Anyone?

I use squirt on all my bikes including my mtb. But I have found that it doesn't hold up well on gravel bike. I think the combination of water crossing and dry dirt gets to it. Additionally reapplying during a very long ride seems like a bad option. What are people using for events like DK200?

Why don’t you ask a CX racer?

Personally I think dry lube is better as it doesn’t tend to pick up a lot of grit. I’m a fan of Silca NFS. Works well but doesn’t hold up as long as advertised in all conditions. I used it for DK last year and only reapplied once during race.

i used a waxed chain at DK last year. By about 80 miles in, it was LOUD. My teammate used MSW and his was loud too. I just used plain parafin. I think we had the loudest 2 chains in the lead pack.

Land Run is looking like it will be a mudfest. Not sure which lube to go with. I freshly waxed a chain this week. I'll bring lube with me. Not sure how a wet lube will work with a chain that was waxed.

I've been a fan of the silca NFS, but I'm thinking about carrying muc off ceramic wet because i like the size and shape of the bottle and applicator tip better than NFS.

Side note, i heard that Silca NFS is no longer being sold by Silca.

Why not relube a waxed chain with squirt? At least then, the remaining hydrophobic wax should be happy with the fresh squirt. I would definitely take a minute to get as much water and muck off before dripping it on.

I got a super tiny bottle of squirt as a race giveaway, in case such a need arises. It is a prized possession. I keep it in my pack. If you can buy those, would be good.

I’m considering using squirt for re-application. I think for a mostly dry race, that would work very well.

For a wet and muddy race, I don’t know how well it would work. Seems like it would wash off too easy since it wouldn’t have time to dry. It might be slightly better than other dry lubes, but I wouldn’t think it would last as long as a wet lube.

I rode to CP2 before reapplying NFS, then to finish. Chain started to get a little annoyed, but I was surprised how long NFS held up, especially with wet start.

I feel like squirt needs to really settle to be effective so I don't think reapplying at a checkpoint would be effective.

It's fine. It's better when dry, but it still works.

I used squirt (wax-based) last year at DK200, and the chain was screaming coming into each check point. I carried a 1/2 ounce (15ml) bottle of squirt in my top tube bag, and had one in my drop bags. At each checkpoint I rinsed the chain with whatever water was left in my bottle, wiped the chain and reapplied the squirt. That would get me nearly to the next check point before the chain started making noise again.

This year I am going to try Rock n Roll Gold in training and at Almonzo, leading up to DK, to see if it holds up better. Many others have recommended Rock n Roll, but lots of testing will tell if it is any better.

Also, I have had success with Molten Speed Wax, but only when conditions are completely dry. Puddles and stream crossing seem to impact its effectiveness very quickly.

Any reason to use Rock N Roll Gold over Extreme?

No. I've used both quite a bit and frankly the Extreme seems to hold up better while attracting less dust/dirt. I use Squirt on the road, but still use R&R Extreme for cx and gravel.

No reason, other than many people recommend it overall. RnR Gold is supposed to be a happy medium between the smoothness and Absolute Dry and the resilience of Extreme.

Just to add a little more data to the mix, here is what https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/ says about Silca NFS:

Harsh Conditions Lubricant – 7/10 It is still a wet drip lube so contamination will still stick to it and become part of it, however it does an admirable job when water and grit come into play. It cannot match a solid wax like MSW of course which the most impervious to friction increases from harsh conditions, or if it is an extreme event like a 24hr mtb then Smoove which sets to a “plastic” state and does not shed is numero uno there. However if it is your one lube, then it will handle all types of riding very well overall.

So, they liked Wax for harsh conditions if the race is short enough, which DK probably isn't. They also like Smoove, which is one I've never tried. Here is their comment on Smoove:

Again depending on initial prep - If it is dry and dusty harsh – it will be outstanding, if it is wet harsh it will be good – better than most. Note it was still well behind Molten Speed Wax, so for shorter harsh conditions events such as most CX / XC distance events MSW will still be well ahead and vastly easier to prep, but for events of a length that would exceed MSW treatment longevity and re lubing during the event is not feasible / desired – Smoove is the best tested to date after MSW for wet contamination performance.


And here is what they say about Squirt:

It did well enough in wet contamination block – but showed it is susceptible to wet conditions. It was much better than RNR gold, however well short of MSW and bit behind Smoove. Good – but there are better.


They are not fans or Rock n roll Gold

RNR Gold is simply unable to deal with tougher conditions with a fairly small amount of lubrication added even from a generous application, and what is added is easily washed away. The large amount of contamination hosed into the chain by front wheel will not be reset very well by generous re lubing – it really needs a proper flush clean with solvents to reset or high wear rates will remain post wet rides.

I don't think so. I use Gold on my bikes in normal conditions where I'm not chasing watts. If it's truly wet and gritty, you want Extreme. I'm a pretty dedicated waxer and race a bit of CX. If my chain will get wet, I use Extreme. I had a recently waxed chain on in January where it was oddly warm and we thought unsalted, recently melted gravel roads were a good idea. The drivetrain sounded terrible halfway into it and the derailleur packed enough that it actually split into two pieces. Not the hanger. Not the frame. The derailleur broke in two after the pulleys and cage got so jammed.




I have raced way worse conditions in CX season and used dedicated wet lubes without that much trouble. If it's wet, use wet lube.

Silca NFS is what I'd use for DK (or similar). MSW for anything dry and < 150mi (e.g. BWR).

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