Been conducting an experiment on the best lube for a commuting chain i.e. all weathers dirty roads, salt etc My definition of a good lube is (in no order) 1 Corrosion protection 2 zero fling 3 Penetration into the rollers 4 does not attract crud in wet or dry 5 does not degrade the rings I tested the following lubes/waxes SDOC Motul road lube WD40 Wax Muc Off dry lube All tests were conducted on mild steel washers, cleaned with chain cleaner and dried and warmed on a radiator before application of the lube 1 Corrosion test Each washer was submersed in a salt water solution for a minute a day and left to dry these are the results after 3 days SDOC - zero corrosion 10/10 Muck off -Poor corrosion resistance 4/10 WD40 - zero corrosion 10/10 Motul - OK corrosion resistance 6/10 2 Fling Tested on bike, chained clean and lube applied tested for a week and rear wheel examined for spatter No photos sorry! SDOC - zero fling 10/10 Muck off - zero fling 10/10 WD40 - evidence of fling 7/10 Motul - zero fling 10/10 3 Penetration Sprayed on a steel plate to a 10mm dot and 'creep' examined SDOC - good creep seem to spread very well at least 2-3mm -8/10 Muck off - quite thick on application didn't spread - 6/10 WD40 - very thick on application didn't spread - 6/10 Motul - very thin, spread 3-4mm- 10/10 4 Crud attraction wet test - crud solution made of water mud and sand and blue glitter and poured on test subjects all tests resisted crud attraction in the wet - all 10/10 Dry test - a mixture of dry sand and blue glitter then and sprinkled on subject SDOC - medium evidence of attraction Muck off - little evidence of attraction WD40 - large evidence of attraction Motul - little evidence of attraction 5 - Ring protection - not tested! took the manufacturer's claims as true! Conclusion This short test only covers the lubes tests tested. The Muc Off and Motul seem to be more summer/dry weather lubes and perform well resisting crud in the dry but suffer when it gets a little wet allowing a little corrosion. WD40 Wax and SDOC excel well in the wet providing great corrosion resistance. I don't think the WD40 and Muc off would penetrate the chain well thus providing lubrication in the rollers. The Motul and Sdoc seem to have great penetration qualities. All lubes tested showed little fling though the WD40 did fling a little But in the wet the SDOC wins hands down. Very good corrosion resistance in the wet and zero fling. As it is not completely clear you can see where it has been applied (unlike the clear Motul) That is all, the end!
I have tried Wurth a few years back and didn't find it fair well at all. Even in the summer found evidence of corrosion after a little rain. Wurth for me is a dry weather specific product, that 'flakes' off in use taking the crud with it, great in the dry but leaving little protection in the wet. This was a few years back mind so will give it a fair review if I can find a can locally.
Yes, I did this for a while too, applied with a brush every morning. Great corrosion resistance but I do a lot of miles and this is totally ball ache, made a mess of my wheel and garage!. Also while on the subject also had a Scott Oiler, also too messy. Does not work on the OEM sprocket - its got a channel than prevents proper lubrication. it only takes a day or two for it not to work to really feck up you chain!
http://www.sdoc100.co.uk/products/sdoc100-chain-cleaner http://www.sdoc100.co.uk/products/sdoc100-white-chain-spray
Good test. Been ruining chains with Motul and was gonna move on to WD40 chain wax, but may reconsider now.
Top write up Slick, you might need to get out more matey, but you have sacrificed your personal life for the rest of us lazy farts.
good test , I change to sdoc chain cleaner and chain lube a few months back and good stuff , the chain cleaner is good but you need to wipe off with a cloth , warning watch your thumb end as I took mine off . , doohh.
no drying chain cleaner while in first gear with a cloth , i know it was a daft thing to do , but it did a good job lol.
Daft? You are lucky you didn't lose any fingers silly sod! I've seen a guy lose all four fingers from doing the same thing. Rotate the wheel by hand! Just cleaned mine with WD40 on a cloth and then run Motul factory line chain wax on it. Didn't realise they come with RK chains as standard ?
