Gerry Hull

So, the perfect 12/24 chain lube. Of the products I have blindly experimented with, the best results I've obtained were with a 50/50 mix of Dumonde Tech BCL and Liquid Grease. It stayed on for the duration of a 220 mile ride, attracted very little dirt (i wiped the outside of the chain bone-dry at the start) at the end, shifting was still very good, a slight increase in noise but not too much.

Ive heard you can obtain similar results with a product called Chain-L, which like Dumonde Tech also has a bit of a cult following, but I don't have access to it around here.

Anyway, I'd like to find something even better than either. I devised a couple of kitchen sink methods for testing basic lubrican qualities like film strength and water resistance which, while they cannot replicate real-life conditions, could be useful for pointing the way to something that might work.

The only thing I can find that could supersede the Dumonde products is a synthetic racing oil additive made by a company called hyperlube. It is a synthetic polymer ester that is similar to the basic component of Liquid Grease, only it is of even higher viscosity. Scores are outstanding on my kitchen sink film strength test, and five minutes of agitating the chain in soap and hot water will simply not get the stuff off.

The primary difficulty is in application. The stuff has to be warmed up for it to penetrate well, and then wiping the excess off can take a bit of time. I doubt most people would have the patience for it. However, if youre a distance junkie, an oil that stays where its supposed to (inside the rollers) and lets your drivetrain run quietly as falling snow even after 300 plus miles, even if you get rained on, might be worth the trouble.

I'm going to try it out this weekend at the Sebring 12hr, if possible i'll take photos of the drivetrain before and after to see how much dirt it attracts. Presuming that I will finish (which is likely, but certainly not guaranteed as Ive only been training indoors), I'll follow up with how well it worked, so if youre into this kind of obsessive stuff you can check back.

Good luck to all you folks headed down there. The weather will be gorgeous. For this event I purchased a blindingly loud pair of shorts that I am trying to gather the nerve to wear.

Gerry Hull

Ps- i got a pm which Im sorry i couldnt reply to as I dont have the reqd number of posts to be able to do that. If I wear these shorts you will have absolutely no trouble identifying me.