Road Cycling - Couple of questions??

I finally got around to cleaning and lubing my chain the other day. Well my question has to do with the lube I used(Pedros Ice Wax). The directions say i have to apply every day i ride. And it seems that during my second ride the chain didnt feel very lubed and my bike was making a lot of noise. Is there a better lube that i dont have to put on every day?? or maybe i just dont know what I am doing.....

Second question has been on my mind since i bought the bike, it has to do with the wheels(Alex ATX-330, 700c, alloy double wall, machined sidewalls)front has 16 spokes rear has 20. Well i weigh close to 200lbs(finally on the under side!!) Am i to big for these wheels? My LBS didn't say aything about them, so i have no clue. If ya dont recognize the wheels they come on this bike, so i guess they are stock : http://www.specialized.com/SBCBkModel.jsp?san=03AllezElite27&bl=road&my=2003

Bumpage, want my questions answered !!! :mad:

J/K :D (to the mad face part)

I haven't tried Pedro's Ice Wax. Why not try a "liquid" lubricant like Pedro's Extra Dry lube or White Lightning or ProLink?


The low spoke count shouldn't be a problem. When I bought my Litespeed it came with Rolf Vector wheels, 18 spokes. At the time I weighed about 205.
I wasn't entirely pleased with the ride so a few months later I bought a set of Mavic Open Pro 32 spoke wheels. Much nicer ride. :thumbup:

If you don't want to apply lube near to everyday, then don't use Pedro's Ice Wax. You're not doing anything wrong. The stuff seriously needs to be applied way too often. It is the only lube I've ever used that I've had that problem with it. I think anything else would work better for you.

Try Prolink. Some say it has a strong smell and I would have to agree. Not a problem if you are not going to sleep with your bike (there are better bed partners out there). Great lube and only needs to be applied every few weeks if you ride lots of miles. I also use it on all moving parts and shoe cleats (Speedplay). Put on and let set 12 plus hours, i.e., the night before you ride.

I've been a White Lightening man for years now. Good stuff, as far as I'm concerned. And, while there are wheels that will cave under riders above 200 pounds, (though, much like a unicorn, I've never seen one), the biggest thing I notice on wheels is stiffness. Not saying you couldn't break a wheel if you were too heavy for it according to the manufacturer, but I doubt your bike would have any such problems. If you feel that the wheels are too flexy, though, look for something else. A custom set from your LBS wheel guru is the way to go.

Or try one of the oil based lubes. ice Wax got me in the habit of cleaning the chain after every ride. I can do it in about a minute now. Not fancy, but rides smooth. So while I use Prolink, I still clean so the chain will have that liquid smoothness. I used to use Finish Line, but got tired of oil getting on things.
But the Finish Line oils do hang around for a while. We just had a number of threads on the big guy/little wheel subject. Isn't that a aero rim? Aero rims are quite strong.

I have to agree with HOG-I. Prolink is the best I've found out there. Lasts a long time and does a great job. Don't worry about the smell - it doesn't last long and only the riders behind you will smell it. :p