FWIW, I have not loathed a lube more than Squirt in a long time.
Super disappointed after reading all the hype and positive reviews. Someone asked if maybe I had a counterfeit bottle, so I tried 3 bottles from different sources… no change. I was also asked if I cleaned my chains enough before the first application; the answer is yes. I used an ultrasonic cleaner with degreaser and did 3 heated baths/cycles on each chain, and then baked them after to completely dry them. They were as clean as clean can get.
My problem is two-fold, with the biggest issue being that this stuff is just incredibly messy. People are saying “no more greasy black hands after handling my chain”… what the ? All three of the chains/bikes I applied Squirt on ended up sticky, black, goo EVERYWHERE. I was figuring the wax in Squirt would dry harder than it does. It stays rather soft, like playdoh, and it’s very sticky. Despite what the Squirt marketing material says, the excess does NOT flake off during riding. Instead, it collects on your derailleur pulleys, cassette, and chainring. I went through a ton of shop towels trying to keep my drivetrain mildly clean with Squirt on there. I ended up putting new chains on and completely ditching Squirt after about 2 weeks, and I’m STILL finding black wax goo in random places, including making a mess of my shop and basement floor near the trainer… 6 months later.
The other issue is that it just didn’t seem to last all that long from a lubrication stand point either. My drivetrain would start developing noise within a couple hour MTB ride, where as the ProGold Xtreme I have used for years (and have went back to) works silently and cleanly for 4-5+ hour MTB rides. Been back on PGX now for 6 months on all my bikes, no complaints, no mess, no chain noise.