clean the chain off with a hose or whatever and then wipe it down with a cloth that has WD40 or some similar water displacement stuff on it and if necessary reapply. I've found chains last a very long time using it and if you use nice top end chains they don't rust anyway.

The one place I find it not good is when on the trainer as the heat build up causes the wax to melt and go all clumpy.

Used Squirt for years on all the family bikes, never had an issue. As already stated, the first application is key. I apply a healthy dollop whilst rotating the degreased and dry chain through 2 complete erm, cycles. Then run up and down through the gears to get it into those hard to reach places. Reapply when it feels dry to the fingertip touch. But always leave it to "soak in" overnight.

As per earlier Squirt works very well as long as you understand it. You only need a tiny amount if you apply carefully to the inside of each link. Why is it an issue to reapply each ride (MTB) or once every few for road bikes?
After 7 years using it on my mtb I am confident that the drivetrain lasts longer and is much cleaner than it used to be. Smoove lasts longer though, as some have already said.

I'm on smoove at the moment, but I never had an issue with finish line wet.

Finish Like Wet works very well as long as you understand it.

If you apply it in the same way as squirt, you'll be in trouble, but if you take a minute to wipe a drop across each link, on inside of the chain, pedal it around a bunch then run it through a rag, you've got a clean, well-oiled chain that should last a while before you need to do it next and won't gom up your derailleur.

Think I might go back to it.