What's your chain lube of choice?

[Ron]

expensive, but buy when on sale (like now), Silca Super Secret Chain lube. Its really a liquid wax with tungsten and hardens like paraffin. This stuff is incredible. It lasts several rides and virtually nothing sticks to the drivetrain. I use a Muck-off degreaser to wipe the chain and cassette and jockey wheels down after every ride and the drivetrain stays super clean on road and gravel bikes. Since its a hard wax, there's no greasy build-up and virtually nothing sticks Hands down, nothing I have ever used comes close. our road film here is a very fine dust that wreaks havoc on drive trains.

SILCA Super Secret Chain Lube (Ugly Bottle)

Spring inventory treasure! Due to the bottle and jar sourcing during COVID, we have an ugly bottle problem that resulted in discoloration. The chain lube inside is not affected...but the bottle looks less than desirable for retail. PLEASE NOTE: We have updated our recommendations for the drying...

silca.cc

 

[snwbrdr]

Boeshield, and I use it around the house... and lubed the sunroof tracks on my old car with the Panoramic sunroof

 

[Rudi Riet]

Have you tried the NFS Blue Devil yet?

I need to hit up Josh for a bottle.

 

[hrstrat57]

ProLink

 

[ZionPow]

SCC Slick - excellent lube that lasts much longer that others I have tried.

SCC SLICK | Less Friction, All Conditions

More than the perfect all conditions chain lube, SCC Tech is a comprehensive drivetrain treatment. SCC Slick's patented formula delivers a better mechanical efficiency, longer intervals between applications and is effective in all conditions. Less friction in all conditions #RideItSlick

scctech.bike

 

[chris_the_wrench]

I can’t believe myself, but after almost two decades of telling people ‘dont spray wd40 all over your chain/bike!!!!’, wd40 dry has been my standard goto for past 7’ish years.

 

[RobSN]

Spoiler alert: 21st Century Answer follows:

Water.
"CARE FOR YOUR CARBON DRIVE Wash with water to remove debris."

 

[Rudi Riet]

I can’t believe myself, but after almost two decades of telling people ‘dont spray wd40 all over your chain/bike!!!!’, wd40 dry has been my standard goto for past 7’ish years.

It helps that they released a proper bicycle maintenance line about... umm... 7-ish years ago.

 

[Tom K.]

SCC Slick - excellent lube that lasts much longer that others I have tried.

This stuff is astounding. I'm using the only very slightly different Wolftooth WT-1.

I can get 15 hours of hard pedaling out of it.

WAY less crap on the drivetrain than Smoove, which also lasts about 15 hours.

 

[dan ross]

90wt gear oil applied lightly with an old toothbrush. Then just wipe down chain. Bicycles, street motos, dirt motos.
Cheap and works as well as anything, better than most. Stop paying boutique lube prices!
(It's what most chain manufactures recommend)

What? No kerosene soak first? Totally agree. Chain performance is directly linked to chain maintenance. Been riding ( until very recently) since the 70’s, pre ceramic, pre silicone based lubes. I’m sure some of this stuff is great but remember a chain is a very simple mechanical device with lots of potential failure points and it takes only one of its points to bind it up. Maintenance is key.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

kinda on topic…

When I first started working in bike shops(1992’ish), there was an old timer who kept a little crock pot full of melted paraffin wax. He would remove the chain, clean it with something strong(it might of been diesel fuel(i cant remember, perhaps the fumes zapped me), then he would soak in the crock pot, remove the chain, toothbrush off all the exposed/extra, then reinstall. It would take him like 45 minutes to wax a chain. Crazy part was people would pay for that service!

I’ve been using wend wax on my personal road bike for a few years, i kinda like it. But its abit invloved. You can get it in colors though!!!

 

[cantunamunch]

kinda on topic…

When I first started working in bike shops(1992’ish), there was an old timer who kept a little crock pot full of melted paraffin wax. He would remove the chain, clean it with something strong(it might of been diesel fuel(i cant remember, perhaps the fumes zapped me), then he would soak in the crock pot, remove the chain, toothbrush off all the exposed/extra, then reinstall. It would take him like 45 minutes to wax a chain. Crazy part was people would pay for that service!

LOL, I still do that. Except my crock pot is bigger (4 quarts), with a silt screen for debris, and a fair bit hotter - 240F minimum - and the proof is the chain is so hot when taken out that there is no extra. It would be like toothbrushing water. 10 minutes.

 

[Jersey Skier]

kinda on topic…

When I first started working in bike shops(1992’ish), there was an old timer who kept a little crock pot full of melted paraffin wax. He would remove the chain, clean it with something strong(it might of been diesel fuel(i cant remember, perhaps the fumes zapped me), then he would soak in the crock pot, remove the chain, toothbrush off all the exposed/extra, then reinstall. It would take him like 45 minutes to wax a chain. Crazy part was people would pay for that service!

I’ve been using wend wax on my personal road bike for a few years, i kinda like it. But its abit invloved. You can get it in colors though!!!

At today's labor rates it would be cheaper to just install a new chain instead.

 

[scott43]

At today's labor rates it would be cheaper to just install a new chain instead.

I've cleaned in soap and water quickly and somewhat frequently..and then just chuck the chain. No more nasty degreaser baths..I've cleaned way too many chains in my life. I honestly don't know the efficacy of those deep cleans anymore. And really you shouldn't be removing a modern chain. I like the little chain holder for the rear hub..then clean and lube. The less I touch the chain the happier I am...

 

[chris_the_wrench]

LOL, I still do that. Except my crock pot is bigger (4 quarts), with a silt screen for debris, and a fair bit hotter - 240F minimum - and the proof is the chain is so hot when taken out that there is no extra. It would be like toothbrushing water. 10 minutes.

Im real curious about your setup/method!! What kind of mileage are you seeing per waxing? Straight paraffin wax in the cooker? I can’t say what type of temp my old colleague was running or the exact ‘pot’ but what are you using??

 

[cantunamunch]

Im real curious about your setup/method!! What kind of mileage are you seeing per waxing? Straight paraffin wax in the cooker? I can’t say what type of temp my old colleague was running or the exact ‘pot’ but what are you using??

5-600 miles per, dry conditions only. I don't really have faith in it as a wet lube; some wet is inevitable ofc.

It started off being straight paraffin, because cost, but it's more like 50% used ski wax now.

It's a thrift store buy with a glass lid and a thermostat in the plug - I went looking until I found one that would fit a wire pasta basket. Chopsticks to remove the hot chain and a wooden board for it to cool off. IR thermometer to make sure the thermostat is working.

That's pretty much it. Once it's up to temp (it takes a while, and I suspect this is why your old colleague had such a time cost), you can run several chains through it and the longest part is waiting for the hot chain to cool off.

Oh, yeah, once a year-ish I drain it off into soft-sided pitchers. The nice thing about those is that all the contaminants settle to the bottom by the time the wax cools. Then just flex the pitcher, the wax plug pops out and you cut the contaminated section off with a bread knife.

The part that doesn't drain well (under the pasta basket) I just scrape out and replace with clean paraffin. I might try beeswax next time, if I remember to find some.

 

[Steve]

How about soy wax?

 

[Tom K.]

After several years of being pretty darn happy with the Smoove, one of the things I'm loving about Wolftooth WT-1 (made by SCC) is that application is simple.

I'm on an mtb road trip right now. I might or might not exceed 15 hours on either bike, but if I do, I can give the chain a quick clean and re-lube in 5 minutes after a ride, then wipe it down the next morning in 1 minute, and I'm good for another 15 hours.

Didn't even have to pack the crock pot!

 

[Primoz]

5-600 miles per, dry conditions only.

That long? Ok I'm on mtb so things are a bit different, but I don't get more then 300-400km per waxing. You can hear chain starting to get louder so it's time to get new wax. I'm using plain paraffin, even though I'm sure some HF ski wax would be so much faster so it's literally free wax (HF would really be free wax) with it's 3-4eur/kg, which lasts for several years. First waxing takes some time as you need to clean chain, but all other's are 5-10min work. I never bother to check temperature. I just wipe chain, drop it into pan and leave it there for few minutes, so it heats up and then hang it to cool off. Once it's cool, I just drag it few times through rag to move rollers that feel like sticked with new wax and back to bike. With 300-400km/waxing, and 5-10min work it's overall way less work then with lubing as even with dry lubes, I was cleaning chain after every single ride. Plus there's few other benefits. First, after 50 or 60km dusty ride, chain is still running nice and smooth, not grinding like it did with lube. Second, chain and cogs are perfectly clean no matter how much dust or mud there is. You can touch it without needing to run and wipe your hands right away. And third, after 3000km (and about 100k meters of ascend) on mtb, chain is like new (less then 0.1% stretched... ok with 1x this year it's a bit worse, but still), while with lube I would be changing chain at least once in between. So for me, after super good experience with this wax thing in last 2 seasons, there's no way I would ever get back to any kind of lubes other then wax

 

[cantunamunch]

That long? Ok I'm on mtb so things are a bit different, but I don't get more then 300-400km per waxing. You can hear chain starting to get louder so it's time to get new wax. I'm using plain paraffin, even though I'm sure some HF ski wax would be so much faster

Eh, maybe I'm just older and deafer