Dry vs. wet lube

scotthunter

Question: If I am using a good quality wet chain lube, such as Muc-Off Hydrodynamic, and wash / degrease my bike / chain once a week, are there any benefits of switching to dry lube in the summer? Is there any improvement in drivetrain efficiency when switching to wax based lubes, assuming your chain hasn't been clogged up with dirt from using an oil based lube?

I use my nice bike for commuting as well as for weekend leisure so I'm debating just keeping the wet lube on as our summer weather can be so unpredictable.

meursault

Lot of subjectivity, hard to compare various choices that are measurable.

Muc-off generally isn't one of the best brands. Have a research what pro team mechanics use (possible Morgan Blue) and go with that.

rafletcher

IME dry lubes always leave you with a squeaky chain in relatively short order. Stay with a decant wet lube.

joey54321

They mentioned this on the marginals gain podcast a while ago, the short of it was that don't bother with a dry lube, it just doesn't stay on the chain long enough.

keef66

I dabbled with a couple of wax based dry lubes. Initially I liked the fact the wax flaked off taking the dirt with it. Then I realised some of it was ending up on the rear brake track. Also found it needed reapplication too frequently (and leaving to dry) and if it rained the chain started squeaking really fast.

Never tried anything claiming to be teflon or ceramic, whatever they are.

Muc-Off wet lube I found to be a sticky mess regardless of care in application. Nice smell though..

These days I use a thin 3-in-1 type oil, sparingly applied and the excess wiped off. Just lube / wipe more often in the wet / winter.

Of the bike specific ones, Prolink ProGold, Morgan Blue, Rock n roll seem to be frequently mentioned on here

Matthewfalle

wet lube here - black bottle with green lid on. can't remember what its called but its good.

degrease and clean chain and cassette/chainrings once a weel, reapply. job jobbed.

#alllubedup

imposter2.0

'dry' and 'lube' are incompatible terms...

scotthunter

meursault wrote:

Lot of subjectivity, hard to compare various choices that are measurable.

Muc-off generally isn't one of the best brands. Have a research what pro team mechanics use (possible Morgan Blue) and go with that.

I thought Team Sky used Muc Off Hydrodynamic as it says so on the bottle?

meursault

scotthunter wrote:

meursault wrote:

Lot of subjectivity, hard to compare various choices that are measurable.

Muc-off generally isn't one of the best brands. Have a research what pro team mechanics use (possible Morgan Blue) and go with that.

I thought Team Sky used Muc Off Hydrodynamic as it says so on the bottle?

Possibly, but more like a sponsor thing. You'd probably need to get up close on a race day, to see what they actually use.

lettingthedaysgoby

TF2 ceramic wet lube is my favourite. It somehow makes my drivetrain feel a lot smoother than others I’ve tried, although I’m fully prepared to admit there’s likely a fair degree of placebo effect going on.

I do like the Muc-Off dry ceramic one too, but it really doesn’t last long so gets rather expensive.

Matthewfalle

scotthunter wrote:

meursault wrote:

Lot of subjectivity, hard to compare various choices that are measurable.

Muc-off generally isn't one of the best brands. Have a research what pro team mechanics use (possible Morgan Blue) and go with that.

I thought Team Sky used Muc Off Hydrodynamic as it says so on the bottle?

is that a reason to buy or not buy it?

#lube

shirley_basso

I use some organic one which is made from natural oils all year around.

Thin enough not to junk up, thick enough to survive a little bad weather.

I am genuinely surprised the details people go into on chain lube.

david7m

Cleaned chain and applied finish line ceramic wet lube tonight (first time as bike a month old). One ride in the dry and it's black! Going to clean it off and try something else.

shirley_basso

Why does it matter?

david7m

Shirley Basso wrote:

Why does it matter?

I'll have it all over my clothes/ around the house

shirley_basso

Why are you touching the chain with your clothes and why are you dribbling it around the house?

david7m

Shirley Basso wrote:

Why are you touching the chain with your clothes and why are you dribbling it around the house?

I have no idea :shock:

imposter2.0

david7m wrote:

Cleaned chain and applied finish line ceramic wet lube tonight (first time as bike a month old). One ride in the dry and it's black! Going to clean it off and try something else.

By all means do that, if you want to waste your money. If you want to avoid the chain going black, simply degrease the chain, run it dry and resign yourself to buying a new chain every few weeks.

Alternatively, accept that any wet lube is going to produce contaminants (ie the black stuff being lifted out of the rollers by the movement of the chain), which is a sign that the lube is doing its job. If you don't like the black stuff, just wipe it off with a rag. After a few rides - and a few wipes - you will need to re-apply some more lube and start the process all over again.

The key to a good lube is how well it lubricates the chain and contributes to a decent chain life - not what it looks like on the chain after one ride.

surfercyclist

If riding in the dry try Squirt, it's a wax lube and is great. Chain needs to be completely grease free and clean before application. Doesn't go black, super smooth gear changing and squeak free. When dry needs reapplying every 150-200miles and if a wet ride then wipe chain down and reapply after. Easy, clean, environmentally sound and cheap. Sorted.

david7m

Imposter wrote:

david7m wrote:

Cleaned chain and applied finish line ceramic wet lube tonight (first time as bike a month old). One ride in the dry and it's black! Going to clean it off and try something else.

By all means do that, if you want to waste your money. If you want to avoid the chain going black, simply degrease the chain, run it dry and resign yourself to buying a new chain every few weeks.

Alternatively, accept that any wet lube is going to produce contaminants (ie the black stuff being lifted out of the rollers by the movement of the chain), which is a sign that the lube is doing its job. If you don't like the black stuff, just wipe it off with a rag. After a few rides - and a few wipes - you will need to re-apply some more lube and start the process all over again.

The key to a good lube is how well it lubricates the chain and contributes to a decent chain life - not what it looks like on the chain after one ride.

I liked how the factory/ bike shop stuff kept the chain looking new rather than like a shoe lace, probably a can of worms though vs aftermarket products.

Alejandrosdog

Wet lube works and sits on the chain when the weathers bad.

I don’t like the mess it makes so I’ve been trying some Fenwicks stuff which seems ok. I’m quite happy to clean the whole bike after a bad weather ride and degrease / reapply.

dannbodge

I use Silca NFS, it's designed for both wet and dry conditions.

It washes off easily with a degreaser but stays on with just water, doesn't turn the chain black either.

scotthunter

https://road.cc/content/review/154663-m ... namic-lube

I have been using the normal
Muc Off wet lube but ordered a bottle of this to see if it’s any better. Didn’t pay £16 though, got it for £10 from Tredz.

First.Aspect

In answer to the OP - no, none.

What always strikes me about these threads is the left field recommendations. "You should try Albert's White Chocolate Lube. It is made from recycled ice magic and its awesome. Flakes off just like ice magic."

imposter2.0

First Aspect wrote:

In answer to the OP - no, none.

What always strikes me about these threads is the left field recommendations. "You should try Albert's White Chocolate Lube. It is made from recycled ice magic and its awesome. Flakes off just like ice magic."

Just googled it - I can't find it on sale anywhere...

First.Aspect

Imposter wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

In answer to the OP - no, none.

What always strikes me about these threads is the left field recommendations. "You should try Albert's White Chocolate Lube. It is made from recycled ice magic and its awesome. Flakes off just like ice magic."

Just googled it - I can't find it on sale anywhere...

You didn't Google that from a work computer did you?

imposter2.0

First Aspect wrote:

Imposter wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

In answer to the OP - no, none.

What always strikes me about these threads is the left field recommendations. "You should try Albert's White Chocolate Lube. It is made from recycled ice magic and its awesome. Flakes off just like ice magic."

Just googled it - I can't find it on sale anywhere...

You didn't Google that from a work computer did you?

I actually didn't google it at all - I was just being all banterish n stuff. Is it not something that should be googled?

First.Aspect

Imposter wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

Imposter wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

In answer to the OP - no, none.

What always strikes me about these threads is the left field recommendations. "You should try Albert's White Chocolate Lube. It is made from recycled ice magic and its awesome. Flakes off just like ice magic."

Just googled it - I can't find it on sale anywhere...

You didn't Google that from a work computer did you?

I actually didn't google it at all - I was just being all banterish n stuff. Is it not something that should be googled?

Give it a try.

imposter2.0

No, I'm scared now...

Alejandrosdog

First Aspect wrote:

Imposter wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

Imposter wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

In answer to the OP - no, none.

What always strikes me about these threads is the left field recommendations. "You should try Albert's White Chocolate Lube. It is made from recycled ice magic and its awesome. Flakes off just like ice magic."

Just googled it - I can't find it on sale anywhere...

You didn't Google that from a work computer did you?

I actually didn't google it at all - I was just being all banterish n stuff. Is it not something that should be googled?

Give it a try.

Duck duck go have me at number three

Edible body paint and s x lube from somewhere called Ann summers

neilr4

I'm very fussy about my drivetrain being clean, a typical bike clean could take 1 1/2 to 2 hours with chain being totally degreased, cassette removed and degreased, rinsed, dried and everything lubed. With commuting to work 4 days a week if I didn't spend time at the weekend cleaning and maintaining everything then parts would rapidly start to wear.

I've tried 90% of all lubes and forms of lubrication on the market, from wet, dry, ceramic etc. Most were good at something be it wet weather, dry weather but there was always a trade off!!

Then I came across this video on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBKOW43p7ME&t=13s

Took a bit of work to get set up, parrafin oil from internet etc. but I now clean my bike once a month (depending of course on the weather) and put a freshly waxed chain on. If I've ridden a few times in the rain I will swap the chain over sooner, sometimes after one week but no cleaning of the cassette or chainrings is required. I used to apply wax solution mixed with xylene between swap overs but it causes the jockey wheels to get covered in wax which then needs to be cleaned, just have 2 chains (3 is better) and clean and wax them when required. I usually get 2 months out of 3 chains and it takes maybe 1 hour to clean and wax them.

The difference is unreal..... at first I spent a fraction of the time I used to spend on cleaning and maintenance which was great but I recently retired one of my KMC EL chains that I had purchased in 2016 a month before I rode La Marmotte, I estimate that I got 15,000km from the chain. I don't mind having to replace a chain every year as they are not an expensive item but I check them every couple of months for wear, as soon as a chain stretches to 0.75mm it's disgarded. That way the cassette never needs replacing.

The wax lubricates the chain on the inside because it's hot when it gets in which is where the main friction takes place and causes the most wear which causes the chain to stretch and thus wear the cassette cogs and front chainrings. On the outside surface where the chain comes into contact with the cassette and chainrings this is less important though the chain shouldn't become dry on the outside. No dirt sticks to the drivetrain anymore as to cause corrosion.

It certainly takes the headache out of drivetrain maintenance and significantly reduces the cost of replacing parts. Most important is that I don't waste money on expensive lubes where 80% gets wiped off with a rag.