Lube it or lose it...
 

Can anyone tell me when a "wet" lubricant vs. a "dry" lubricant should be used and what the difference between the two is? I ride in mostly dry, hot conditions, and have been using Triflow for lubing my chain, which goes on pretty wet. It does a good job of keeping the chain lubed, but seems to pick up a lot of dirt and grime after I ride for a few weeks. I do wipe off the excess lubricant with a rag after I finish lubing the chain, but it still seems to get dirty fairly quickly. If a dry lubricant would be a better choice, does anyone have a recommendation?

I'll probably get flamed off my saddle for this, but I'm still using White Lightning, which dries to sort of a waxy finish that doesn't attract dirt so much. I've never really heard the terms "wet lubricant" or "dry lubricant," so I'm not sure which category White Lighting falls into. Are you referring to something like powdered graphite when you say "dry" lubricant?

I ride in very dirty conditions, and there isn't a lube made that's dry enough to repel the dirt I ride through. I just use motor oil.

In the winter I use DuPont teflon+wax spray, because it's cold out and I don't want to spend much time doing maintenance. I can spray the chain and wipe it back down in 2 minutes with that stuff.

"Dry" lubricants are lighter weight lubes, often containing an evaporative carrier with teflon. Apply it lightly, run it in on the stand to penetrate the rollers, wipe it clean and you get a chain that doesn't have a gloopy coating of stuff on it to pick up a lot of dirt, dust, and grit (although, as ItsJustMe pointed out, if you ride in really dirt/dust prone conditions then almost nothing will solve it totally.)

"Wet" lubricants are high viscosity and coat everything with a protective barrier of gloop. Great for super muddy MTB and CX courses, commuting in the rain or snow (unless it's super-duper-cold) or any conditions where your chain might see prolonged exposure to water. The downside is that wet lubes suspend particles of everything, eventually turning a wet lubricant into a grinding paste if you don't thoroughly clean and relube frequently.

Recently switched to DuPont Chain Saver. It is very similar to the special lube you get when you buy a brand new SRAM chain. It sprays on wet but dries up to a pale yellow color later on. It lubes the chain well and doesn't seems to attract dirt.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OBP63S/

You can find it at the motocycle or auto section at Wal-Mart for cheaper than it is at Amazon.

I've tried quite a few lubes so far, (been riding again for 4yrs) and I've decided that I like the dry lubes.
I tried wax lubes and the chain was always noisy. I tried wet lubes and the chain was always dirty. With dry lubes the chain isn't as quiet, but it isn't as dirty at the end of the week.

As for brands, I like Pedro's Extra Dry and Performance's Spin Doctor Dry Lube.

For this last chain, I've tried an experiment. I haven't used any degreaser or cleaner at all. When I want to clean the chain, I oil it and wipe it down with a clean rag. It gets clean and stays well lubed.

Before, I was getting about 3k miles out of a chain before the chain checker read .75
On this chain, I've gotten 2900 miles and I'm still at .50
I'm spending less time and hassle cleaning the chain and its lasting longer.

I use nothing but Boeshield T.9 dry lube. I live in the desert and wet lubes just create a mess. My chains and frankly the entire drive line are always shiny new looking and the bike only ever needs dusting off. I've seen no wear at all. I can grab my chain in my fist and nothing come off of it in my hand. Sold. Sold. Sold.
I rode my two newest bikes about 250 miles each to allow the drive lines to settle in. Yesterday I started transitioning to the T9. It takes two or 3 cleanings to get the factory oil leached out completely and the dry lube worked in.

In rare cases (Henderson being one) do I suggest getting rid of the factory lubricant. Most companies use GLEITMO as their stock lube, and that stuff is awesome! Stock out of the box, most chains are ready to go without anything additional.
GLEITMO is a bit on the sticky side, so if you're in a parched desert I'd get rid of it and go with a teflon or wax lube.

Boeshield T 9 -nothing getting on hand-pants-yeah I have to try that!
I hate that grungy black crap you get on hands clothes etc
T 9 or T .9 ?
Where do you find it-ebay?
Charlie

When I lived in Maine, where there were wet, snowy conditions, I used a wet lube, and cleaned and relubed the chain relativley frequently. I now live in San Jose, where there is no weather, I use a mixture of parrafin and beeswax - I keep the mixture in a cheap crock-pot, and when I want to do the chain, I heat up the pot, then remove the chain, do a quick wipe to get the surface gunk off of it, and then put it in the crock pot to soak for ~20 mins. Take it out, let it cool, and then put it back on the bike. The wax doesn't pick up road grime the way oil does, and everything stays much cleaner. I do this about every 500-1000 miles. A more detailed explanation of the process can be found here

I tried Boeshield T9, for me it didn't perform any better than anything else, but others swear by the stuff so there must be something to it. I think it's likely to work well for many people but don't think it's going to be magic for everyone.

Personally I'm planning on going to belt drive and solve the whole thing that way.

This is the correct answer.

I use Finish Line Wet in the falwinterspring during which we get rain every day for nine to ten months. The stuff gets incredibly messy, but it keeps the chain lubed. Lighter lubes wash off very quickly. During the summer I switch to ProLink chain lube. I don't know if this strictly qualifies as a "dry" lube, but if I let it sit overnight and then wipe it clean in the morning it keeps my chain running smooth and quiet for a couple of weeks without too much mess.

You've got it backwards. Dry lubricants are higher molecular weight ('heavier') lubricants like waxes that are dissolved in a solvent which may, or may not, contain other additives. Once the solvent evaporates, the heavier lubricant stays in place and won't flow out of the interior of the chain. The reason it doesn't pick up dirt and grit is because there is nothing to stick to. It also isn't self replenishing...i.e. doesn't flow out of the interior of the chain to replace lubricant that is worn away.

Wet lubes are lower viscosity oils that are also dissolved in a solvent. They coat everything and readily flow out of the chain's interior. They are self replenishing but they are also thin enough that contaminants get trapped in the oil coating.

For dry and dusty conditions, dry lubes like White Lightning are ideal.

I can't pick a side on the molecular weight discussion. But that would be the only thing that is backwards there, the rest of CliftonGK1's post is spot on. I'm sure you meant only that and you said almost as much, I'm just posting here in case someone casually reverses all the rest of the good info.

I was a fan of dry stuff when I lived in Utah, but have been near DC for a decade now and with the rain and such I need me some wet. I am still working my way through a stash of Pro Link which seems to be kind of in-between and does me right with a decent compromise between rust (the pitfall of too dry a lube in a wet environ) and gunk (the pitfall of too wet a lube).

I guess I should get with the 21st century and stop cleaning off the "shipping grease" of those new chains. D'oh. :bang:

Dry lubes are dry, like graphite, and wax based. Wet lubes are wet, often a synthetic, some have additives like teflon. Wet lubes vary in viscosity, depending what you use.

been using Finish line dry and will start with prolink and see how it goes. I was using tri-flow dry and it seemed like I was lubing every 100 miles.

Completely tac free and slick as a whistle. I'm sticking to T.9.

It's in just about every reputable bike shop in the land. Keep one thing in mind. I lube every couple hundred miles or so.
http://boeshield.com/

I have yet to try Boeshield T9. I am currently using Prolink. We've been getting a fair amount of rain here lately, and I've found that the Prolink does a pretty good job of keeping the chain lubed during and after a rain commute. I have considered Boeshield, so I may try some on my fair weather road bike.

There are many wear conditions in the bicycle world. I use this bone dry lube because there is no rain to leach it away. It is absolutely tac free so the fine silica that abounds around here just bounces off of it. It probably wouldn't be my choice if I were back in the swamps of south Georgia. I use it very specifically because I live in the desert. YMMV.

100%. Can I add that because the dry lube is not replenishing (doesn't migrate across the chain parts when dry) it is recommended that it be applied more often than some wet lube manufacturers recommend for their lubes.

I find that tri-flow is too light for drive chain, great for brake cables though.

So far, I am digging superlube aerosol.

I find that tri-flow is too light for drive chain, great for brake cables though.

So far, I am digging superlube aerosol.