chain lube

I don’t normally go for all this wet lube, dry lube, petroleum free nano ceramic boron nitride eco muck with added fluoropolymers and unicorn tears. So what did I just buy, some Muc Off C3 Dry Ceramic Lube. Doh.

For many years my chain lube of choice has been ProGold’s Extreme Chain Lube. It is not the cheapest chain lube but it is a good quality lube without too many pretensions. The marketing on the bottle says it cleans “while you ride” which I don’t believe for a second, however being a light oil it does flush out dirt from inside the rollers on application so regular use should help keeping things clean in there. It certainly penetrates into the rollers easily on application and can be re applied several times without any build up of goo.

Since it is a light oil it does need to be reapplied regularly. I tend to wipe clean and re lube every 200-300km in the summer on my road bike but it will clearly go much longer if needed. My mountain bike does not get the same love and attention, I cannot remember when its chain was last lubed but it is running just fine still. In the winter, in bad conditions I generally clean and lube my chain after every ride, but the UK in the winter is very mucky so you need to do that whatever oil you have in my view.

how to lube

My approach to lubing a chain is the precise one drop per roller technique. Seeing Simon Richardson in an early GCN video liberally pouring lube onto a chain as he spun the cranks made my teeth hurt.

A good technique is simple enough; turn the cranks until you find the quick link, then starting from there apply a drop of oil to each roller, one by one, turning the crank to move the chain along until you are back at the quick link and all rollers have been lubed. Allow the lube to sink in for a bit and then give the cranks a turn whilst holding an old rag to the chain to wipe off any excess.

It only takes a few minutes. Correct parts get lubed and there is no excess on the chain plates to attract unnecessary dirt and grime.

So why Muc-Off think you need a luminous dye and a silly little UV torch is beyond me. If you cannot see where you have been putting oil you should not be lubing your chain in the first place.

lubed up

My first application of the C3 Ceramic Lube was to a chain I had completely cleaned and degreased. It had been “washed” twice in petrol, thoroughly rinsed and then hung up to dry in the sun. On application the C3 was much thicker than my normal lube, not quite as thick as something like Finish Line Wet Lube but heading in that direction. It was clear that it was not going to penetrate into the rollers quickly. So I took my time, lubed the chain then went round my garage with the UV light seeing if there was anything else that would fluoresce in the dark.

On first spin the effect was really quite excellent. For a “used” chain it ran very quietly after the initial lube. Comparable to a brand new chain straight out of the box. I was quite impressed. I did an hour on the indoor trainer but by the end the initial effect had worn off and the drive train was sounding quite rattley. So I made a second application, this time it seemed to last a bit longer and after 3 third application things have seemed to settle in quite nicely. I have now been riding this bike indoors on the trainer for a couple of months now and have not needed to look at the chain since. Of course it only gets to ride inside so it is not exposed to dirt, that’s another test, but indoors at least it does seem to be lasting well.

For another test I tried the C3 on chain that was not so clean. This was a relatively new chain that I had been running for about 1500 km. It was getting to a point that the original factory grease was wearing thin and it was in need of a maintenance clean and re-lube. The chain had been run in dry conditions so my typical routine would be to run the chain through a rag moistened with WD40 to remove as much of the surface contaminants as I possible, then carefully re lube with ProGold. In this case I used the C3.

At this point it was immediately clear that C3 does not play well with other lubricants. It was like drops of water on a recently waxed car. The lube just sat up in beads, and was very reluctant to penetrate the rollers. If you go this route you will need some patience to ensure you get a good result.

Out in the real world the results were similar to the trainer rides, in that initially the drive train is super quiet but that effect is quite short lived (say 30km) and it quickly returns to a more normal experience.

Despite my very precise lubeing technique I also found that on the road the chain picks up dirt quite quickly with the C3. Much more so than with ProGold, even in dry conditions. I was surprised how dirty my chain looked after just 100km. It needed a bit of a clean.

the wrap

I have been riding chains with both lubes for a few months now and there has been nothing to change my initial thoughts. It is not immediately obvious to me what all the “nano ceramic particles” in the C3 are doing, except perhaps in those first few km’s after application. The marketing blurb states that it is “Non-dust attracting” but I found that to be the exact opposite compared to my usual ProGold.

My normal approach of a quick wipe with a rag and re lube between long rides is much more effective with the ProGold. With C3 this technique results in a gradual buildup of contaminants on the chain, necessitating a deeper clean (I use a Park Tools chain bath) after just a few rides.

I have not been swayed by the high tech, fluorescent, sweet smelling goodness of C3. I will persevere for a bit longer by I think it is likely to be relegated to the back of the shelf.

So what Lube do you use? What works for you and what doesn’t? And how do you find different Lubes compare?