I'm specifically talking about White Lightning, but assume there are other wax-based chain lubes around.

I've always used wet skicky oily messy lubes, like Finish Line Green, but am considering trying White Lightning. But my primary concern is avoiding chain/sproket wear, which is the reason lubes are used in the first place. Sheldon Brown has a good article (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html) which I agree wholeheartedly with. To sum it up, chains wear on the pin that goes through each link, which then causes the chain to lengthen, which causes sprokets to wear, which caused chain suck and skipping.

All the reviews I've read about wax lubes focus on the lube being quiet and repelling water and grit, but don't talk about the pins and rollers. Probably cos the people who write the reviews don't know how & why a chain wears.

I guess its fairly hard to test, but I have a hard time believing wax creates an adequate lube layer where it matters. Sure, it will get in and around the pins/rollers when you first apply, but surely after a few good hard pedal-strokes, the wax has been completely displaced on the contact points of the pins, and its back to metal on metal. An oil-based lube would move around the surfaces of metal, and stay coating them, I would have thought.

So, does wax-lube significantly help decrease chain wear, or does it just help make the chain quiet and stop the chain attracting grit (which I guess contributes to chain wear too... hmmmm...)?

ccoutts wrote:All the reviews I've read about wax lubes focus on the lube being quiet and repelling water and grit, but don't talk about the pins and rollers. Probably cos the people who write the reviews don't know how & why a chain wears.

'old school' wax (which basically entailed dipping your chain in boiling parafin) didn't do a good job of lubing - modern 'dry/wax' lubes, like whitelightning, r'n'r red etc are much much better - since they use a wax-like body and a light solvent carrier, so the gets in to the pins properly.

I use r'n'r red on the roadie now (having been a longtime fan of pedros roadrage - but it is prone to getting gunky even on the road) and have no issues with faster chain wear, I do notice the chain is slightly noisier though (definitely a lube before every ride job - roadrage lasted better)

offroad I run r'n'r gold - it's still wax like, but doesn't set fully dry like red does, which means you get a tiny bit of gunk buildup (nothing a quick wipe with a paper towel won't fix), but it last longer in wet conditions. Again I get awesome chain life using it (but then again at $20 a bottle vs $60 for a chain it's not really a win economically - I run it just cos I hate messy, ill-shifting chains)

Cool, thx. My issue wasn't that it didn't get onto the pins, but whether or not it stayed there. But the fact that you get normal/good length out of a chain kinda confirms something right is happening.

OK, might give it a go then! I've tried Finishline Red (teflon), but 1) I seem to have to reapply regularly, 2) it dribbles all over the place and I waste more on the floor than the chain, and 3) it still goes grey and picks up gunk (starting from a degreased chain).

Value for money, a thick oil kicks ass. But damn it gets messy! Then again, the stickiness picks up all sorts of road grit and trail dust, so may actually help chain wear if it isn't cleaned regularly.

Anyone know who stocks White Lightning in Auck?

ccoutts wrote:Cool, thx. My issue wasn't that it didn't get onto the pins, but whether or not it stayed there. But the fact that you get normal/good length out of a chain kinda confirms something right is happening.

dunno about white lightning - don't see it around much any more, rock'n'roll seems widely available though and is as good (if not better)

the volatile carrier is the key - basically you're washing the chain clean and simultanesouly applying lube, leaving the lube to dry in place. The downside is you REALLY have to follow the instructions on the r'n'r - when they say 'apply liberally - get the chain really wet' they do mean it, if you're stingy it doesn't work. And ditto the bit about wiping the chain as dry as you can get it (I used paper towels) - otherwise the excess on the outside (which does nothing anyway) gets massively gunked up.

so this means you end up going thru $20 bottles at a surprising rate - which is why a lot of people try it then go away - the old story of 'there's cheap and there's good - which would you like'. But around here where it's mega dusty in summer, it's nice to be able to wipe the chain clean at the end of the ride, as opposed to having to break out the degreaser to de-encrust the chain

R'n'R IMO is no better than no lube at all. Sure it will leave chain and cassette sparkling clean but......

In the Winter time I used to use chainsaw bar lube (flame away folks) on my 9 speed and singlespeed. It stayed in place and lasted well.

I use the Pedros Icewax2. Great stuff for normal use, but still use green for the Karapoti.

Drive cleans easily with just a hose off (ie no degrease needed).

Milage may vary...

A-racer wrote:R'n'R IMO is no better than no lube at all. Sure it will leave chain and cassette sparkling clean but......

really - I've got 2 seasons out of chains running it. However I do religiously apply each ride etc (i.e. follow the instructions) - I'd imagine if you didn't things would get bad

as for 'no lube' - nah, that's what is better than a wet lube with half the port hills stuck to it

Finishline red is the best lube I've ever used, but I do have to re-apply pretty frequently. As far as not picking up crap goes it seems pretty stellar in that regard, at least in my experience.

wachtourak wrote:Finishline red is the best lube I've ever used, but I do have to re-apply pretty frequently. As far as not picking up crap goes it seems pretty stellar in that regard, at least in my experience.

"formulated to clean and lube at the same time when applied" Lets just say I agree entirely with the first part of the statement.
And yes I did follow the instructions ever so closely. And most importantly I shock hell out of the bottle before applying.

The result was that my freshly cleaned chain now had black shit all over it. Sweet! Thats what its meant to do! So I took a rag and wiped it ALL off. Jumped on and went for a spin only for it to sound as though it had been for a long hard ride in the wet.

Hmmm, my experience is that the Ice wax 2 lube runs amazingly quiet.

It appears to be stable regardless of temperature or time (earlier version needed shaking and waxed on cold days).

A-racer wrote:

wachtourak wrote:Finishline red is the best lube I've ever used, but I do have to re-apply pretty frequently. As far as not picking up crap goes it seems pretty stellar in that regard, at least in my experience.

"formulated to clean and lube at the same time when applied" Lets just say I agree entirely with the first part of the statement.
And yes I did follow the instructions ever so closely. And most importantly I shock hell out of the bottle before applying.

The result was that my freshly cleaned chain now had black shit all over it. Sweet! Thats what its meant to do! So I took a rag and wiped it ALL off. Jumped on and went for a spin only for it to sound as though it had been for a long hard ride in the wet.

Woops wrong quote. Sorry.

Static and wet finish are the two main reasons that chains pick up dirt. If you earth your bike it stays very clean. In the real worls though a dry lube will be best for the chain but will be noisy. We have used Rock n Roll for many years but found it noisy even though the lube was still working.
Squirt http://www.squirtlube.com/ is the first wax lube we have found to run clean, no crust build up and still lubricate, its also quiet. Like all things in the bike world and else where, things evolve, very few of the lubes that have been around for a while are as good as the newer materials. Overall Squirt is proving to be one of the best so far.

(my 2 cents)

Simpleone wrote: We have used Rock n Roll for many years but found it noisy even though the lube was still working.

Still can't convince myself that a noisy chain can be well lubricated

A-racer wrote:

Simpleone wrote: We have used Rock n Roll for many years but found it noisy even though the lube was still working.

Still can't convince myself that a noisy chain can be well lubricated

Neither could we, and it is a pain to have a bike making noises, but regular measuring of the chain shows it works and well! Squirt is proving to be every bit as good and quiet.