I just went to lube my new chain and my bottle of White Lighting Chain Lube has dried up. Should I stay with the White Lightning or is there a better product?

Thanks

A good bike lube is the one you use and a bad bike lube is just about anything that isn't a bike lube. Essentially you could have another discussion on this but it has been done to death for decades. I like a wax lubricant but beyond that they are all probably pretty decent and in the end I would either use what you use or try something new and just do your own thing.

Lube your chain regularly. Try out different lubes and find out what you like using.

I don't care to, but you might like waxing your chain. Among the waxers, they sometimes get into a big hullabaloo about with what and how to wax a chain properly. But not quite as bad as how this thread might, like other chain lube threads might wind up.

i use a spray Chain specific wax product. I buy the Bigger spray can, then modulate the spray rate as i apply it..... you may find this drip container easier to use.
*** remember to shield the rim when using this or any spray product.***
there is no need to coat the sprockets.

https://www.motosport.com/maxima-bik...rafilm?variant

This is the best website for chain lube reviews

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/

Spoiler: White Lightning is one of the worst performing commercial lubes on the market in these tests.

Hamblini would beg to differ. The fact that the bench test is no predictor of real world application is a very good clue that this isn’t the best website for chain lube reviews.

The chart in this article would also beg to differ. While White Lightning Epic Ride is particularly bad, White Lightning Clean Ride and White Lightning Wet Ride are right in the middle of a very narrow band of rather small differences in wattage loss measurements. The entire range of wattage loss is from about 4.9 W to about 9W with the vast majority of all chain lubricants falling within 5 to 7W difference. We don’t know what the error in the measurement is so it would be very difficult to conclusively say which lubricants is really all that superior.

For the most part, it doesn’t matter what is used. Chains are efficient. Chains wear out for various reasons and no one lubricant is going to make much of a difference. White Lightning Clean Ride is just as efficacious as Triflow or, for that matter, olive oil. It’s just cleaner than oils and easier to apply than hot wax.

You're probably surprised to find that this topic has been discussed just a few times, certainly no more than 1million.

Search is your friend and it's right there to use. Hint: "lube"

Bike Forums - Search Results

But I'll summarize for you: any lube is better than no lube. The difference between the "best" lube and the "worst" has been measured, but is meaningless to 99.9% of riders, or maybe more.

ZeroFriction's testing is the best available to the bicycle consumer at present. Is it perfect? Nope. But does he have an objective, systematic chain wear system in place to compare lubrication options? Sure does. I'll add that he has no true axe to grind or skin in the game. Sure, he sells the high-performing products he tests, but he isn't a manufacturer or exclusive provider of any product.

Funny how exactly ZERO chain lubrication companies have done what Adam at ZFC is doing. If someone wants to develop a good product, wouldn't they want to develop an objective testing apparatus to help achieve that goal? Seems to me they would. And if they did and they discover a fantastic product, it seems that they'd want to share their data with others. In other words, their testing results would be fantastic advertising.

I think that because chain lubes have been absolute garbage for the last 50 years. Objective testing would quickly reveal just how bad wet lubes are overall. So why publish this fact when you're in the lube business and your product isn't great? Plus, everyone's happy shilling the latest product and making money. And the bike industry is VERY happy knowing that the lubes on the market ensure ample, repeat customers for bicycle components defined as "consumable." Chain, cassette and chain ring sales will remain very strong as long as people are using lubes that last maybe 1,000 miles off road.

Immersion wax has proven to be head and shoulders above everything else when it comes to performance and chain longevity. Performance in dry, dusty, abrasive conditions is simply amazing. What normally would require mid-ride relubing with traditional lubes, translates to 4-10 rides without any cleaning or relubrication. The fact that high-grade wax does not create abrasive paste is the key to its performance advantages.

Stating that he doesn’t have an axe to grind nor skin in the game belies the fact that ZeroFriction sells products. Some of them appear to be sold at a significant markup. For example, 520g of Speed Wax can be had for around $30 from various places. ZeroFriction sells the same amount for $70. I’m not sure if there is a USD vs AUSD thing going on but if the price is in US dollars, that’s a lot of markup.

As to the testing, read the Hamblini article. I’m not a follower of Hamblini and I find him to be rather annoying most of the time. But I noticed several flaws in the ZeroFriction data long before I read Hamblini’s article. Most particularly, real world testing of wax doesn’t stand up to the bench test data. In real world testing, wax under performs by 2 to 3 times less. ZeroFriction extrapolates from bench tests that wax can make a chain last in the range of 25,000km (15,000 miles). Divide that by 3 and you end up with 8000km (5000 miles) which is just about what you get with any lubricant.

Can you say with certainty that no one else is testing lubricants? Maybe they are doing the tests but just not publishing the reports. Friction Facts did testing as an independent lab back in the teens for various corporations . That’s where the chart I linked to came from. Ceramic Speed obtained them in 2016 and appears to continue to do testing for companies. The Friction Facts chart showed that there really isn’t much advantage to any lubricant.

Bicycle lubricants don’t need to be much more than they have been since 3-in-One oil was introduced 1894 as one of the first…if not the first…bicycle chain lubricants. There is no magic elixir that performs far better than any other magic elixir…including wax. Frankly, people give ZeroFriction too much credit. It is not “objective”. If it were, it would look at its bench data that says a chain will last 25,000 km and it’s real world testing that says chain last 8000km and ask “what is the problem here?” If real world says one thing and bench testing says another, you go with the real world and redo your experiment.

That is just a ridiculous claim. Wax lasts about the same as oil, although for very different reasons. Wax is cleaner and I’m no fan of oil but it is not vastly superior. A chain is only going to last a certain amount of time and no lubricant is going to make it last any longer than any other lubricant.

I cannot personally attest to White Lightning, however I gather that it has a liquid "carrier" that is designed to evaporate, leaving a "dry" lube residue behind that will not attract contaminants like an oil. If it did that in the bottle, it would be good if you can determine the liquid carrier if much lower cost than replacement, add, and shake the lube back into solution, if it will do so.

I will be going back to melt-wax lube this year, once I get a couple new chains and cassette. I used to use that on my road bike for cleanliness, then went to oils, thinking they were better. But it is absolutely true that any oil keeps the fine steel powder in solution which wears the chain, this is attested by dipping a magnet in the chain cleaning solvent, it will remove magnetic black sludge. ZFC tests show that even simple candle wax is a superior lube for durability, with waxes containing PTFE powder and moly- or tungsten-disulfide even better. Both allow any metal powder from wear to drop away. However there is now an argument about not using PTFE ("Teflon") as it makes its way into the environment and everything, including fish, and us.

On the topic of chain lube? How often do you guys apply? My chain has squeaky links but tons of life left. I last lubed up maybe like a month ago and now the squeak is back, should I lube up again or am I better off replacing the chain?

See post #7

You relube it the moment it squeaks or once you get home. Squeaking means minute vibration at that interface, and that means accelerated wear. Expensive machines have instrumentation or service measuring devices that listen for that squeak or vibration, to service a bearing before it becomes critical.

If your chain is lubed with oil, some feel that a wipedown and relube is enough. I like to clean in solvent to remove the metal dust, was a pain, but buying an "on-bike" chain cleaner made that *really easy*. Park had them first, but there are much cheaper copies on amazon now. I use tiki-torch fuel (cheap open bottles at end of season at goodwill store) as solvent, it's 99% mineral oil. Clean, dry, lube.

Melted wax is a better lube, but needs chain removal to lube. However, WAY cleaner to handle, and doesn't require cleaning, as metal dust is just shed as it forms. Just put in the melted wax, any metal dust will settle to bottom of pan. Pull chain out (easier if you've short-laced it onto a spoke or wire), let it drip over the pan or wipe down (without burning yourself), put back on bike, done.

Whether wax or oil, I typically need to lube my chain about every 600-700 miles. With wax, it's when I hear a squeak. With oil, it's when the oil turns to the consistency of peanut butter (paste), due to the emulsion of the metal particles; It may not squeak, but those metal particles in solution will accelerate wear inside the chain links, rollers, and pins. The more standing-climbing I do, the greater load on the chain, and the faster the wear.

After a clean and lube, it's very satisfying how noticeably quiet the drivetrain is.

But do any of the past discussions have three question marks in the topic?

There are all-natural and/or biodegradable lubes that are better for the environment: Green Oil's Wet Lube, Pedro's Slick Wax, Eco Sheep.

Hi TCS,

Good point. On the ZFC site the Efeeto Mariposa Flowerpower rates as one of the most effective drip-on waxes, and the company says it has low environmental impact. And in bulk, the cost looks pretty reasonable.

Thanks and good health, Weogo

As Camilo advised in the 7th post on this string there is a lot to this, the right lube for your Trek on your roads might not be ideal for your MTB in KY hills. Basically chain lubrication is needed mainly to slow the wear between the pins and bushings in the chain joints, to flush out inevitable wear debris and what you pick up on the road or trail, and to lubricate the engagement with the sprocket, and prevent corrosion/rust.

Topic has been beaten to death numerous times. No good reason to keep this thread open.

Thread closed.