Originally Posted by cyccommute

Sorry but they are all wrong. The material that is used for the original...and according to many, perfect... chain lubricant was placed there using a solvent that penetrated the chain and then evaporated to leave the lubricant behind. That's just how most dry lubricants work. Wet lubes are usually thinned with some solvent too. The wet lubricants are less viscous than the original (and perfect) lubricant.

I clean my chains before use for the very reason you want to...to avoid attracting grit that will grind the chain to bits. The original (and perfect) lubricant is too sticky to avoid picking up visible chunks of dirt. If you can see the grit, there's smaller grit that is grinding away at the inside of the chain.

The original lubricant is only going to last a few hundred miles anyway. At some point, you are going to have to add lubrication. As soon as you add that lubricant...if it is going to get into the insides of the chain...you are going to carry stuff from the outside further into the chain. You are also going to replace the original lubricant with something else. The original lubricant isn't going to be so original nor so perfect anymore. And all you've gained (possibly) a few hundred miles. You've not gained that if you carry crap deeper into the chain.