Road bike lube

[E65Ross]

My bottle of lube (oo err) is running low and I'm looking at replacements. Currently using the finish line ceramic wet lubricant, whether it's wet or dry weather and generally it seems to be pretty good.

What are you using that you'd recommend? Is it worth having a lube for dry riding and one for wet weather too?

Any ideas really between the finish line ceramic wet vs ceramic wax lubricants, in terms of purpose?

Many thanks in advance

[bigdom]

I'll be controversial, I don't believe it makes any difference. I base this on running motorbikes, when I used to commute I used an oiling system, there's 'special' oils available, one for summer another for winter. Ended up just using standard 20/50w, chain and sprockets would see 50-70k no issue at all.

The summer bike would have the 'best' anti flick dry lube, chain and sprockets would be useless within 5k.

I'd recommend, clean it regularly, and just use anything you have to hand, anything else will make little difference IMHO.

[Gren]

Yes it's worth having wet and dry. Wet lube will attract all the crap off the roads and trails and will require a lot more cleaning BUT it won't wash off the moment you ride through a puddle or rain.

Dry is great when it's dry as it's very low maintenance but will last minutes if it gets wet.

I tend to use the Muc Off ceramic ones myself.

[SystemParanoia]

I just use whatever random oil i have laying about, and make sure i clean and re-lube every 300 miles

my chains seem to last forever

[Private Pile]

I'm the same as above, any oil does for my bike and motorbike chain.

[Gruffy]

I've been using Finish Line Dry/Wet (according to conditions), run the chain through a chain cleaner when it looks properly grim, which is probably every 1,000km or so. In between that I just layer it up. That kept my Ultegra chain in decent order for 4,500km and it's just been replaced for a new one. Given the mess it makes when I clean a chain - especially living in an apartment - I'm happy enough with that lifespan for the amount of effort I put into maintenance. I've switched to Muc-Off Ceramic (the Team Sky one) and will see if that fares any better.

[JEA1K]

I use Fenwicks stealth on my chains. Run them through the chain bath every couple of weeks depending on time of year and re-apply.

[TwistingMyMelon]

On my road bikes I've taken to doing cleaning and lubeing quickly every 80-100 miles, takes 5-10 minutes keep them good working order, If I don't I notice the difference, conditions can be grim out here in the sticks:

Bike upside down
If chain is grotty I wipe it through some industrial hand cleaning wipes to take out grit and old lube, if not too bad I skip this
I then spray some Weldtite tf2 lube spray on a rag and pedal the chain through the rag till it looks clean
I then wipe it off with another rag
I then spray some more Weldtite on a rag and pedal it though again, wipe off any excess

I sometimes clean up jockey wheels and chain rings with industrial wipes if needed and give the mech moving parts a wipe and spray of Weldtite:http://road.cc/content/review/136384-weldtite-tf2-lubricant-spray-teflon

I used to then drop some finish line Wet lube on every link to finish, but don't bother now, as it used to just pick up to much dirt.

The above is a bit messy n labour intensive, takes 5-10 minutes, means I can expect the chain and everything. Never had a chain snap, most chains last 1-2 years and 2000-5000 miles

[E65Ross]

Thanks for your insight chaps. I recently tried the muc-off ceramic dry lube and my chain ran far more noisy than with the finish line. I wondered whether it was dirty or something was wrong. Cleaned it up and put on the finish line and it was silent again. Cleaned the other day and put the muc-off back on and.... It was running noisy again.

I won't be using the muc-off. Just ordered more finish line ceramic wet lubricant as well as their ceramic wax which is for dry weather.

Cheers.