Pro Team Lubes

meursault

What do they use?

Whatever they are sponsored or supplied with?

ddraver

Basically. Sky use MucOff....that's all I know

(use whatever you find works for you best/is sold by your LBS)

buckmulligan

I strongly suspect this is one of those cases where the teams use whatever they want, regardless of who their official lube sponsor is. I also suspect that they'll keep it a closely guarded secret, much like tyre pressures. The only cases I've seen reported over the years are those using the wax-plus-moly-powder method, because it's so visually obvious and something vaguely interesting to waffle on about for a paragraph or two.

Having said that, with most of the bike wrenching going on in plain sight at big races, perhaps someone else can shed light on what's actually being used?

ddraver

Jesus Christ are there conspiracies about Chain Lubes now?

Lemme guess, Froome's is evil kitten killing, world ending super cheating poison but Bertie's is pure eco-nectar?

fenix

For all that it matters I'm sure they just stick with their free stuff.

cooldad

I believe this is the lube of choice for pro teams.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ann-Summers-Bo ... B0151QQ3YO

cooldad

ps. On the chain, obviously.

meursault

cooldad wrote:

I believe this is the lube of choice for pro teams.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ann-Summers-Bo ... B0151QQ3YO

I ain't clicking that while at work.

meursault

ddraver wrote:

Basically. Sky use MucOff....that's all I know

(use whatever you find works for you best/is sold by your LBS)

I've used mucoff, juice wax and another one I can't remember. They all seem to do the same thing. Just buy any?

imatfaal

meursault wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Basically. Sky use MucOff....that's all I know

(use whatever you find works for you best/is sold by your LBS)

I've used mucoff, juice wax and another one I can't remember. They all seem to do the same thing. Just buy any?

Biggest choice is wet-weather lube - muc-off is great but leaves a huge amount of residue on chain, cassette, and jockey wheels, conversely the oilier sorts of wet-weather lubes can completely wash off if you need to go through much standing water.

Dorset_Boy

I believe a lot of the teams only use dry lube, no matter what the weather due to the residue left by wet lubes, coupled with the fact they clean and re-lube pretty much every day.
Squirt seems popular amongst those on the buying advice forum.... :shock:
It is good!

cooldad

I only use Squirt, on mountain bikes, in all weather. Just apply a bit more often in horrible weather.

Just Google Squirt lube.

meursault wrote:

cooldad wrote:

I believe this is the lube of choice for pro teams.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ann-Summers-Bo ... B0151QQ3YO

I ain't clicking that while at work.

cooldad

Squirt is legit...

ddraver

+1 for a squirt on the MTB

liamcahill1

cooldad wrote:

I believe this is the lube of choice for pro teams.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ann-Summers-Bo ... B0151QQ3YO

I so nearly clicked on this at work!

Squirt lube is the best I`ve used and I got that from Aaron Schooler (former CX pro). Gotta put it on a pristine chain though...

Crozza

ddraver wrote:

Jesus Christ are there conspiracies about Chain Lubes now?

Lemme guess, Froome's is evil kitten killing, world ending super cheating poison but Bertie's is pure eco-nectar?

not a million miles away: http://www.bikeradar.com/us/gear/articl ... one-22518/

Even the chain isn't ignored: after a fresh and through cleaning, Munoz first applies Sapim's mid-weight Race Oil, then seals it in with a light coat of grease. The result is one of the silkiest drivetrains we've ever encountered, and one needs no precision instrumentation to discern the significant improvement over a stock setup.

buckmulligan

Crozza wrote:

not a million miles away: http://www.bikeradar.com/us/gear/articl ... one-22518/

Even the chain isn't ignored: after a fresh and through cleaning, Munoz first applies Sapim's mid-weight Race Oil, then seals it in with a light coat of grease. The result is one of the silkiest drivetrains we've ever encountered, and one needs no precision instrumentation to discern the significant improvement over a stock setup.

Haha, "Even the chain isn't ignored..." as though anyone else would hardly give it a second glance. It's not as though it's the part of the bike with the most moving parts and responsible for delivering all the power from your legs to the wheels or anything... :roll:

Interesting article though, I wonder if James Huang actually rode that bike.

burnthesheep

So far, not a huge fan of the Mucoff myself. LBS had it on sale and I tried it.

A big issue here is that pro teams clean those bikes thoroughly after every stage. Then they reapply the lube. That's why the cassettes are so clean looking despite a lubed drivetrain. How many local road riders have shiny cassettes all the time?

I don't have time for that. The Mucoff "Team Sky" stuff is great on a perfectly clean bike. But it gets pretty tacky in terms of picking up junk in it after some miles and days. Mere mortals don't have teams to clean their bikes daily and have a shiny and pretty drivetrain with perfect lube amounts.

Since I can't do a full drivetrain wash all the time like they do, my rag wipe and reapply inevitably means more lube than they usually run. This means also it builds up on idlers and other areas as a tacky goop.

It doesn't help that my Propel has white chainstays and seat stays. Always lube smudges somewhere.

fenix

GT85 and a rag to apply/wipe off is my go to.
You have to do it each week but what you don't want is thick black grinding paste on the chain.

bobmcstuff

I use a really cost ineffective method of essentially soaking my drivechain in WD40 to lift the black cr@p. I do this once every two months though which is probably why it is such a ballache

Matthewfalle

Wasn't Muc Off selling some chain lube at like £40 a bottle because it was sooner dooper nano biological technology or something?

And someone else was taking a normal KMC chain, soaking it something then selling them for a ton, but the sooner dooper coating only lasted 100 miles or something?

One born every .........

tim000

burnthesheep wrote:

A big issue here is that pro teams clean those bikes thoroughly after every stage. Then they reapply the lube. That's why the cassettes are so clean looking despite a lubed drivetrain. How many local road riders have shiny cassettes all the time?

doesn't everyone :oops:

imatfaal

Couple of sheets of plywood to shield bearings and Karcher powerwasher on full blast - run chain along underneath nozzle for about ten revolutions (big ring and big gear to tension chain fully). Do NOT forget to lube afterwards as nothing is left in or on the chain

imatfaal

Matthewfalle wrote:

Wasn't Muc Off selling some chain lube at like £40 a bottle because it was sooner dooper nano biological technology or something?

And someone else was taking a normal KMC chain, soaking it something then selling them for a ton, but the sooner dooper coating only lasted 100 miles or something?

One born every .........

I think Muc-Off were trading off the mad chain prep they did for Brad Wiggins hour record (cos of course the mamil on a local tt needs that sort of performance)



Lube lasts for 400 dry km - so 20-25p per km in Lube!

thegreatdivide

Morgan Blue is the most popular lube and bike cleaning brand in the peloton:

Movistar
Quick Step
Sun Web
Lotto
Katusha
DD
AG2R
FDJ

http://www.morganblue.net/

ddraver

I can used a few of their bits. Seems to work well.

Agree with the MucOff Sky lube though. Very good but only for one ride only

meursault

Trialling the Morgan Blue.

Very impressed so far, just put a light coating on my Synapse and Boardman Team last week, as I had not cleaned bike properly. Did these rides

https://www.strava.com/activities/1148049683

https://www.strava.com/activities/1144678894

https://www.strava.com/activities/1143523959

Plus usual commutes, and not a squeak out of place. Despite variable weather conditions.

Lube has a slightly thicker feel, but not gloopy, than Mucoff and Juicelubes. Says on bottle to apply more for wet than you would for dry, which seems sensible. Think I will stick with it.