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Bike Cleaner/Lubes 101 by Cat MacKinnon

Cat MacKinnon has been a loyal reader since the early days of the site. She’s always had something great to share in her comments and in a recent article, I asked her for her opinion about bike lubes. Below is her comment, indulge in all this knowledge that is given before you. In all honesty, I really don’t know if Cat is a Wrench for a shop or what, but all I know is, she’s smart! Thanks Cat!

Bike-specific lubes and cleanersā€¦.honestly, iā€™d say that most of them, while they definitely work, are overpriced simply because theyā€™re ā€œmadeā€ for bikes (whatever that means). iā€™ve used TriFlow, FP-10 (a firearms lube with PTFE), RiG grease (general sporting goods grease), white lithium grease (from the autoparts store), Finish Line Wet, White Lightening Epic Ride (a lightweight lube), plus a couple other types i canā€™t remember. hereā€™s what iā€™ve foundā€¦

honestly, i think most ā€œspecializedā€ lubes (wet-type, dry wax, ceramic, etc) are marketing gimmicks. the thing is, they work, but i donā€™t think they really do anything better than the less expensive ā€œgenericā€ stuff thatā€™s not specifically marketed for cyclists. in fact, i think some of them actually make things worse: every wet lube iā€™ve tried, while it was fairly waterproof, attracted every single little speck of dirt and glued it to my drivetrain. and itā€™s a bitch to clean off your gear (itā€™s kinda like the factory lube that SRAM and Shimano pack their chains in).

in my opinion, something like TriFlow is probably the best all-around lube and will serve just about as well as any of the ā€œbike specificā€ brands out there. the Epic Ride that iā€™ve got is almost identical, except it cost about $14 for a 4oz bottle! TriFlow is a general purpose lube thatā€™s been around for years and itā€™s available at WalMart, auto parts stores and a bunch of other places. and itā€™s cheap. it does what lube is suppose to do, doesnā€™t attract too much dirt into the chain, and is pretty much the industry standard for lubing shift/brake cables. and itā€™s what, $4 a bottle?

funny thing is, i just read an interview a couple weeks ago with a very well-known bike builder, and he said he pretty much only uses TriFlow in his shop because he didnā€™t think the ā€œbike specificā€ lubes were worth the money. i canā€™t remember who it was, but heā€™s a pretty well-known bike builder. my browser history clears once a week so i donā€™t have the link anymore, but if i can find the article again, iā€™ll post a link to it.

as for grease, i generally just use RiG, which is a general purpose sporting goods grease. works great, and iā€™ve used it to repack loose and caged-ball type bearings. itā€™s about $7 at most sporting goods places (and i think WalMart). i also use just plain white lithium grease from the auto parts store when necessary.

there are a couple general purpose lubes that i wouldnā€™t use on bikes: i donā€™t think 3-in-1 oil works very well (ironic, since it was originally invented for bicycles!). it wonā€™t hurt anything, but i think itā€™s kind of an antiquated formula that doesnā€™t last very long. and iā€™m of the mindset that WD-40 should never be used on bicycles! itā€™s mostly meant as a waterproofer and eventually it gets sticky and then hardens up, trapping dirt and stuff under it, and can be very difficult to remove!

i think ā€œbike cleanersā€ are an even bigger joke: iā€™ll use either just water with dish soap for basic stuff (dish soap is designed to be a gentle degreaser, after all). i just have to pay attention to not let it soak on non-stainless steel parts and to dry it thoroughly so those parts donā€™t rust. for hardcore cleaning iā€™ll use automotive brake or engine degreaser, although i am looking for a more enviromentally-friendly cleaner, since auto degreaser has some pretty nasty chemicals in it. also, nobody should EVER use auto cleaners/degreasers around carbon fiber bike parts or frames!!! they usually contain a lot of solvents, which can eat into the epoxy that holds the carbon fiber together!

so yeah, i think most bike-specific lubes and cleaners generally arenā€™t worth the money.