Chain lubricants

[tomato]

Who's Adam?

[tomato]

Adam contradicts himself slightly since he later assumes that Smoove is more efficient than Squirt because of its effect on chain life.

Who's Adam?

[roadchallenge]

Molten Wax is the least dirty.

[TobinHatesYou]

Adam contradicts himself slightly since he later assumes that Smoove is more efficient than Squirt because of its effect on chain life.

Who's Adam?

The ZFC guy's name is Adam Kerin.

[tomato]

The ZFC guy's name is Adam Kerin.

Okay. Adam states pretty clearly on his website that low measured friction does not imply long chain life.

[DaveS]

Wax doesn't fill all the empty spaces in a chain for very long. Most of it falls off the chain quickly. It's very soft - nothing like a rigid filler. That's why I like my cheap homemade liquid wax lube. I can apply it maybe every 200km in a couple of minutes and not have to stretch it, to avoid the longer chain swapping process. I don't care if the lube lasts a long time, since it's so quick and easy to replenish.

Comparing ball bearings to a simple pin and bushing is apple's and oranges. A heavy lube might produce a lot of friction, but long chain life, providing it doesn't attract dirt.

[TobinHatesYou]

I have over 750 hours / 16000mi (~220W avg over lifetime I’d estimate) on a chain used exclusively indoors and it’s only at .3% elongation measured by a Park CC-4. This is with RnR primarily, though it has had short stints with Squirt and Dumonde. With no contaminants, chains last a very, very long time even with the lightest dry lubes.

[tomato]

I have over 750 hours / 16000mi (~220W avg over lifetime I’d estimate) on a chain used exclusively indoors and it’s only at .3% elongation measured by a Park CC-4. This is with RnR primarily, though it has had short stints with Squirt and Dumonde. With no contaminants, chains last a very, very long time even with the lightest dry lubes.

That's impressive.

[MikeD]

I have over 750 hours / 16000mi (~220W avg over lifetime I’d estimate) on a chain used exclusively indoors and it’s only at .3% elongation measured by a Park CC-4. This is with RnR primarily, though it has had short stints with Squirt and Dumonde. With no contaminants, chains last a very, very long time even with the lightest dry lubes.

That's impressive.

What, the chain life or the mental fortitude to endure 750 hrs. of riding on a trainer?

[tomato]

I have over 750 hours / 16000mi (~220W avg over lifetime I’d estimate) on a chain used exclusively indoors and it’s only at .3% elongation measured by a Park CC-4. This is with RnR primarily, though it has had short stints with Squirt and Dumonde. With no contaminants, chains last a very, very long time even with the lightest dry lubes.

That's impressive.

What, the chain life or the mental fortitude to endure 750 hrs. of riding on a trainer?

I'm assuming the 750 hours was not done in one session.

[MikeD]

I have over 750 hours / 16000mi (~220W avg over lifetime I’d estimate) on a chain used exclusively indoors and it’s only at .3% elongation measured by a Park CC-4. This is with RnR primarily, though it has had short stints with Squirt and Dumonde. With no contaminants, chains last a very, very long time even with the lightest dry lubes.

That's impressive.

What, the chain life or the mental fortitude to endure 750 hrs. of riding on a trainer?

I'm assuming the 750 hours was not done in one session.

A bike club member that used to ride double centuries (it takes a lot of mental disciple to train and ride a double), one winter, when it rained so much that riding outside wasn't practical, used to do five hours at a time on a Stairmaster. Ugh...

[DC41]

Do Squirt and Smoove firm up on the chain after the solvent dries like molten wax, or do they stay tacky. Also, do they require you clean the chain before the second application, or can you just wipe the chain and apply?

Thanks!

[TobinHatesYou]

Do Squirt and Smoove firm up on the chain after the solvent dries like molten wax, or do they stay tacky. Also, do they require you clean the chain before the second application, or can you just wipe the chain and apply?

Thanks!

Smoove stays fairly “gummy” while Squirt gets slightly more firm...nothing like plain paraffin wax though. Neither require more than a wipedown before relubing the chain. If you really want to clean the surface of the chain, just use a Park Tool chain cleaner with some warm-hot water.

[alanyu]

Do Squirt and Smoove firm up on the chain after the solvent dries like molten wax, or do they stay tacky. Also, do they require you clean the chain before the second application, or can you just wipe the chain and apply?

Thanks!

I haven't tried MSW so no idea about your first question.

To your second question, I had a thorough clean, including ultrasonic cleaning in aceton and alcohol for two rounds, MBI cleaner, and ultrasonic again, before my first application of squirt. I make an easy clean using MBI and wipe the chain each five to eight application then, which is usually each 700-1200 km.

[otnemem]

That's right paraffin tends to pick up all the dirt when it's wet. I'm doing the R&D for Rex (Finnish ski wax company which started to produce bike products in 2014 (because we are cyclists too)). My point here is that if you have paraffin with additives like PTFE or MoS2, they are excellent lubricants for metal-to-metal. That leaves the wet condition performance out. As we are making ski waxes, they have to repel dirt and wate to glide on the snow. So basically we have similar PTFE's etc, but also additives we use in ski waxes to make paraffin based oil work in wet conditions.

I think that's the reason we started to make chain lubes. You just couldn't find good enough solution for both wet and dry conditions.

That's a half decent plug to you company, I can respect that

Another problem is getting the balance between paraffin and paraffin oil just right. Too much paraffin and you'll be spreading flakes like a bad case of dandruff for the first 15 minutes.