I'm also a big fan of RnR lube. I use the super web grease on everything, bb threads, bottom bracket, axle, etc... and blue and gold lube. Usually blue during winter and gold in the summer. But used the blue one for a few seasons year round before trying the gold.

The right product - I’m in love with King’s blue grease - in suspension bearings will significantly decrease service intervals. Doing bearing kits in frames is time consuming and expensive, why not pack bearings with a product that will last significantly longer? Separating, drying out, washing out, gumming up - I’ve seen lots of grease products not do what they’re supposed to.

INA NKIA 5914 Needle Roller Bearings - Metric,70 mm ID, 100 mm OD, 40 mm Width: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific.

4. Fire up your $15 crock pot with wax and whatever oil you have laying around (I use unused partial quarts of motor or manual trans oil I have lying around). Come up with a mixture that is soft at room temperature but not runny.

There’s a good reason that a lot of companies making Pawl style hubs - Industry Nine, P321, Stan’s, etc - recommend Dumonde Tech lube or grease. Cuts down on drag, wear, stays put, and following recommendations it won’t stick up the pawls. The grease quiets hubs down nicely too. As I said in the article, I don’t know anyone who has switched who has switched back to anything else - if you find yourself serving a pawl-style hub maybe try it?

Has anyone tried SCC Slick? It penetrates well and drives out grim and is said to adhere very well also. I used it in the summer and had really good results. It's particularly good and pushing grime out of the micro crevices. In the winter it doesn't make much sense because I find the need to reapply regularly and it's expensive and time consuming doing the drip on every roller routine. In the winter - at least for wet rides - I use whatever happens to be around or Phil Wood. I generally spray my bike off after muddy rides and then clean the chain and reapply lube. Here's this stuff.    scctech.bike

Hub bearings is another place where grease choice is noticeable right in the shop - bearing drag on the bench VS longevity out in the wild. What do you pack hub cartridge bearings in?

Boeshield T-9 for my chains and cables for the last many years with good success.  The chains just seem to stay clean longer with no gunk build up, and its simple to clean and apply.  Can't see how you can go too wrong with it no matter the season. It's one weakness is maybe longevity during the wettest and muckiest of conditions, but there's nothing I've seen or experienced that actually works better in those conditions anyway.

Products mentioned and where to buy*:Dumonde Tech Pro-X Freehub oilDumonde Tech Pro-X Freehub greaseDumonde Tech Pro-X chain lubeBoeshield T9 lubricantSlickoleum / SRAM Butter / Buzz's Slick Honey (they're all the same product)Royal Purple 0W-10 motor oilChris King grease and lube products

I use slikoleum to grease the air piston in my son's Nerf guns... Lots of fun and seems to generate a little more 'pop', but I don't have a high speed camera or police radar to verify this claim. Good 'project' to work on  together though ?

Also, appreciate the comment / counter. There’s a reason it’s titled as an ‘editorial’ not a ‘review’. It’s my opinion sans any spreadsheets or science-ing. Absolutely intended to start a conversation and entertain as much as offer product ideas to those who might be seeking them.

Interestingly I don't need to de-grease before applying to a new chain. In fact I don't bother de-greasing chains at all with rnr blue. Simply wipe down chain and re-lube.

So in all seriousness for a moment, TriFlow will eat your fork bushings. Now, if you're presoaking your foam rings, being generous with the Slickoleum, and storing your bike vertically (so bath oil is sitting at the seals/bushings) then you shouldn't need to re-lube seals between basic lower services.

Dumonde Tech Regular is more precise to apply and also lasts way longer. See Cooper's evangelism re. it's awesome & clean too.

My bikes would argue re. my maintenance policy (all the bearings in my FS bike need to be replaced ASAP for example) but I appreciate the myth!

If I had a sample bottle of Boeshield T-9 I'd give it to you. See AJ's comment re. it's the only thing he uses. It's no more work to apply than TriFlow - just do it the night before a ride for best results - and it lasts way longer and is much cleaner. There are some solid reviews of the stuff in the comments here.

Check out oz cycle on YouTube. His videos got me thinking about chain cleaning and waxing. I’ve followed his methods and modified them to save time. He uses paraffin oil and paraffin wax. In the USA I find the oil in ace hardware, it is labeled as outdoor torch fluid. I substitute engine oil for paraffin oil so I can put unused oil to good use. The wax I get at hobby lobby, just make sure whatever candle wax you get is paraffin and not some blend.

As an aside, if you have a steel frame, Boeshield T-9 is also an excellent product to coat the internal tubes with as a rust prohibitor. I do all our steel MTB frames every year.

I'm sticking with Slickoleum and 50 hour service intervals for both shock/fork. Its served me well for the (total guess here) ~10,000 or so miles I put on my last bike and I'm unwilling to change what I know works.

Nov 5, 2019 — $340 sound just about right. It cost that much because of how much time it takes to change. The whole knuckle has to come off if its a press in bearing.

This is the exact failures I would see on my GXP bottom brackets. No amout of grease fixes this issue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkAxXNYzBGg

For all my suspension stuff I have really loved using WPL oils and grease.  Its a pleasure to work with and isn't harmful to your skin or the environment, which means no harmful crap when cleaning and disposing of it.  The grease works awesome on suspension seals and the oils have been perfect for lowers and damper services.  The forkboost lube does exactly what it says, and is great on dropper post stanchions too, and mixes well with the grease.  I like to add a drop to the grease I'm putting on the suspension seals.  I also use the grease on threads and low rotation bearings like headsets with really good success.  That stuff stays put and gives really slick lubrication despite how thick it feels in hand.

I have to be careful not to be too cynical but in the past when I've seen something that works really well being replaced with something that arguably doesn't work as well (from a performance perspective) it's either pulling cost or pumping marketing.

I like pleasant smelling lubes. But I tell you, every time I use a citrus degreaser, I end up with a din and tonic in a beer mug. That’s just how it is.

How often do you rotate them?  I guess you also need to keep a log of rides / miles so they are getting approximately the same amount of wear.

I would also never change drive trains pre winter as the noise of mud grinding away a new one would be unbearable however with an old drive train I'm not bothered.

I've also been privy to some hilarious (wet, cold, winter day) stories of mechanics tearing down a product to try and hit the advertised weights BITD. Marzocchi was the worst offender by a mile. Like removing oil, the steerer tube, and one stanchion in order to hit what they were claiming. Pretty funny, but there's a reason Cannondale stopped posting claimed weights for bikes - the truth would cost you sales compared to the dreamers.

Really weird to me. RockShox is still recommending a 50hr Lower service and with SKF seals (which they’re using) Slickoleum and well pre-soaked foam rings have always worked great for me in harsh winter conditions. It would be interesting to know what information / experience prompted their change in listed best practices but I’ll definitely be sticking with Slickoleum having used both products.

I mean, by all means, stick with TriFlow on your chain if that's what you like (if nothing else we get to have some fun banter) but I think you'd notice a better experience with either of those products.

I just have to jump in here and support you on the smell thing Perry, since no one else has. I've been using Tri-flow for, uh, 27 years, and it might be entirely for the smell at this point. 27 years ago I legitimately liked the performance too, but since the advent of 1x and narrow-wide, I have to say that while I'm still perfectly happen with my chain under the "never-clean-the-chain-but-tri-flow-and-wipe-down-as-needed" regime, every time I have to scrape the grime out of the pockets in the chain ring I think there has to be a better way...

@Vik Banerjee I use the same approach. I have been buying $19 SRAM PC-1110 chains for my 11 speed drivetrain and don’t find the longevity to be all that different from more expensive chains. I wipe/lube with cheap triflow every ride, and have zero qualms about replacing the chain as soon as needed.

As Andrew mentioned above, I too can't recommend the Boeshield T4 enough. Great stuff and I couldn't see myself using another anytime soon. It's been my go-to for 5 years now and I have to drive an hour each way to re-stock.

It's easy to acquire, relatively cheap, and everyone planning to do basic service on their suspension fork, air shock, or dropper post should own some. I've used it around the house on a few different things that need to slide - reducing breakaway friction - and it's become common enough in my life that I start getting nervous when I'm down to the last 1/4 of a container. Locally it's available at plenty of bike shops, SuspensionWerx, and MEC or you can find it online.

I've been using it as my  summer chain lube with good results although it also seems to cause gunking up of chain rings etc.  Then again, I tend to over apply and not wipe off because I'm always in too much of a hurry so maybe that's my fault.

I've been using Squirt chain lube exclusively for the last 12 years, in every imaginable terrain and weather conditions. Works very well for me in all but the most extreme wet conditions (think monsoon rains, axle deep creek crossings).

You are correct that SRAM recommends their dynamic seal grease for rear shock air can seals, my understanding is that Butter is still recommended for forks seals but companies change recommendations regularly so I contend it’s possible - though I can’t think of why that would be the case.

Rock n Roll lube works well for me. Their super web grease stays put and keeps water out of bearings. The chain lube goes on wet to rinse some dirt out, then drys leaving a film of oil behind. I remove my chains quite frequently to clean in solvent so the rock lube works well for me between rides.

To be fair, I don’t have that many! I just really like what I use & keep an open mind to new stuff folks highly recommend (okay, so I have a few).

There are lots of good options (many opinions) and the only thing I've tried in the last couple years I absolutely couldn't abide was Whistler Performance Lubes crap. It's basically hot drivetrain mess in a bottle.

From what I recall, you only want about 1/3 of a bearing filled with grease. I guess this is due to the grease interfering with the balls rolling around on their races, causing them to skip and slide instead of actually rolling. Thus you drastically decrease their life.

I don’t go through a bottle/container very quick so it’s not a regular occurrence. Last time I needed a bottle of oil I think my friend Duncan at Comor NV (call him Dougcan - he loves that) tacked it on to his order for me and had it next day. Might have been Uncle Lou at Obsession though - I deal with a few local shops regularly.

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Thank you for writing it out Dan. A couple reader-non-commenters I know told me they’re going to give waxing a try using your method (I’m assuming their chains).

WRT to the chain lube, It sounds from these responses like T-9 wax or Dumonde Tech lube is the way to go. I'm in the Triflow club, but I've known it's a pretty sub-par club for quite a while now.

I don't see the point in running a new drive train in the winter and trying to keep it all looking fresh and new. A big ol oily mess actually runs better than you think and all the gunk makes it forgiving when running it into the ground. If I ran a new retrain in the winter and swapped on a chain or two, I'd have to replace it in the spring anyways. This way I just run the one that is half worn all winter and start fresh in the spring.

I still recommend Boeshield T-9 highly. It's a parrafin-based lube so it penetrates and then dries into a wax-film. Again it's easy to clean (just wipe the chain down), it's quiet, it wears really well, and a bottle lasts a while. The secret is to apply it the night before a ride.

I'm running CK Blue Grease in the bearings of a Chris King, Wolf Tooth, and Works Components headset. I'm also using it in some suspension frame bearings that I flushed and repacked to see if it prolongs my service interval over the trailer bearing grease I usually repack these bearings with. It’s designed first and foremost for resilience and protection and it’s thick. Not something I run in a bearing meant to spin.

I been using Squirt for a couple seasons, it seems to work well and be pretty clean, best not toleave it in the shed to freeze over the winter or it will thicken up but if that happens you can just thin it out with some water

Go plantfleet

I would consistently kill bearings on my V1 bronson frame. On my V3 bronson frame I've yet to have anything but silky smoth bearings after 15 months of ownership. My V1 had an issue where I think it was flexing under load, binding the bearings, and destroying them prematurely.

If forks are coming dry that are supposed to have 10cc in the lowers that's a QC/QA issue, I'm positive companies are shipping dry forks to save weight.

Care For Your DebonAir was one of the first projects Jeff and I did together and I still get messages about it. The secret ingredient, as usual, is Slickoleum.

I go through a fair amount of Slickoleum a year keeping the bikes in my family rolling. In some cases, whether it's service or a fresh ride, lubing up the air can or fork lowers on budget test bikes has been experience-changing. If you're working on your own suspension this is an absolute must-have product.

I hear you on this antibiotic thing. I find as long as you wipe down at the end of every ride, reapply and do a final wipe it's good enough to keep chain going till end of life. I use a dry brush to get the gunk off and this works well with Dumonde Tech or Maxima dry chain lube. Full solvent tank cleaning is a waste of time. I've also come to feel this way about linkage bearings. I did at one time flush bearings and re grease. This is a pain in the arse. It's better to wipe as much away as possible and just push new grease in with a small point grease gun wiping any dirty grease the comes out. Same with new bearings, there isn't enough grease in them so just pop a seal and push some more of whatever in and away you go. I use an ultrasonic cleaner with simple green HD for all my cleaning. Honestly, I use whatever bearing grease from the industrial supply store (right now I have some purple stuff). Slathering your bearings with anything is going to be way better than the factory bike assembly.

As far as I know. I believe they just started a new label for the cycling community. I have had some around for tools and just started using it. It was working better than anything I had used to that time. And was cleaner. Win - win.

*Some product links in this article are affiliate links and resulting sales may earn NSMB a small commission. This doesn't increase the cost to you, but it does help us out a little if you follow these links and decide to buy the linked product or something else from that retailer.

I purposely didn’t write about chainlube. In addition to being very locale-specific people all clean their bikes differently and etc and it’s all anecdotal anyways. I use Boeshield T-9 or Dumonde Tech regular. In either case I only apply when needed, don’t hose my rigs, and it’s always surprising how long a tiny bottle lasts. Highly recommended but whatever works for you.

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I use copper anti-seize on all the bolts on my bike, or more accurately anything that threads in including my bottom bracket. The only exception is threads that come with factory-Loctite applied in which case I'll use them as-is for the first go and then apply anti-seize when I remove them in the future before reinstalling.

Anyways - everyone has their own thing but I like how much less lube I use compared to my previous chain maintenance routines.

No, I'm not sponsored by Slickoleum. I mention it because I've been asked plenty of times since I started doing teardowns for NSMB in 2016. And yes, the stuff is that good. In fact, for a whole lot of applications, it's the best. Whether I'm lubing the seals on my Suntour Durolux, the seal head on any dropper post I've used, or the air seals on any suspension product, it does the trick. And you know who agrees with me? SRAM. Because their lastest 'Butter' is just that. Slick Honey is the same stuff too.

I'm always playing with different stuff when changing frame bearings. I have to do my linkage ASAP (freakin' Trunnion mount bearings) and it's always about trying to think of ways that will keep me from having to do it again for a while.

tho seriously, i've not used many alternatives. most stuff i've tried attracts too much crap. i refuse to be forced to de-grease a chain. i like the tri because it's light enough that i never have to clean my chain - just re-lube when things start to rust. plus it's cheap, and sold at mec. are you saying there may be a better alternative for people like me that prefer minimal maintenance?

And, I'm curious. Always curious. Since I'm using the Silver Grease in non-King hub bearings, and the Blue Grease in non-King headset and frame bearings, I'm also figuring on experimenting with the RDL-2 in a non-King hub where I normally run Dumonde Tech Freehub Oil on the coil-sprung pawls to see how it holds up in a non-Ring Drive application. Never stop trying things!

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Do you have a best in class lube recommendation either generic or specific to where you ride? Please post below, I'd love to hear it.

Go plantLight

One thing I'd love recommendation on is chain lube. I prefer to use something that's appropriate for all conditions, but I've always just used Tri-flow. I'm sure there are better things to use, because even when I try to go heavy on cleaning and light on lube re-application, it still ends up building up crap when riding in the dry. Any advice on that?

Neither the oil or the grease gets gummy even as the winter months make the guts of everything on my bike disgusting, and for all their resilience, both products clean up fairly easily when it's service time. I also find that because the guts don't get gummed up and because the products are resilient that my service intervals are reduced.I may sound like an evangelist for these products but I've yet to meet a convert who's gone back to using anything else. Neither product is inexpensive, but I use so little that even with maintaining multiple bikes and doing NSMB teardowns the stuff lasts a long time. I've used various oils and light greases over the years and nothing holds a candle to Pro X when there's pawls involved.

Today I was thinking back to the Santa Cruz Bullit 2. Single Pivot using a bottom bracket that any home mechanic (at the time) had a tool for... quick swap out and then change the bearings in the BB at your leisure. Modern kinematics (but not too modern, if I wanted to ride a hardtail downhill, I'd ride my hardtail downhill) and geometry with 27x2.8" wheels. It's probably all local riders need (even if it's not all they want).

@Andrew Major I think what Vik has to say about always checking chain wear is best advise from what I've seen. I go about it in a different way. I buy 4 moderately priced chains up front with a brand new drivetrain and rotate them all through. Watch the last video on this page about increasing chainring life: https://absoluteblack.cc/chainrings.html

@dan - I'm running 10 speed and I tend to change the lot in one go (chain, cassette, chainring and jockey wheels) once the chain starts dropping off the chainring.  I tend to ignore chain stretch as I never run a new chain on an old cassette .  I have just picked up a Works chainring, HG500 (11-42) cassette and XT chain for £65 inc postage but am keen to get a little more life out of the cassette and chainring so your idea of rotating appeals.

What went wrong with the WPL fork oil?  Think it was specific to a certain fork/damper design or viscosity?  My experience with it has been with DVO, so the 2.5wt in the damper and the 7wt in the lowers.

anyone use Squirt lube on the coast?  I live in the interior and love the stuff, though our conditions aren't as wet as the coast.

Have you used the T-9? I feel like it’s differently awesome in such a way as to create doubt that there’s only one winner in this category?!

Pro X Freehub oil is also the best product I've come across for cables and housing by a large margin. It stays smoother longer than any other product I've flushed through my gear or dropper housings and I've tried plenty of different lubricants over the years.

I know what you're thinking, is the product really that good? When I factor in labour (mine or paid) versus longevity and performance I can easily justify using them myself and recommending them to every discerning year-round rider and, frankly, my one complaint is that wish I could buy it in larger quantities to cut the cost down.

With their new Ring Drive Lube 2.0, Chris King makes a play at winning back my business by matching the low resistance of the Royal Purple and beating the longevity of their previous product. My wife has a fully broken-in King hub on her bike and I'm impressed with the results once installed.

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(I was also going to mention that no fork manufacturer I know of recommends lubing stanchions / most recommend against lubing stanchions between services; however, I know neither of us actually cares about that)

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Am surprised nobody has mentioned NFS chain lube - it seems to be the darling product for those caring about friction..but no word on how it deals with high-rain settings. Colour me curious.

Since moving to Van Isle 10 years ago from YYC and starting to ride year round with half the year being wet my chain maintenance regieme has evolved or devolved [depending how you look at it] to the following:

I do not use a hose to wash my bike unless it's truly mud-pocalypse. Typically I let bike dry and brush dirt off then wipe down supension/dropper. Using Mudhugger fenders keeps most $$ bits relatively clean even in wet winter conditions.

ooh, i DO use it to lube fork seals as well. plus, it smells really good (is there anything that can beat it aromatically? that's a significant plus in my books).

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A prime example of the perpetual truth that what's old is new again. I don't know how far back it goes, but I personally know folks who've been waxing chains since they were gravel griding their 10-speeds in the 1970s. It's time-consuming.

I'm just reluctant to use blue loc-tite on my thru axles, bb spindle, steerer tube, fork wipers, canti pivots, pedal threads, valve stems and seat post shaft.

Not to rain on the slickoleum parade, but SRAM switched to recommending  its dynamic seal grease for seals and wipers now, right?

I been using Squirt for a couple seasons, it seems to work well and be pretty clean, best not toleave it in the shed to freeze over the winter or it will thicken up but if that happens you can just thin it out with some water

Tags: Spring Tuning, Chris King Grease, Hub Service, Teardown, Dumonde Tech, Freehub, Bearing Service, Chris King, Slickoleum Posted in: Features, Editorial, Gear, Components - Hubs & Rims, Accessories - Maintenance, Accessories - Tools

@dan - I'm running 10 speed and I tend to change the lot in one go (chain, cassette, chainring and jockey wheels) once the chain starts dropping off the chainring.  I tend to ignore chain stretch as I never run a new chain on an old cassette .  I have just picked up a Works chainring, HG500 (11-42) cassette and XT chain for £65 inc postage but am keen to get a little more life out of the cassette and chainring so your idea of rotating appeals.

For example, suspension companies seem to constantly be to coming up with ways to advertise longer maximum service intervals than the competition. Who cares if the stuff feels like sh*t as long as it's within the magic number of hours of riding right? Even if doing basic service more often (cleaning seals, replacing 10cc of bath oil in the lowers, Slickoleum, soak foam rings) keeps suspension working awesomely for the whole major service interval.

Someone at Marin Bikes agrees with me; all the bolts on the Wolf Ridge were dosed with Copper Anti-Seize as were the headset cups.

Yes, I've had multiple custom frame builders recommend Boeshield as an alternative to Frame Saver. It's really easy to track down and works great. If you get beyond the bike, Boeshield actually sells T-9 as a rust inhibitor for automotive applications.

My winter program is to wear the whole thing into the ground. An old chain, cassette and chairing can stay on all winter if you just let the oil/dirt residue build up. When I hit the shoulder season, I just leave the old drive train on and keep applying oil. Every so often I rub off some excess but in general just leave it a big oily mess.

Shocks are running hotter because people are taking 140mm trail bikes to the park and doing top/bottom runs. They need the grease to stay in the seal area and not weep out when it gets warm.

I haven't used Chris King's original Ring Drive Lube in maybe a decade. For both my wife's King hubs and my own I've preferred to run a full synthetic Royal Purple 0W-10 motor oil with the viscosity of water that James at SuspensionWerx tracked down. Less drag in exchange for more frequent maintenance.

PS i'm in Surrey, UK so very wet and muddy at the moment - hence I am riding single speed a lot at the moment and the geared bike stays in the shed.

The only bearings I service are the jockey wheel bearings and Chris king bb with their special tool. If a wheel, non Chris king bb, or suspension bearing needs serviced then it is likely so damaged so just replace it. Repacking does not give me enough additional life to make it worth it. In general sram gxp bb’s don’t last very long because they put severe load on the non drive side bearing, no amount of repacking will fix an engineering problem. Once the bearing race is pitted the bearing is not long for the world. I see the same with wheel and suspension bearings. Just replace.

Edit: I'm in the east coast of the USA and REI has boeshield T9. I may give it a shot for the times I don't wax my chains to see how it compares. Its a bit pricey but I'm always down experimenting.

How often do you rotate them?  I guess you also need to keep a log of rides / miles so they are getting approximately the same amount of wear.

For 35mm seals, SRAM now say to use the DSG instead of Slickoleum, and around 3ml of 0-30 on top of the air spring piston. The reason being that while the DSG might not feel quite as good straight after the service, it will stay in place much better. The 0-30 will slowly migrate past the air piston which is why they only recommend 3ml. More, and if you don't keep up with scheduled lower leg services, you might end up will too much oil in the lower. This info was from a presentation at Crankworx :)

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I put a freshly cleaned/lubricated chain on nearly every ride. Remember I have a connex link, so its a 30 second job. Its a bit more investment up front, but I've doubled my cassette life. I ride the same bike summer/fall/winter/spring. This saves me money as I only use one bike to ride in the mud and sandy conditions.

Full disclosure and I think it's well documented - I'm not a fan of TriFlow. I was using it in cables, but actually, both Boeshield T-9 (chain lube) and Dumonde Tech freehub oil last longer and are less gross in that application as well.

Go plantlocations

That’s where Silver comes in. After flushing an Enduro bearing and installing the Silver Grease, I've decided to flush my next set of replacement bearings and run this grease in my hubs going forward. King is aiming to maximize longevity and "provide extremely low drag." The drag factor is definitely so it's just a matter of durability - something King is legendary for with their other products. I'm also running the Silver Grease in a Chris King hub.

For 12-speed, I have become convinced that the X01 chain is worth the splurge over GX. That thing goes forever, whereas GX seems to last a more typical length of time before reaching 0.5% elongation.

I've run multiple dropper posts using the same Shimano 4mm housing on my hardtail for almost two years with no thoughts of replacing it. I also ran a few drivetrains on my last full suspension bike with just a few drops of oil at the start of winter and the start of Spring. It doesn't take much and nice stainless cables and housing are expensive so I think it's a very decent cost savings in terms of both time and material.

I think the OEM's are reducing the amount of oil they put in the lowers so they can advertise lower weight and are relying on the grease in the uppers to stay put for the needed lubrication.

But, there are some folks that NEED to lube their stanchions - and I get it, I NEED to sand the teeth on my single speed cog even when I don't - and they definitely want to use a fluoro silicone. The easiest thing to come by is Finish Line Fluoro Stanchion Lube.

Andrew, where are you buying your Dumonde Tech oil/grease? I like the right tool for the job, and that extends to lubes and greases ...

[aside] This is one of the reasons I prefer bladder dampers (Fox FIT forks, RockShox Charger, new Manitou Mezzer, Cane Creek Helm, etc) compared to open bath dampers like the Grip series from Fox. Combing a coil spring or a cartridge air system (like Ohlins uses) with a bled damper is the magic bullet for more frequent quick & clean basic service with very little oil to dispose of and potentially no hassle.[/aside]

What do you clean them in solvent wise? I’ve done cassettes / cogs / rings but have had mixed results with chain life cleaning them in a solvent tank - sort of an antibiotic killing the good bacteria too sort of situation.

I pick up my Boeshield from Lee Valley. There is one in every major city in the country and as mentioned a bottle goes a long way. They seem to always have it in stock and as I recall it was less expensive than picking it up at a LBS. FYI.

Yeah I've always wondered about Superlube.  We use it a lot at work and it has a similar look and feel to Slickoleum (maybe a little thicker?).

I've found rock and roll blue to be the best chain lube for all conditions. It deals well with dusty and sandy Australian conditions as well as NZ mud.

The Boeing T-9 stuff has cut my required cleaning/lubing intervals at least in half, maybe 2/3s. Way less fussing around.

I started using Boeshield T-9 on the recommendation of James@SuspensionWerx - years before I worked for him. I was wiping down and relubing my chain every nasty winter ride and it felt like I was going through litres of chainlube. With the T-9 I’d apply it on a clean dry chain at night (so it could dry) and then I’d get a few rides between applications. I don’t know if it saved me money but it really cut down on the volume I used and I found it a lot easier to clean my chain between applications. I ended up selling a lot of it in the shops I worked at after that.

Also, just a quick update on a previous Pistons and Pivots conversation: That  Dodge Cummins based Chevy C10 in Squamish. It's a single cab long box, white, and owned by the guy who owns Munster (Custom Snowmobile Parts). Often hauling a big white trailer. Keep an eye out, it's such a nice combo of trucks.

Blue is for low rotation bearings. Silver is for high rotation bearings. Ring Drive Lube 2.0 is just for King Ring Drives - or is it‽

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Maybe SRAM are quietly admitting that most people are terrible at keeping to scheduled service intervals and are playing a bit safe? I think Shimano should have clear bladders and reservoir caps so that riders can bleed their brakes before the fluid goes jet black and blocks the lever ;)

After reading this article I'm starting to think the lube, grease and anti-seize shelf at your bench must look like the premium whisky rail at a high end cigar bar.    And I love that mental image.

But, with that said, while the stuff is expensive compared to a giant tub of generic waterproof grease from the auto shop, I was actually very surprised it's not more expensive. Compare the Chris King lubricant lineup pricing to most the similarly-sized, repackaged crap sold for bicycles and it's fairly competitive without even taking performance into consideration.

It drives the shop guys crazy and every so often one of them "does me a favour" and cleans the drive train, charges me $20 to do it and I have to throw it away because the chain sucks and everything is far too gone to replace any one part.

I love slickoleum for all the reasons you mention. Bel-Ray water proof grease is what I swear by for headsets and suspension bearings (and anywhere else you don't want water). I assume it's probably similar to the Chris King product, and I think it's very similar to Maxima water proof as well.

Do me a favour, scroll up, and tell Perry "I Love TriFlow" Schebel to give the T-9 a try. He needs some prompting to ditch that TriFlow.

Some great information here... I will admit Andrew that your maintenance policy is above and beyond most mortals... but I get it.. Slickoleum is a staple for me and I like the Dumonde products as well.    No experience with the Chris King products but they are intriguing.   If you have the time and fortitude to maintain your bike to these standards then using the best products is a no brainer.

Pro X Freehub Oil or Pro X Freehub Grease? That is indeed the question and for many hubs. The answer is slurry of both. I'm also a fan of Dumonde Tech's Regular formula chain lube but I know personal preference reigns in that category. Another good one is Boeshield T9.Lubing up hub guts, on the other hand, is settled law. Any hub with pawls, I'm running Dumonde Tech Pro X Freehub products. Hubs with coil springs like the Industry Nine Torch get the oil only and for hubs like the new Industry Nine Hydra or Race Face Vault that use leaf springs, I use grease on the springs and add a bit of oil to the works. I've also used Dumonde Tech Pro X Freehub Oil in place of mineral oil on the True Precision Stealth roller clutch hub and with the magnetic pawls of the Project 321 hubs.

I use disc brake cleaner and plenty of paper towels.  Degreaser should work but you will need to flush with disc cleaner before greasing.

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If you follow the instructions (clean chain, one drop per roller, only re-lube when needed) then the Dumonde Tech regular chain lube is really good. The bottle lasts a long time and that's what we've been using in the house lately. For trail use, I like how easily it wipes up as how infrequent I need to apply it (I'm not a hoser so other experiences may vary).

Edit X2: I have not had good luck with any Enduro bearings. I try to stick with, NTN, FAG, SKF, Koyo, and NSK. You need to order through an authorized distributor as their are plenty of fakes out there, looking at you Amazon!

Not just for King products, my new favourite grease for bearings in low rotation applications and my new favourite grease for bearings in higher-speed applications both come from the Portland-based company. I have to add a massive caveat here as, while I've used Dumonde Tech Freehub Oil and Grease for a few years, and Slickoleum for almost a decade, these Chris King lubricants are comparatively new to the market. Let me disclose that I'm beyond chuffed with them and so tempering my bike-nerdy desire to write flourishing sonnets to their lubricating qualities is proving a chore onto itself.

I wonder how many of these bike specific products are just re-branded versions of much less expensive industrial lubricants.  I suspect many/most are.

Pro X, I approached Dumonde Tech to do a review of their regular lube based on their claims of longevity and they didn’t hesitate to step up. It was a great review experience (it does what they say and a bottle lasts a loooong time following their application process - which is the same I used for T-9 = one drop/roller at a time). Great stuff, but my favourite thing about it is it led me to their Freehub oil/grease.

Speaking of hub pawls, I've actually been using Slickoleum with good result in my Hope hubs recently.  I might have to get some of the Dumonde Tech Pro X Grease to compare.

Nice. I know a good few folks who used to wax/oil chains in a 2-stage practice. It definitely takes some commitment to preventative maintenance to stay on top of it! I think Boeshield T-9 is the closest end result you find in a single bottle/application as it's paraffin-based and leaves a wax film. Definitely more expensive than your process though.

For me, the Dumonde regular chain lube (green label) is working well (they sell it at Kissing Crows Cyclery on Main St). For DT hub star ratchet, I used their pink grease. For loose ball hubs I repack with the bright yellow/green stuff from Shimano - nice consistency imo. Triflow for inner cables. Shimano freehubs get the Dumonde freehub oil. I use similar trick to Vik and buy cheaper chains and replace often.

Also, has anyone found a 'unicorn' chain lube that sticks well enough not to wash off in extreme wet weather but still does not capture grit or cake up on the chain rings or derailleur pulleys?

Acoem developed the world's first shaft alignment tool with integrated software that calculated measurement values with visible red laser and additional ...

This is pretty much what I have done for the last 5 years.  New 10 speed drive train (cheap and cheerful) on the spring once it stops raining and the mud dries up and run it for as long as possible (generally a year) and repeat the following spring.

I ride in the same climate as you, and I have to clean and lube my chain half as often or less since moving away from the Tri-flow. I used to have to do a full clean/lube after nearly every winter ride if I didn't want to feel like I was riding a squeaky mess. When riding on the other side of the mountains, Tri-flow attracts all the sand, and turns my drive-train into a grindy mess.

A single point lubricator (SPL) is one of the lubrication tools provide grease to a specific spot or area in machines.

I can only speak for local conditions but if you’re putting enough hours on a bike year round then I, as noted, find the difference is huge.

The Kluber Isoflex LDS 18 Special A grease that Onyx uses for their clutch assembly works awesome in bearings as well.  Really expensive to purchase, but a little goes a long ways and damn it seems to last forever and resists contamination very well.

I also use Slickoleum in my Hope free hub, but mostly because I have it on hand, and the viscosity is about right. Some definitely leaks past the seal after a fresh clean/re-lube, but enough stays inside to keep things going until the next time (usually about once every 6 months).

I repack bearings before install/use and I think there's an improved result aside from bottom brackets. The joke is that single speeders never need to worry about bottom brackets getting seized because we change them so often (I use copper anti-seize on the threads anyways). I'm really eager to try an Enduro XD15 bottom bracket to see if the much harder race surface gives me a longer life but it's a pretty large investment if it doesn't make a difference.

I've been using Park Tool HPG-1 High Performance Grease in similar places to where Andrew mentions he uses the Chris King Blue grease and it seems to do a good job.  It also is pretty thick so tends to add a lot of drag if used in hub bearings or on hub pawls.

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The advantage of the thicker PTFE dynamic seal grease in the air shock application, that I see, is that when your air shock gets cooking hot it won’t liquify so there’s no risk of customers asking for warranty because they see a ring of oil on the body of their Monarch after a top-to-bottom Whistler run. Slickoleum can and will liquify/purge in certain use conditions.

I recently have received a couple of messages from readers regarding the Permatex Copper Anti-Seize I use when assembling bikes. I've lost count of the number of jars I've been through over the years starting with my first few titanium bolts. From bottom brackets to headset cups, to stem bolts, if I want to put something in my bike, have it stay there until I want to remove it, and then make removal easy, this is my go-to. If it's the best stuff for keeping titanium bolts from bonding to other metals, and keeping other metals from bonding to titanium frames, then why wouldn't it cross over to other materials?Doing a wet pedal up the No Quarter climb on Fromme, it dawned on me that we're approaching Spring Service Season. It seems like the right time to talk about lube since there are many inferior grease and lube products on the market. What works for me may not be ideal for your riding environment, but here's a quick look at products I prefer in my home shop.

PS i'm in Surrey, UK so very wet and muddy at the moment - hence I am riding single speed a lot at the moment and the geared bike stays in the shed.

Loctite also serves as anti seize because it provides a layer that helps prevent two metals (usually dissimilar) from corroding together. Steel into aluminum and I don’t want it to back out like a shock bolt? Try some loctite blue. Also it only hardens in the absence of oxygen, so you can put a drop on threads and it won’t harden until you assemble the fastener.

I can't help think that the whole 'having less oil in the lowers to keep weight down' is a bit of an old wives / husbands / common-law partners tale. The correct amount in all RS 35mm forks is 10ml in each leg (maybe there's an exception) which weighs pretty well nothing. More likely to be a installation / QC error if that happens IMHO.

@Andrew Major Whatever solvent I have lying around. Paint thinner, stale gasoline, etc. I put the dirty solvent in a glass jar after use and the dirt settles to the bottom, thus I can keep reusing it. I use a Connex reusable link for ease of removal. I’ve been waxing the chains because $10 of wax mixed with some unused manual transmission oil lasts 2 years. I’m getting significantly longer cassette life for a small “to me” additional time invested in cleaning.

However, that comes out of a real issue. We used to regularly get dry Marzocchi forks BITD. Take a 2003 Monster-T where they saved some 2lbs, not to mention the $$$, shipping forks with no fluids in them.

One case that really quirks me: I've noted my disappointment in reviews of the Carbon Chameleon and my first look at Polygon's Siskiu that Fox is nickel-and-diming their basic customers by forgoing to the single biggest performance improvement they've made since introducing Fox Forx for the 2002 model year, which is, of course, using SKF main seals.

Do me a favour; scroll down and tell Perry "I Love TriFlow" Schebel that. He needs some more prompting to try something different on his chain.

En determinados casos, es fácil saber cuál elegir. Por ejemplo, si no hay una desalineación significativa, un acoplamiento rígido será la solución más barata y ...

What's up with waxing chains?  Just came across this for the first time the other day (weird because it seems it's been a thing for quite some time).  Anyway, thinking about it... any experience?  Pros? Cons?

For some reason you can repack a sram jockey wheel bearing and it’ll live for quite some time even though the races are obviously junk. Must be because it is low load application.

I have read this article with a mixture of amazement and bewilderment. I find it incredible that you are able to discern the qualities of various lubes while riding and wrenching, something i never could. At no point over the last decade or so have i ever thought about the quality of the lubes i use on the bike. My chain is lubed with whatever happens to be available at the nearest bike shop. The same stuff is used for cables. Most of the mechanical stuff sees some generic lithium grease and suspension lube + oil comes from the nearest moto shop (which generally means either Motorex or Castrol). Admittedly, my DT wheels came with some special grease for the ratchets. The only time i noticed something particular about lube was a cheap multipurpose grease separating into its components after a few years.