Here is one for $9.96 from Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/...Slow-Cooker/50213889

I just finished lubing my chain with Squirt with this thread in mind. Each drop wicks throughout the link almost instantly. I just can imagine any advantage to soaking the chain in the stuff.

You might try the Premier wax lube instead. You get a huge bottle for about the same price as the little Squirt bottle and I think it is a way better.

Did you mean to say " I just can't imagine..." or are you happy with "I can imagine...."
It really is going to make a huge difference to how I am going to prepare for my next bike ride. I wish I knew how to make this pink).

Seriously????? Its just a bike lube!

Sorry, I can't imagine. I never cease to be amazed by the ability of the Slowtwitch community to overthink things.

Hang on mate. You say what I say is beyond you're imagination then you criticise me for correcting your mistake then you have the temerity to say you can't believe the Slowtwitch community????? Get yourself a mirror buddy.

It seems like we have stronger opinions about lubing our chains compared to brushing/flossing our teeth.

I'm in the camp of somewhat following the mfg recommendations. With Squirt for example, it seems like overkill to soak a chain in it. Even if it drips off and you save and reuse the dripped off liquid. Wouldn't the dripped off liquid get a little dirtier each time you did this and then you would be applying less clean Squirt.

I use RockNRoll Gold lube; except I don't douse the chain per mfg recommendations. I squirt and wipe off thoroughly about 3 times so I can see the cloth getting less dirty after each squirt down and wipe down. Very happy with the difference it makes 2x a month. I ride outside and in FL we tend to get sand on the chain from the road so I want to lube and wipe it off frequently.

I can understand wax in an indoor world or a "clean" outdoor world. Don't know how wax and sand/dirt go together. So if I have to lube 2x a month, I like to keep it simple and keep the chain on the bike.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

I still use the old school method

Wax is great with sand, as sand doesn't stick. This made my choice for cyclocross an easy one.

What is that stuff made of? Friction modifiers? WS2 "nano particle" additive? Micro particles? I visited the website and I still don't know. Is it wax based?

The Premier Lube is made from a blend of emulsified wax (waxes suspended in water) with nano particles of Tungstun Dysulfide "WS2" (a friction reduction modifier).

The reason we use nano particles of WS2 is so that we can get the friction modifier small enough to imbed in the very small valleys in our micro surface engineered chains.

In the past, to produce our Optimized chains, we smoothed the pins, plate and rollers down from a manufacturing tolerance on the chain components from an Ra of 16-18 micro inches (peak to valley average roughness) down to Ra of 3.75. After this physical treatment of the chain, we run it through a cycle impinging the WS2 and then hot wax the chain like others do. This is how we physically make our chains smoother and last a lot longer than a simple wax job.

Back a few years ago we used regular friction modifiers like MSO2 and/or PTFE (because the particles size of those friction modifiers are not small enough to get into a lower (better) Ra treatment on our chains - we did not bother to smooth the chains further. The friction modifier particle needs to partially sit in the surface valley like a scoop of ice cream on a cone. So you only smooth the surface to a level that the particle size of the modifier can remain effective (hold on the the part).

When we found a company that made nano particles of WS2 - it then made sense to further process our chains down to 1.75 Ra and change the friction modifier to take advantage of both smoother surfaces and better friction modifier.

We also use that same friction modifier in our lube.

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Dan Kennison

facebook: @triPremierBike
http://www.PremierBike.com
http://www.PositionOneSports.com

From website: "Formulated from high Quality Waxes and Low Friction Nano-Modifiers"


I switched from squirt and like it much better.

Sand and dirt just bounce of the wax. I used Rock-N-Roll Gold for a year, and it left some nasty stains on my clothes and car upholstery. I haven't had much luck in completely getting rid of the stains in the car.

Might give wax a try when I run out of RnR Gold. There was a great price with free shipping so there's two large bottles remaining. Lacking family and adversaries, my bike goes in the trunk with wheels off.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Thank you!

I was wondering a few days ago whether tungsten disulfide would be a better choice than molybdenum disulfide a few days ago due to the lower coefficient of friction. I guess the answer is yes. Would tungsten disulfide also work better when added to paraffin wax in a crock pot?

You guys really should be looking for a European distributor - I'd buy in a heartbeat (the $80 shipping fees for a couple of chains + lube are a bit of a downer...)

I don't think so but I have not done any testing.

Standard WS2 powder is not easy to keep in suspension in a crockpot with melted wax. If you had a way to add continuous agitation and used an ultrasonic unit it might work.

Suspended in lube it works because of the way the small particles are blended. That is why our lube has a slight gray tint to it.

The Moly and/or PTFE will be easier for home small batch use.

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Dan Kennison

facebook: @triPremierBike
http://www.PremierBike.com
http://www.PositionOneSports.com

Do yourself a favor and give away the RnR to someone you don’t like and switch to wax sooner rather than later. Life is too short to use petroleum-based lubes.

At the risk of giving this thread too much credence I wish to publicly apologise for taking umbrage when I suspect none was intended.
BTW the link to which you referred is excessive in my opinion but it encapsulates the tenor of this thread.
Cheers,
Mark

Thanks I guess, I thought you were joking. Other than poking a little fun at people taking this stuff too seriously, I wasn't trying to criticize anyone. Poor communication both ways I guess.

My understanding is that moly disulfide bonds better to a clean metal surface than tungsten disulfide. Might not have as good friction properties but stays where it's supposed to. Chain needs to be ultra clean first. Not sure what effect other previous coating treatments may have.

Regarding size and dispersions of nanoparticles. Don't believe a word of what any suppliers tell you. They will lie their heads off if they think they can't be disproved. I have many colleagues who work with nano particle dispersions. People have been claiming for a dozen years that they have solved the dispersion problem, but measurements show that it's still a huge problem. The particles tend to clump together and ruin the expected properties. You need to ndependently measure an improvement in desired properties. If you go on what suppliers claim I am 90% sure you're wasting time and money.

Send me a message. I just recently became a dealer for MSW and am based in Holland. Got quite some stock of the wax and the race powder ready to ship out.

Thank you Dan & carlosflanders for sharing your insights, very interesting! Looks like I'll have to cough up for Fedex and UK Customs.

Thank you - I am mostly lusting after the Premier optimized chains and top-up lube to be honest and I have a tub of Molten race powder already, that'll probably outlive me.