Can’t help with the squirt problem, my squirt always dries properly, and it never feels like there is extra friction in the chain. No idea. Maybe they sell different stuff in different countries? Which squirt is it, think there’s more than one type now?
…in any case, I’d relube the old chains with the lube that’s already on them, and use the old ones. I wouldn’t really put a new chain on just before a race, unless the old one was damaged or anything. Even with 1000 miles on it, the chain should last another race, and you know it won’t jump gears or anything.
Below is an email exchange I had with Squirt in March of this year.
The replacement bottle they sent me is less sticky.
My email:
“Hi there:
In my most recent application of Squirt lube from a new bottle, it leaves a sticky residue when dried.
I have not noticed this in past applications with other bottles.
The most recent bottle of Squirt that I bought had different consistency vs the previous two bottles. The lube was more viscous, and also a darker color (caramel vs. light cream).
Is there something wrong with this bottle of lube?”
Email between Squirt employees on resolution:
“ Hi Brad,
Can you please send David a new replacement bottle Squirt Lube 120ml together with 2 x 15ml samples for his backpack and 4 x 6g Squirt BarrierBalm.
David, we have had similar feedback on the specific batch your bottle came from. Although it was tested to be compliant with the endurance and lubricity laboratory specification, it is slightly darker and more viscous as you mentioned. We would rather you have a fresh bottle of lube that you and we feel comfortable with. You are welcome to add a bit (about 2-3%) of hot water (80degC) to the “bad” bottle and shake it up. It should return to the acceptable viscosity and you will be good to go.”
And, FWIW, I’ve since started using Silca Hot Melt wax, and topping up between waxes with their SS drip lube. The hot melt is awesome. Although does not last as long on my SRAM Eagle MTB chain vs Shimano on my gravel bike.
That is interesting, if a bit of hot water fixes the bad batch, I wonder if wrong storage could make a bottle go “off”? For example, if some of the water (thats evidently in there) evaporates in hot conditions, would it condense down and become too sticky?
(Also, so much for the panic of drying a chain fully before lubing etc.)
If it weren’t the night before the TT, I’d do this for sure. Thank you for popping in here!
Very interesting. Not going to take any chances then. I don’t think there is a caramel color to it. Perhaps I applied too much…?
Yeah, with them recommending a 2-3% addition of water to fix the problem… it makes me think that if you dry it too quickly it could act differently too. If that is a possibility then I probably have done it because I intended on getting it very dry!
When you allow yours to dry, how long does it take?
How much squirt do you apply? A drop on each roller? More? I have a feeling I may have just applied too much. On new chain they recommend 2 applications, 5 minutes apart.
@redlude97 I may try your recommendation tomorrow morning for the chain for the crit & road race and if it works out, I’ll test it thoroughly under load before deciding to have her run that chain for the Friday crit.
I have spare quick links and tools with me so can swap back to the slightly worn chain if it doesn’t work out.
Is there any verdict on using connecting pins vs quick links? Is it safe to insert new pins into the same joint multiple times (taking a chain on and off)?
Honestly…I don’t do anything as complicated as others here.
I leave the chain on the bike, I wash it down with hot soapy water (normal dish washing liquid). Let it dry (outdoors) until I can’t see any water. Sometimes I just wipe it dry and spin the cranks until no more drops are coming out (chain will still be wet inside). I’ve found if it’s too wet, the squirt will mix with the water and run off, and I need two applications - but it doesn’t make it go bad. Apply a big drop to each roller (inside, from the top on the bottom part of the chain). Spin cranks a few dozen times. Never wipe anything off. Let bike dry outside until it’s stopped dripping, then take inside and let dry overnight.
Sometimes, I do two applications, eg after using degreaser (bike stuff). I let it dry several hours in between (before/after work, or overnight). Don’t see the point of applying 5min apart, you could just apply more the first time.
I have to say that I only use squurt on my off road bikes - they get washed a re-squirted after every ride (unless it was dry, which is rare). I tried using it on my roadbike, but after about 60 miles, the chain started to sound very dry, which isn’t enough for my rides. I use another drip wax lube now on the road that is more sticky, but lasts longer (but not in the wet).
I wiped down the current chain on her TT bike until my fingers bled and then lubed with NFS. Spent all night tweaking positions swapping tires and tubes. Tuning shifting. Installing viewspeed skewers, swapping cassette, rerouting wires at the front end and cleaning it up with countless micro zip ties and electrical tape.
She got 5th. Results here. That result is as good as we could have hoped for. Super pumped.
I still have those Squirt chains and might play with one of them later tonight after I do some of my actual work.
Seriously can’t thank you all on this forum enough.
So, I took the still very slightly “gummy” Squirt-lubed Chain A (see project notes in prior posts) out for a spin last night at ~5pm in Knoxville, TN. ~80 degrees and very high humidity. Felt great riding it (on my wife’s bike, thank goodness she’s 5’9"), and it shifted great.
I wiped the exterior of the chain down thoroughly before riding. I did not use mineral spirits (see: up all night working on TT bike).
I was hoping I would come back from the ride to find the gumminess reduced/improved but it was dramatically worse! Strikingly tacky.
My rookie conclusions:
I applied too much squirt lube. This caused gumminess even with extended drying time. Maybe bad batch too… not sure, possible but don’t think so, based on color.
Riding Squirt lube in hot/humid conditions made problem #1 worse. It felt like it absorbed the moisture and turned it to glue.
It’s remarkable that I could not feel that tackiness while riding, a testament to how little we can actually feel when we’re losing watts or when something is 1-5 watts faster or slower. There’s lots of placebo going around these parts!
I love how clean the chain is.
The chain was loud and I hated the loudness of it, especially when mildly cross-chaining.
NFS on an aggressively-wiped-down, lightly used but never-degreased chain is at least reasonably fast. I may just clean a new chain and break it in for an hour or two with NFS in the future. If waxing only saves a single watt over NFS, then I’ll probably continue to use NFS, Synergetic, or Rock & Roll in the future.
Is the general consensus that waxing is roughly 1 watt faster than the best drip lube, assuming a broken-in new degreased chain with each treatment applied appropriately?
I do wonder if some of those organic solvents you used to clean the chain leave a residue that affects the wax. Honestly I ride my squirted cross bike through wet and mud all the time, and it doesn’t get tacky. I’d wash that chain in hot water (with soap), and see if it gets clean. Then just let it dry a bit and apply squirt afterwards. Leave all the mineral spirits etc off. (If hot water doesn’t work to clean it, you know you got something other than wax in there for sure. But I’d think its dissolved in the wax now and will come off with it.)
Can’t help, never degreased a new chain…I just ride it in wet muddy races until the factory grease is gone… then maybe use bike degreaser and then water and squirt.
This very rough cleaning process is likely the reason I can’t get it to last very long, but it does work for me.
For the amount of effort you are putting in, what is stopping you from going down the crock pot MSW, hot wax application? I used to use squirt but found hot wax to be so much nicer for around the same effort in application.
Energy draw. We live on solar and lithium batteries or generator.
Physical space for crockpot storage and chain hanging, with portability.
Crockpots are hot. My garage is my office. I have no AC in garage and my computer and W/D is also in that 8x8 space. I sweat a lot.
Mess on garage floor. The garage door enters directly into our bedroom. I’m 99% sure my wife doesn’t want wax on our sheets. I’m 100% sure she doesn’t want grease marks on them. LOL.
No chain rotation at the moment. Current procedure is wipe down bikes after wet or gritty rides and reapply NFS, or more realistically, right as we head out the door and I remember it’s been 100+ miles since I previously wiped and re-lubed.
We have 6 bikes. 5 that get used regularly. Her track bike is currently a wetsuit hanger.
2 Scott Sparks w/ Sram 12sp (edit: these were waxed, and I planned to just keep using gummy Squirt haha)
3 shimano bikes… all with probably different chain lengths:
Cervelo S5, Cervelo P5, Cannondale SuperSix
Makes sense now! I look forward to doing this when I fly home.
Got it ordered and already delivered to our home based where we’ll return in early July. Looking forward to giving it a shot.
Completely agree. lol. 4 yrs ago I did not know what bike lube or a torque wrench was. I can now build and race-prep bikes and do light carbon mods. But I’m especially good at making things take 5 times longer than they should.
I look forward to doing this when I fly home.