Mountain Biking - best chain lube?

Hi all,

What is the best chain lube for hot, dry
and dusty singletrack riding?

Thanks in advance!

For dry conditions, I'd stay away from any wet lube. The dust will stick to the wet stuff like metal shavings to a magnet. Finish Line's KryTech or White Lightning are both good. I use the White Lightning exclusively.

Good Luck
L8R G8R:D

Pedros Ice Wax is another good one for the dry.

Tried the Pedro's, Pretty good stuff, but goes on THICK. Make sure you warm up the bottle to get it to run a little bit better.

Prolink is my preferred drop now ! It was finishlines teflon + for awhile though.

Hi Naddy and welcome to the forums :)

I'm currently using WD40 on my chain, then wipe off any excess.

Seems to work for me!

Rich

Rich ma'man please don't use wd-40 it's great for starting wet engines, getting into rusted nuts and bolts,etc ...but lousy on chains !! it's viscosity is to thin to protect the insides of your chains rollers and pins....trust me on this ..get yo'self a purpose lube that was designed to go on your chain.:thumbup:

Thanks Buddy,

I bow to your superior lube knowledge...urm...how about GT 85??

hahahaha...only joking...I'll have a butchers at the LBS and pick something up tonight.

Cheers

Rich :)

I use Pedro's Syn lube, and it smells.But it was all my LBS had at the time.

teflon impregnated wax. melt, soak chain, remove, let dry.

Phil wood's oil is good in wet wether

Rich,(an anyone else doing the same) in an effort to reinforce Buddy's advice. WD-40 is a solvent, just read the can! It is not a lubricant! It will act as a lubricant only as long as it is still wet. Once it dries, it's done!

Please for the sake of your chain use some type of bicycle specific LUBRICANT! There are a ton to choose from, any is better than a SOLVENT. My roadie friend swears by Tri-Flow. I used it on my Mtn Bike and ended up with a huge mess! I then tried a wet lube from Schwinn, (free in a shwag bag from a race) it worked pretty well in wet conditions. I've also tried Finish Line's Cross Country. Any are good wet lubes.

But for my Mtn Bike, I still like the White Lightning! (But not the Race Day Version)

Almost forgot, before you put any other lube on your chain, hit it with a degreaser to remove any remaining WD-40. Any remnants will break down and degrade your new lube! I clean my chain after a ride, let it dry overnight and then lube it the next day! So far, it works great!

Good Luck! L8R G8R:D

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
Tried the Pedro's, Pretty good stuff, but goes on THICK. Make sure you warm up the bottle to get it to run a little bit better.
I agree, Pedro's is too thick, doesn't seem to penetrate very well. Been using White Lightening for years and swear by it. Once in a while I try something else and I always go back.

I've been spraying everything with a can of multi-lube (can't remember the brand) after every 50 miles. Is this likely to be a bad thing?

How long does a chain generally last with mainly road (up & downhill) and a little off-road (loose gravel or packed earth mainly)?

Richard

Stay away from spray lubes. You waste more than you get on the chain, plus inevitably you end up lubing your rim which is very bad for your health. :)

I'll give another vote for Pedros Ice Wax. I've been using it for a while and it seems pretty good. But I'm not too picky about that kind of stuff.

Road or single track, Rock "N" Roll rules.
http://www.rocklube.com/about.html

Personally, I like White Lightening or Pedros SYN. I clean my chain after a few rides with a park tools chain cleaning machine. The I use a can of compressed air to blow out th remaining cleaner and dry the chain, then I apply the lube.

Hi Rick!

I like your avitar mate!

Rich

I got this really great stuff - I think it's called G85 or something from my LBS. I bought it on their recommendation (their "house brand").

And it smells really good so you get high while you are driving :)

(j/k)

Red and Black Can? Yep, that's GT 85. Pretty good stuff as an all around lube. I still prefer a chain specific lube though. I like the wax based stuff, because the chains tend to stay cleaner.

L8R G8R

I started using White Lightning about six months ago and now can't imagine using anything else.

The chain seems to sound a lot happier and maintenance is a lot cleaner to deal with.

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
I still prefer a chain specific lube though. I like the wax based stuff, because the chains tend to stay cleaner.

L8R G8R

hhmm, like which ones?

White Lightening is wax based isn't it? What I hate the some of the lube on my chain gets on the der. pulley, and then the pulley gets plugged up like a soldier that eats and MRE without water.