Best chain lube for rainy weather

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TonyM
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by TonyM

Hi,

Which is the best chain lube for rainy weather?

So far I have been using Rock n Roll Extreme.
Last edited by TonyM on Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

I find RnR Extreme and Dumonde Tech Pro X Lite to be okay "dry" lubes to use in rainy weather, but none of the dry lubes will last all that long. I've been trying Smoove for the past two weeks and it seems to be a winner so far. It's the first wax-based drip lube I've tried that lasts over 200mi in the dry, so maybe it'll stick in the wet too.

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wheelsONfire
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by wheelsONfire

Cerabike Wax Lube or Wet Lube is a great idea!

Just mail them and try it out.

Juan Sanchez
cerabike@gmail.com
Last edited by wheelsONfire on Sun Nov 19, 2017 10:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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stormur
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by stormur

ATF.
Yes, oil for automatic gearboxes :mrgreen: sink clean chain for few hours, hang to "dry" for next few hours and voila.

Light, zero resistance, stays for 200km approximately under whatever rain you ride. And easy to remove ( Morgan Blue chain cleaner ) .

If you don't care how bad drivetrain looks (just must be lubricated) then Rohlfoff hub oil. Same thing as ATF : sink, hang, wipe , ride. 150km-ish even on gravel . Use gasoline to remove ;)
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Marin
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by Marin

Umm so you have to take off your chain every other ride? No thanks.

fromtrektocolnago
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by fromtrektocolnago

wet lube for sure. wouldn't worry so much about brand.
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istigatrice
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by istigatrice

NixFrixShun
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Mr.Gib
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by Mr.Gib

Hi TonyM,

Are you riding in downpours or just when the roads are wet? On your own or with groups?

I see you are in Vancouver, I am just a few km away on the Island and while we get less then half the rain you do, we still have a fair bit of wet road riding in the winter. I find that unless I am on a long group ride with a grimy road, I stick with my usual dry lube - Finish Line dry. The only time it is less then optimal is when my bike is blasted by muddy spray from other bikes. The slurry of water and dust/grime is what really strips the lube from the drive train.

I rarely ride more than 100 km on any given day during the winter and even the lightest lube will survive most conditions. Also, unless the road is totally dry, I usually have to give my bike a light hose down after each ride which then calls for a quick drive train wipe and lube. IMO it's better to do a quick clean and reapplication of light lube and keep a clean chain, than to have a big black greasy mess.

I think the fact that my fender coverage is complete, including protection almost to the ground on the front tire, really helps to protect the drive train.
Last edited by Mr.Gib on Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BdaGhisallo
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by BdaGhisallo

istigatrice wrote:NixFrixShun


This is the correct answer!

Just did two back to back rides in the rain, with no cleaning or re-lubing between them, and my chain didn't complain one bit.

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TonyM
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by TonyM

Mr.Gib wrote:Hi TonyM,

Are you riding in downpours or just when the roads are wet? On your own or with groups?

I see you are in Vancouver, I am just a few km away on the Island and while we get less then half the rain you do, we still have a fair bit of wet road riding in the winter. I find that unless I am on a long group ride with a grimy road, I stick with my usual dry lube - Finish Line dry. The only time it is less then optimal is when my bike is blasted by muddy spray from other bikes. The slurry of water and dust/grime is what really strips the lube from the drive train.

I rarely ride more than 100 km on any given day during the winter and even the lightest lube will survive most conditions. Also, unless the road is totally dry, I usually have to give my bike a light hose down after each ride which then calls for a quick drive train wipe and lube. IMO it's better to do a quick clean and reapplication of light lube and keep a clean chain, than to have a big black greasy mess.

I think the fact that my fender coverage is complete, including protection almost to the ground on the front tire, really helps to protect the drive train.


Hi,

Yes the winter is basically rainy, either downpours or light rain.

This is why I have decided to "invest" in a dedicated rain bike (that I use now during the winter also). It has full fenders/ mudguards, disc brakes (really great!) and Di2. And even as it has full fenders/ mudguards you can indeed see dirt etc.. going everywhere on the bike. Of course with the fenders and the disc brakes it is less than with my old bike and rim brakes. Even if it is raining I ride between 3.5 and 5 hours if I want to ride outside (I usually use the home trainer during the week and make outside rides on the weekend). I have also decided to wash the bike after every ride (only with water). I usually clean the chain and lube it after every ride. By this the chain is always lubricated, the ride is nice and the wear of chain and cassette is less. The group rides are actually ok as all riders have full fenders and long mudguard (obligatory).

Bigger Gear
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by Bigger Gear

Since I'm in the same area here are my experiences:

Pro-Link: Will not survive 3 hours in the rain. Easy to clean up, but requires re-application every ride in winter.
Finishline Dry: Washes straight off for me. Basically useless. IMO if a lube is a "dry" lube it is useless in the Lower Mainland winter.
Finishline Wet: Normally my go to winter lube. Can get 300 km if there is not any significant rain.
Finishline Ceramic Wet: A slightly more expensive version of the above. No big performance difference IMO. I like it for summer use and getting 400+ km between cleanings.
Muc-Off Ceramic Wet: Pricey, but fairly good. Much like Finshline Wet but more expensive.
Muc-Off Wet: Heavy wet lube, does not wash off easily but is also fairly dirty.
Chain-L: Very heavy wet lube, does not wash off easily but is also fairly dirty. Can survive a long session in the rain better than any other lube I have used, but it is messy.
Phil's Tenacious: Heavy wet lube, much like Muc-Off Wet.

For me, the Finishline Wet is the best combo of performance in the wet and ease of clean-up. The Ceramic version is also good but honestly not worth the money in winter riding.

I should add that my current winter bike is still running 10spd so I have the ability to easily remove the chain and wash in mineral spirits. I normally have 2-3 chains Ultegra 6700 chains with KMC links in rotation and swap them in and out as they get dirty. So pretty much after every full-on rain ride and then maybe every 2-3 rides if I'm lucky with the weather.

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TonyM
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by TonyM

Thanks for your feedback! :thumbup:
I had the same experience with the Finishline products in the past.

I have tested last winter in the rain the following products:
- Park tool Synthetic blend chain lube with PTFE/ Teflon CL-1: quite ok but attract some dirt/ grit etc... so that you really have to clean/ lube the chain after every ride.
- Squirt: A lot of positive appraisal everywhere so I thought I will give it a try also and the manufacturer stated that you can use it also in wet condition. Yes you can - but it is not really working. it is actually good for dry condition only.
- Rock n Roll Extreme: I used it only a few times last year and it worked well but you have to reapply it each time and use quite a lot so that it is a quite expensive oil.

I have now put some "Oil of Rohloff" on my chain and I will test it in the next days/ weeks. It is supposed to be an excellent wet lube.

After much reading on chain lube for wet weather I would see the summary as follows:
- Wet lube: works well, last long but attracts dirt/ grit etc...
- Dry lube: works well, last not as long as the wet lube but doesn't attract dirt/ grit etc...

So I suppose it depends on how often you are ready to clean/ lube your chain (for me it is ok after every ride to clean/ lube it) and on how much dirt/ grit etc.. will come on your chain (that will depends in the amount of dirt/ grit etc... on the roads and if you have full fenders/ mudguards or not). The works is definitely the dirt/ grit etc... coming from the front wheel directly into the chain on the crankset.

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nickf
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by nickf

istigatrice wrote:NixFrixShun


This stuff for everything. Threw all my other lubes in the bin.

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

Rock N Roll holy cow. I survives wet rides quite well. It whats on my daily commuter bike. I relube infrequently maybe every 500km.

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

I think the problem with RnR Gold/Extreme lubes is the application process. It's pretty wasteful, especially for a lube that contains PTFE. I like that it runs very dry and very clean if you wipe the excess thoroughly, but even in perfect conditions you end up using a large volume of lube than anything else.

I would rather run Dumonde Tech Pro X in the wet because you can easily apply just one tiny drop per roller, then wipe away the excess. It's more viscous than RnR when applied, so it's easy to control the flow. It also lasts a bit longer, but runs a tiny bit dirtier.

What I found with Squirt is that even cold water plus friction/heat from riding turns the wax coating back into a liquid almost immediately. It's not good in even mildly rainy conditions, but maybe fine for riding mist/fog/morning-dew type stuff.

Smoove may be a bit better, but I have not gone on a truly wet ride. The difference between Smoove and Squirt is reapplication. Smoove never hardens enough to really have all of the external wax ablate off, so it gets a bit dirtier. It's recommended that you wipe the chain with degreaser or warm soapy water before reapplying...which is an okay trade-off if it lasts a few hundred miles in rainy conditions.

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