She says I'm doing this lube thing all wrong

burnthesheep

Now that I've got your attention.......

I've read and watched enough youtube videos to be through with the whole bit. So decided to try a topic covered here 100 times or more.

I bought the blue Muc Off lube a while back. I am not liking my clean-up regimen for this stuff. I ride 60 to 120 miles a week. I don't consider that "extreme" at all.

It is summer in the US with good weather. I thoroughly cleaned the chain, wheels, crank rings, etc.. before the last application. I applied per all the numerous videos/how to's and wiped away the excess.

Now, fast forward that one week and 120 miles. I can understand wiping off some buildup on the chain. Maybe another jockey wheel cleanup every 250 miles or so.

I'm getting tons of black gunk on the jockey wheels in short order time. It doesn't seem right to have that much buildup so quickly.

Is this not noticed by all the fancy god-like pro team mechanics whose bikes get a nice bath after every ride?

I'm open to a product recommendation that doesn't turn to mash paste on the jockey wheels after 100 to 120 miles of use.

FWIW, when I apply and remove the excess I rotate in reverse while allowing the tip of the bottle to drop onto the rollers inside. Then a few loops around without the rag, then a rag to remove excess.

mamba80

i use a light weight synthetic car oil say a 5-30w £12 for litre that will last forever.

You are using too much and lubing too often if your rides are in the dry, as your GF would say, too much lube is sometimes just as bad as not enough.

sungod

it depends on conditions where you are riding, it may not be as simply as the lube...

in uk in spring/summer, there can be times where there's stuff that falls off the trees that forms sticky cack all over the drivetrain, a single ride is enough, jockey wheels and rd cage get completely clogged

in lanzarote there's dust from the lava, it's extremely fine, it turns the drivetrain black with just a few days riding, it's also attracted to any magnet, the one for my srm furs up fast with the stuff, but it gets on everything else too, frame, wheels, clothes

maybe the area you are in has something similar?

fwiw i use syn lube, barring the above, it generally stays clean for a few weeks

webboo

According to Malcom? At thecycleclinic on the chain worn out in less than a 1000 miles thread you can use lubes that never cause your chain to get gunked or dirty.

burnthesheep

Perhaps you are correct, maybe there is a lot more making onto the chain/lube than I would assume for a ride.

It's just that the cleanup seems really bad. De-greaser of a more responsible kind (environmentally) seems to do well for the chain, crank, cassette. But the jockey wheels being made of some kind of other plastic or something seem to not accept the degreaser and get rid of the "gunk" or "mash".

I know, cry me a river. It almost makes me want to spend extra money to have TWO chain/cassette combos. Time to clean? Pop open the quick-link and remove the chain and cassette, replace with clean parts. Then clean those parts at my convenience in a bucket.

6wheels

You could try aluminium jockey wheels, not that expensive but may be noisier.

JeremyIFisher

The blue Muc Off is wet lube.

You will get black gunk regardless and if you are using wet lube needing a clean every 100 miles or so sounds right. Wet lube is intentionally made to be much stickier than dry lube. This means that it clings to the chain and works a lot better in poorer weather but also gets gunky a lot faster.

Try using dry lube if you are cycling in good weather.

Personally, I also find that using a cleaning brush and a chain cleaning tool and getting everything spotlessly clean before lubing the chain makes it stay cleaner for longer.