Dry lube comes out of the bottle wet, commonly a fast-flowing liquid but once it dries it leaves a wax film on the chain. It’s this wax that provides the necessary lubrication, the liquid is simply the carrier for the wax.

Tester Steph writes: “As a dry lube, it is designed for mixed riding, but mainly in dry conditions (it will work with the odd puddle or splash). The wax is supposed to wear off over time, and in the process of doing this, it leaves a cleaner chain by taking off any grime with it.

Schwalbe Century tyres

Of course, this doesn’t mean buy the most expensive items, but it does mean to think about if the price tag has more to do with the bragging rights than the actual quality of the product. Sure, some stout wet lubes will give Stealth stiff competition in this respect but they tend to demand weekly purges of grit and other ruinous contaminants. Like these, Stealth also works well on cleat mechanisms and doubles as a nifty grease substitute for fasteners. even that is not guaranteed. To give the best chance of pre-Christmas delivery, we recommend selecting the

From a cost/benefit viewpoint, there's no point spending more on hi-tec unguents than you're saving on drivetrain wear. As well as its well-known multipurpose spray, WD40 does make a specialist bicycle chain lube, which is formulated for the job. Chain lube lowdownhawkinspeter replied to Argus Tuft: I've tried paraffin wax myself, but I didn't use any solvent with it. I used to melt the wax in a small frying pan and put the chain in it. Then, sprinkle some micronised graphite on top of the chain and put some paraffin wax granules on top so that they melt and carry the graphite into the chain. Swill around a bit and then remove the chain and let it cool. Once cool, spend a bit of time removing excess wax and flexing each joint of the chain and then pop it on the bike.

Squirt lube easily survived 30-odd miles of normal commuting in all weathers, at which point it faced about the sternest test possible: 40 miles in the salt, snow and rain finishing up on the muddy, puddle-strewn canal towpath. I wouldn't expect any lube to survive that and the chain showed some evidence of rust the next day after a hose down, but it wasn't noisy - there was still some lube in there, so it's pretty tenacious stuff. The short answer is no. While WD-40 and MO-90 (Muc-Off's similarly formulated product) are great for lubricating seized or stiff moving parts, those types of lubes don't have the consistency or the durability required to protect your chain and drivetrain from wear during riding. A dedicated bike-specific chain lube will do a vastly superior job and save you money in the long run, while unsuitable lubricants such as WD-40 will accelerate drivetrain wear if used as a regular chain lube. How we test bike chain lubes

Our last day for dispatch is Thursday the 22nd of December. We use a next day/express courier for bikes, such Do you need 6 chains for multiple bikes or do chains not last as long with waxing vs oiling? I'm guessing two chains is a good idea as unlike oil, you can't wax a chain in 30secs before a ride? This is a very simple but very important question. You may have heard the old adage ‘all the gear and no idea’. This concept is very much applicable to new riders that want to make sure that they have everything they need before their first trip on the pedals. Safety should always come first. You should never skimp when buying bicycle gear because it could one day save your life. You (hopefully) would never cut corners on your helmet, so you shouldn’t act any differently to the rest of your gear.