You want the new lubricant to penetrate the small spaces in the chain (in the rollers, etc). It won’t if those spaces are already occupied by some other (often more viscous) lubricant. So…gotta get that stuff out of there first.
1 Like
It’s mostly an emotional and irrational decision. 
The bike is brand new and I’m trying to keep it as “genuine” as possible while the honeymoon lasts. I should have noted that the drivetrain is Campy also. There’s also that I’d preferably get a Connex quick link, but I haven’t found any 12s available for sale, although Wipperman advertise them on their website.
2 Likes
I guess Campy is taking a page out of the FIAT playbook to make their stuff as irreparable as possible on the side of the road in case of emergency. I get not wanting to “mix components” when you have a choice: I wouldn’t willingly run sram links on my Shimano chain or vice versa unless I had an emergency, but you don’t have a choice because Campy are all boomer about quick links being weak or whatnot. Bummer
1 Like
Here it is! (found it on my own…if you want a job done etc etc) 
Definitely worth noting.
From the good folks at zero friction cycling.
1 Like
No direct experience. Just going from ZFC.
1 Like
9 foot chain….was this on a recumbent or something?
If using Squirt in dry conditions, do you ever spray off your bike?
If so, do you ever find that the chain is tacky? Is this problematic. Feels like “sticky wax” if I had to describe it.
Can I just reapply Squirt over top of this tackiness and assume it’s doing the job?
Use case = MTB, waxed chain, applied Squirt, worked great, rode through one mud puddle, dirty bike, hosed off, blew dry with fan overnight, tacky in morning.
If you use a drip lube over the top of the wax application, you should boil water, restrip the chain and rewax it.
If you need something for like a 24hour MTB race, you would wax, apply Smoove/Squirt over the top and when done restrip and start over.
I never spray my bike.
Yes! It will get a little gunky to the touch & if it’s on the trainer it will throw off little dark nodules onto the floor. That means it’s time to throw it in the ultrasonic with some solvent and clean it off. This is just something I do out of personal preference. Can’t honestly say there is objective data to prove it makes the chain faster/slower or last longer.
I’d just be guessing. Don’t know for sure. Just like to keep the chain & drivetrain clean & I’ll admit it’s for non-data-derived reasons. A dusty bike with a sparkling drive train is aesthetically the best look for a bike IMO. Plus, I bought an ultrasonic cleaner so I like to fool myself into thinking it’s important to clean the chain in an ulrasonic cleaner fairly often…otherwise I spend ~$100 on some equipment that doesn’t get used that often. (what sort of goofball does that?? I’m no goofball…so for sure it must be necessary to ultrasonic clean the chain often)
Here is what I do know for sure (though it’s not my data): if you clean a chain thoroughly, immerse in Squirt, break in the chain, roll up to a crit, take the bike out, put on another application of Squirt just before warming up…there’s no faster lube. Never seen this approach vs a dusted chain or some of the newer lubes (graphene or silca) but if you use a fresh application of Squirt on a broken in chain it’s fast, fast, fast. But even then we’re talking a ~hundred milliwatt difference.
2 Likes
Even though Squirt lube is a wax emulsion?
I’ve experienced this with Squirt. And to a lesser extent Silca drip wax lube. I think it’s the nature of wax emulsions.
The Silca hot melt wax does not go sticky like this.
I rode a dusty 3 hrs on my MTB Saturday, and 5.5 hrs on my gravel bike Sunday. Both Hot melt waxed chains. They performed flawlessly and stayed very clean. Afterwards I lightly rubbed the chains down with a damp cloth to get the surface dust off them. The wax emulsions aren’t as clean.
1 Like
For me squirt doesn’t go tacky. It also doesn’t flake off. I use a different drip wax on my road bike, which feels more tacky and does peel off a bit, but also lasts much longer on dry rides.
Squirt I only use on my off-road bikes. It is nearly always muddy here, and squirt seems to cope well with that (it also tested well in the wet). I always re-lube after washing my bike, which is basically every ride, as it’s always muddy, so can’t comment on the spraying-but-not-relubing question.
The other drip wax says not to use it in the wet, so I think it might not last long then.
To me it feels like squirt is designed to go harder, so it copes better with wet conditions, but the downside is that when it starts cracking, it come off quickly, and you’ll end up with a dry chain.
All of this might be temperature dependent - maybe if you live in warmer climates, the properties of the wax change.
I used squirt lube for around a year, the chain ran nice and smooth but it attracted as much dirt as chain oil. I think this is down to the amount of squirt you need to use to penetrate between the rollers and then the amount of excess left behind or bleed out during a ride.
Never compare Squirt to a proper hot pot wax application, there is no comparison in regards to how dirty the chain will get afterwards.
3 Likes
I’m NOT a fan of Squirt for MTB. That sticky wax gets stuck all over the drivetrain and it’s difficult to get off. Since you’ll be in a mobile workshop and riding your MTB I suggest Rock N Roll Gold. All the performance and none of the gunk. You may loose 1 watt of performance and longevity of your chain but none of that matters, you’re already using beefy tires.
I use Rock N Roll Gold regularly for 4+ hour MTB rides and events 8-12 hours without reapplying lube. Never and issue. After the ride simply wash down chain, dry and reapply.
No. But it’s still MUCH cleaner than wet lube. I love that it’s cleaner.
I’m just concerned that I’ve changed the properties of it by dousing thoroughly in water because the Squirt Lube itself is what is sticky now.
I’ll have to check this out. Looks good by Friction Facts standards and I’ve been using NFS on our road bikes with reasonable chain life, but I’ll be hard pressed to go to a wet lube for MTB if I can avoid it because I’m so tired of black chains and drivetrain components.
Most of our riding is in dry/dusty conditions. For that I’ll never spray my bike down.
I’d love to use Squirt or similar for all the dry dusty riding.
Is the stickiness a problem for chain longevity? I don’t care about watts right now honestly.
Indeed, I used to apply squirt and let it “set” over night. Then in the morning give the chain a good wipe to remove the excess before setting off. I just found the wax never actually fully dried, there was always wet residue left behind, and I assume that is the reason why it attracted so much dirt/dust.
This is what I did. And what I plan to do in future.
Interesting. I’ll play with this.
Good idea! Are there quick links that are reliably reusable? SRAM says theirs are 1-time use. I bought 10 of them for ~$4 each but I’d hate to spend $4 on a quick link every time I pull my chain for a bike wash… but would love to pull the chain off!
I learned the rust risk the hard way one time (living in PNW). Bikes now live indoors with warm well-circulated air if they get wet.
I let mine dry overnight in 68 degree Idaho air (~30-40% humidity) with a small fan blowing towards the bikes. It dried completely in 24 hrs. I have not tested any other scenario yet.
is it “bad” if they stop clicking or does it just indicate an increased risk of failure?