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Squirt seems to be out of stock everywhere for some strange reason, are there any similar alternatives?
I moved from squirt to muc off dry (yellow cap) due to availability. It’s not ‘quite’ as effective but a lot cheaper and easier to buy.
As above, I use muc off dry as it's easier to source.
I mean, you could just use smoove - which is faster anyway?
Epic Google failure, thanks Kryton (will also take a look at the other recommendations)
Putoline!
Smoove is similar but lasts longer if you apply it properly.
Another vote for Smoov. I have just finished my bottle and had to revert to a coiuple of sample bottles of Squirt to keep me going till I can get some more smoov. Very similar in look and feel but defo have the impression the squirt wears off quicker.
Putoline. Why muck about with expensive ineffective lube?
Putoline here too, but it is a faff compared to conventional lube.
Can you tell us more about Putoline please? The website seems to have a lot of different products, and how is it a faff?
Putoline. Why muck about with expensive ineffective lube?
because, as we've discovered many times over, regular lube is just as effective in most conditions, it's not that expensive, is much more convenient to apply, and doesn't need the chain to come off the bike. Everybody's who've ever used it, knows that putoline is much more faff to apply than regular lube.
I was using smooth but it was the waiting time for it to properly set when my daughters were racing and needed a quick turn around. Also nearly always forgot to get it on the night before for best application. Ended up going for Peatys and love it and the way it kept the chain clean when the rest of the bike was muddy.
Did a trial pot for our 4 riders in the house and will probably always use it now on all bikes.
One the chain is clean it is simple!
Question about putoline is how do you lube the quick link when you put the chain back on the bike?
J-R
Subscriber
Can you tell us more about Putoline please? The website seems to have a lot of different products, and how is it a faff?
are you serious? Have a search on here.
Its the boil in the tin wax. It lasts ( for most users) many times longer than conventional lubes and costs around £30 for a kilo of wax.
Its a faff because you take the chain off, dunk it in a tin of molten wax that you melt on the stovetop or using a deep fat fryer then you have to hang in up to drip over the tin. It stinks and it stains.
However yo have an always perfectly lubed chain that remains like that for couple of hundred miles offroad and thousands on road and chain life is increased dramatically
For most users some have not liked it but I have been using it for a decade and will noever go back
pedlad - the wax goes into the rollers where it is needed. the quick link does not have rollers - and you get a bit of lube on the pins as yo assemble it anyway. I usually give the quick link a wee dunk in the wax
Because a dunked waxed chain is only a miniscule amount faster than using smoove or squirt, but significantly more work. You also can't take the chain waxer with you on mutli day rides, or trips e.t.c.
YOu do not need to rewax for multiday rides! it lasts so long that it does not need to be redone! a 400 mile mixed road / offroad tour in some poor conditions it didn't need redoing even after the tour
Eskay - A few more outlets with stock of Squirt depending on your shopping preference.
https://www.cyclerepublic.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=+squirt
https://slam69.co.uk/collections/gear-cables/products/squirt-long-lasting-chain-lube
https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/facetresults.aspx?Term=squirt
https://eu.stifmtb.com/products/squirt-dry-lube
Tried squirt, not massively impressed... back to Rock N Roll Extreme for me
buy smoove from singetrack
Used Squirt for a few years now in all conditions never had a problem with it. If applied correctly it lasts well.
Another vote for Smoove from either here or direct from cyclorise if you need to buy online
Its now back on with Wiggle /CRC as well https://www.wiggle.co.uk/squirt-chain-lube-120ml/
That's great tjagain.
What do I do if I'm on a 2 week training camp pushing 2000km. Pack my slow cooker in my carryon?
Friction testing puts it at something like less than half a watt between smoove and a top end magic dust molten wax. I have 7 bikes and I still can't seem to justify it.
“What do I do if I’m on a 2 week training camp pushing 2000km. Pack my slow cooker in my carryon?”
Have you considered that you might be an atypical example?
“Friction testing puts it at something like less than half a watt between smoove and a top end magic dust molten wax.”
This being a mountain biking forum, I’m not sure how many others on here care about this!
continuity
the main advantages are longevity - on road I find it last thousands of miles, cost - its a tiny fraction of the cost of bicycle lubes and massively reduced chain wear
Now if thats not good enough for you fair enough - and not everyone who has tried it find it as good as I do.
So for your 2000km training camp you treat the chain before you go and if it does become dry in that time you put a conventional lube on it
Smoove. Thought I'd give it a go and see what the fuss is about. 400 (dry) miles so far on one application.
And I don't need some sort of weird cooker.
I used to run Squirt in the summer months but found it didn't last very well in the wetter months and tended to turn to a paste and wash off if ridden through puddles as deep as your jockey wheels.
So, in the winter, I'd use putoline which did the job, lasted well and resisted washing out. However, the extra stiffness it added to the chain means it didn't shift as well as the Squirt. Despite cleaning the excess from the outside of the chain there was still a black waxy build up on the cassette, chain ring and jockey wheels.
Happy enough with the putoline, one summer I ditched the Squirt and tried Smoove. It lasts longer and is easy enough to live with. Now, each time I clean the bikes, the chain gets a wipe down and when dry, a single drop of Smoove on each link. It works so well and is so easy to live with that I've not bothered going back to putoline.
The only "faff" is that first application but I reckon it's worth it. Since switching to Smoove I no longer feel the need to deep clean chains periodically which is the biggest faff saver for me.
I have decided to try smoove, I'll see how it goes.
What do I do if I’m on a 2 week training camp pushing 2000km. Pack my slow cooker in my carryon?
Take a spare chain incase the first one gets noisy.
And when did holidays become "training camps"
Tjagain - I have used one bottle of smoove for something like a year. It has the same benefits in terms of chain longevity as melting on wax. It's literally wax in a small amount of solvent - you're just changing appliction method from spending money and energy on heating (and for some bright people, ultrasonically agitating) into money on a small amount of solvent that evaporates.
As much as I am in favor of a waxed chain - even a professionally waxed chain doesn't last 'thousands of kilometers' - you can read wattshop's adverts if you like. It might last 20% longer than a solvent wax lube because it's more fully applied, but you of course realise that waxing anything but the rollers is pretty superfluous.
Chiefgrooveguru - Some people do race mountain bikes occasionally I hear, and of course most of this forums members are just closet roadies. Solvent wax lubes have all of the benefits of melting wax; except the sense that you're a member of some niche anarchists cookbook of a cyclist and are creating magic in your shed.
In which case, start melting in some MOS.
spoon - presumably when they are paid for?
even a professionally waxed chain doesn’t last ‘thousands of kilometers’
one waxed by me using putoline does. I have been using this stuff for ten years. Many times during road use it has lasted thousands of km
It is not the same as a solvent based lube. Its much better as it completely fills the rollers with wax. Unless you have used it you do not know. would you like me to treat a chain for you so yo can see? It can be done by post.
TJ, as good as Putoline is, there are reasons why some folks experience may be different.
I find it works better on older 9 speed stuff but affects the quality of shifting on my 11 speed stuff as it limits the side flex in the chain.
As for claims in chain life, it's a difficult one to pin down due to the number of variables but there are tests that have found 12 and 12 speed chains last longer than 9 speed. That makes me think that perhaps there is more scope for improving the life of a 9 speed with a wax, whereas the 11 and 12 speed are better optimised so there's possibly less scope for improving them with a heavy wax.
I've used putoline and found it good, but Smoove shifts better in my 11 speed, lasts well, is cleaner and allows a little and often approach that I find easier to live with.
Ta onza. my bikes are 9 and 10 speed. all data is good.
Rock n roll blue, it just works, even in the pishin' wet west of scotland, and no deep fat fryer required.
+1 for Rock'n'roll Blue.
It just works.
Lasts well in all conditions.
Runs as clean as you can expect - in dry and dusty it doesn't pick up - nothing stays clean in the mud.
Easy to put on. Clean chain properly. Put on the night before to cure properly, although OK after an hour.
I'm trying to finish the small bottle of Squirt I still have, I forgot how terrible it is. Cleaned a new road chain, applied 3 times before a road ride and after 40km my chain sounds like it's crying out for help. Applied everyday after cleaning it and it doesn't last an hour into the ride.
Strange because everytime I go to South Africa Squirt is the default lube, I think it works there because it mixes with the fine red dust which itself is probably a lube, in the UK it just tends to wash off or fall off leaving an unprotected chain.
nothing stays clean in the mud.
Apart from putoline - the mud just falls off and does not get into the chain at all
Sorry................................................
Want to post it to me happybiker?
=]
No love for Fenwicks Stealth/Professional?
I saw it on offer so decided to commit to two bottles for my gravel bike. Claims to run clean and quiet, requires careful application and ideally curing overnight which is fine by me as the Gravel bike is typically a weekend only affair so can afford to give it some TLC during the week.
So far so good, clean and relatively quiet.
Still using Squirt on the summer road bike, just because I always have and still have a bottle and half in the garage. It doesn't seem to work as well as I remember, the first few rides were a revelation at how quiet and smooth it was, perhaps I've just got used to it or perhaps my drivetrain is just getting on a bit!
Want to post it to me happybiker?
Fortunately it's almost finished so I'll preserve for the next few days.