Squirt Lube or something Else?

[dlovett]

Whats the best all round chain lube these days, assuming it's for mainly dry conditions?

Ideally I want an easy application and it to last 400 dry, all terrain km's before needing to be redone, but cope with the odd river crossing or rain storm incase they happen.

Have used Squirt before and it was pretty good, but is there something better?

TIA

d

[Hyppy]

YMMV (literally) but I switched to Purple Extreme late last year having used Squirt for years and have found it does a better job of keeping surface rust off the chain in our perpetually damp outhouse/bike shed, while keeping things running nice and smoothly for a similar length of time as Squirt used to.

[voodoo_simon]

Not muc off dry lube…

Have to apply it every ride Yet it still won’t run out

[Kumquat]

I was using smoove.
Now using squirt as it is more readily available where I live.
They seem to be much of a muchness.
I generally reapply after every 3 rides, so, 250km is.

[woodsmith]

Big fan of Smoove. Easily get double the mileage compared to the oil based lube used previously. Just did 4500 km round Morocco and adjusted the chain once (Rohloff, KMC chain). All dry miles admittedly but lots of dust, sand, dirt roads etc. Lubed chain approx every other day ( 150 - 200km).

[AlexGold]

Top 4 Drip Lubes AFAIK are (in order of my recommendation*)

- UFO Drip All Conditions
- Silca Super Secret
- Effetto Flower Power
- Tru Tension Tungsten All Weather

The first 2 are MEGA clean, the latter 2 dirtier but may last longer in wet conditions due to this (higher concentration of oil).

All the above require applying to a spotlessly clean chain, and building up of the lube for the initial couple of applications/rides before they stabilise and give good performance.

*similar to Zero Friction Cycling's recommendations, but maybe in a slightly different order!

[Leerowe76]

I find Squirt Lube to be doing the job at the moment so much so that I recently bought my 3rd bottle so I've been on it a while, steer clear of Muc Off IMO as it doesn't last long enough if your riding 4-5 times a week or if the weather isn't so good I believe Smoove lube to good and also have looked at Wend products before but seem to be pricey plus the fact I don't know if anyone has used it. Mind you if the prices of everything keeps rising I'll be using cheap used cooking oil

[dlovett]

Can't get hold of any of the above in time, so gone with dipwax cold wax system. Fingers crossed it will be ok, from what I have read it sounds ok.......

Two stage process, drop the chain in the cleaning solution pouch, drip in to the pouch to dry. When dry place in the pouch with the wax and also allow to drip dry back into the bag. It comes with a small "touch up" pen for use on the trail. I'll also ultra sonic clean it before the cleaning pouch as that's how I normally clean my drive trains.

[macinblack]

YMMV (literally) but I switched to Purple Extreme late last year having used Squirt for years and have found it does a better job of keeping surface rust off the chain in our perpetually damp outhouse/bike shed, while keeping things running nice and smoothly for a similar length of time as Squirt used to.

Where are you getting your Purple Extreme from, may I ask? I'm down to dregs and can't find any in the UK.

[fatbikerbill]

I gave up on squirt. OK in the dry but rubbish in anything vaguely Lancashirish weather wise.

Smoove is vastly better and survives multiple wet Lancashire days.

As the others though chain does need a thorough degrease first

[fatbikephil]

Interesting this as I've also been a long term squirt user. I've had very variable results - A good example is on the BB300 last year (dry overhead but v wet underneath) it last until K175. On the HT this year I needed my first chain lube at k150 after a dry day overhead and from below....

Might give the smoove a whirl after I've used up my big bottle of squirt. I do wonder if it's mebbes best to use a really thin oil and just keep adding a bit. Then when you get home skoosh it all off and start again.... Scotoil oil was good for this

[redefined_cycles]

Interesting this as I've also been a long term squirt user. I've had very variable results - A good example is on the BB300 last year (dry overhead but v wet underneath) it last until K175. On the HT this year I needed my first chain lube at k150 after a dry day overhead and from below....

Might give the smoove a whirl after I've used up my big bottle of squirt. I do wonder if it's mebbes best to use a really thin oil and just keep adding a bit. Then when you get home skoosh it all off and start again.... Scotoil oil was good for this

You sound like you need the efetto flower power stuff mentioned above (and previously on another thread). Apparently (also mentioned above) the oil & water content make it stick to yhe chain alot better.

Smoove, I've had bery variable results with. Have gotten 200 miles and more between cleans on the mtb. But for road riding it's hopeless. Lasts about 100 to 150 miles before sounding too 'squealy'.

For the record (and maybe testament toy cleaning method not always being optimised... though I do try) Squirt never did much for me. Much less than a 100 mtb miles on it. Another factor nice about the Efetto and oil content is (hopefully) there'll be minimal surface rust after a little rain (or in the winter).

[Hyppy]

Where are you getting your Purple Extreme from, may I ask? I'm down to dregs and can't find any in the UK.

Apologies for tardy response, but I got mine from 18bikes in Hope early last year, but they seem to be out of stock now. And doing a quick search I don't see it anywhere else either. I guess I'll need to apply less liberally for a while.

I've bought bar tape direct from their UK distributors in the past but they seem to be offline at the mo: https://www.traildistribution.co.uk

[jameso]

By far the best trad wax lube I've used in ages is Fenwicks Professional, the grey stuff. It's harder to apply as it's really thick and needs to be warm to flow before drying, 20-25 deg and left in the sun for a bit ideally, or applied then blown into the links with a hairdrier and worked in by flexing the chain. It lasts really well though. 2-3x what I'm used to from lighter, thinner wax lubes like Finish Line or Rock n Roll. Of the lighter lubes Finish Line Teflon Dry or Ceramic is pretty good but a long day's dry road riding will have most of it worn off.
Bottom of the wax lubes pile was muc-off. Would have been better off running my chain over a candlestick.