Can anyone recommend a dry lube for me to use for my daily commuter mtb please.
Only really used wet lube but getting fed up of the black muck constantly on the chain.
Thanks guys
Dry lube recommendations needed
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Vetus Ossa
- Posts: 1591
- Joined: 22 Oct 2012, 7:32pm
- Location: Plymouth
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
I and many others find Purple Extreme to be very good.
Beauty will save the world.
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
But only if you thoroughly degrease your chain, cassette, chainset and rear derailleur first. Also best if you apply multiple times very very sparingly before riding.
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
Vetus Ossa wrote:I and many others find Purple Extreme to be very good.
Used to use that but it seems to have become very pricey of late.
Sweep
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Airsporter1st
- Posts: 796
- Joined: 8 Oct 2016, 3:14pm
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
I use this: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fenwicks-professional-chain-lube/
Currently on sale at Wiggle at £7.50.
I am not a hard user I must admit, but my chains are gleaming.
Currently on sale at Wiggle at £7.50.
I am not a hard user I must admit, but my chains are gleaming.
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
I tried some dry lube years ago but found the chain got rusty, does this occur with the lubes recommended here?
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
Bowedw wrote:I tried some dry lube years ago but found the chain got rusty, does this occur with the lubes recommended here?
That's also been my personal experience - dry lube hasn't stood up to bad weather for me.
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
Used to use it but gave up on it.
Decided that "normal" oil isn't a great problem as long as you use it properly.
Decided that "normal" oil isn't a great problem as long as you use it properly.
Sweep
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Airsporter1st
- Posts: 796
- Joined: 8 Oct 2016, 3:14pm
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
Bowedw wrote:I tried some dry lube years ago but found the chain got rusty, does this occur with the lubes recommended here?
Not with the one I use, so far. As said I don't do a lot of miles, but that means my bikes spend a lot if time unused and I've not seen any rust whatsoever. I do tend to wash (in white spirit), dry and relube the chain fairly regularly.
Re: Dry lube recommendations needed
I know very little about lubes, as I've only ever tried two. So make of this what you will... 
I tried a light lube, which was perfect when the chain was clean, but it got gunked up fairly quickly. The ground here is quite sandy and dusty when it's dry, and cleaning the chain was a total pain. In the rain, it washed off and started rusting the chain before I made it home.
Then I tried Squirt. It's wax-based, so you need to fully degrease the chain first. The makers say that you never need to degrease the chain again -- just wipe down and reapply... Which is optimistic nonsense! I find I need to relube slightly more often than with oil, but need to give it a thorough clean much less regularly. And the wax comes off easier than oil so it's easier to clean. So... overall I find it less effort.
It works really well in dry, dusty/sandy environments as the small particles stick to the wax and fall off instead of turning into a grinding paste. It seems okay in the rain too -- I wipe the chain dry after, and haven't seen any signs of rust (unlike with the light oil).
The chain doesn't "glide" as beautifully as with oil... It somehow doesn't quite sound/feel as nice, but I don't think that makes much difference to performance...? But it runs consistently -- with the oil, the chain would run beautifully at first and quite quickly become increasingly sticky/sucky/gunky. Being a wax, Squirt mostly falls off.
Oh -- and ideally it needs to dry on the chain -- I usually do this overnight as it takes a while. So... that might be pretty inconvenient for some people.
I keep hearing a lot of good things about that Purple Extreme stuff, though -- so I'll be trying that when I run out of Squirt. Talking of which -- a bottle of Squirt does seem to last for ages. You only need to put a drop on each roller, so hardly any gets wasted. (Blimey -- I'm starting to sound like an advert now!)
I tried a light lube, which was perfect when the chain was clean, but it got gunked up fairly quickly. The ground here is quite sandy and dusty when it's dry, and cleaning the chain was a total pain. In the rain, it washed off and started rusting the chain before I made it home.
Then I tried Squirt. It's wax-based, so you need to fully degrease the chain first. The makers say that you never need to degrease the chain again -- just wipe down and reapply... Which is optimistic nonsense! I find I need to relube slightly more often than with oil, but need to give it a thorough clean much less regularly. And the wax comes off easier than oil so it's easier to clean. So... overall I find it less effort.
It works really well in dry, dusty/sandy environments as the small particles stick to the wax and fall off instead of turning into a grinding paste. It seems okay in the rain too -- I wipe the chain dry after, and haven't seen any signs of rust (unlike with the light oil).
The chain doesn't "glide" as beautifully as with oil... It somehow doesn't quite sound/feel as nice, but I don't think that makes much difference to performance...? But it runs consistently -- with the oil, the chain would run beautifully at first and quite quickly become increasingly sticky/sucky/gunky. Being a wax, Squirt mostly falls off.
Oh -- and ideally it needs to dry on the chain -- I usually do this overnight as it takes a while. So... that might be pretty inconvenient for some people.
I keep hearing a lot of good things about that Purple Extreme stuff, though -- so I'll be trying that when I run out of Squirt. Talking of which -- a bottle of Squirt does seem to last for ages. You only need to put a drop on each roller, so hardly any gets wasted. (Blimey -- I'm starting to sound like an advert now!)