ender wiggins

I have been using Tri-Flow since I have been riding and was wondering if there is a better lube out there for road bike chains? I've heard people say that ProLink and White Lightning Epic / Original Lube are also good. Anyoneone using these and recommend them or not?

feltdude

I use White Lightning and it does a great job for me. I've never used Tri-Flow, so sorry, I can't compare.

Grasschopper

LBS told me to avoid White Lightning and sold me T9 Boeshield saying it is what they use on their personal bikes. Showed me gunk build up that they claimed is from the White Lightning. T9 has been great to me and I will buy it again.

Edit: Fixed my idiocy...for now.

TomInFLA

With this thread name, gay men may soon be flocking to this board.

I use Pro Link. I used to use White Lightning, but after a chain seized up on me during a ride in the rain, I stopped using it on the LBS's recommendation. He said that by using White Lightning the chain tends to have that gunk build up mentioned previously, and that's probably why my chain got fouled up.

I know one old racer type who still waxes his chains. While his drivetrain is the cleanest I've ever seen on a bicycle, it sure seems like a lot of trouble.

2Rodies

TriFlow. I've tried several of the "dry lubes" but nothing works as well as TriFlow. It's more work cause you have to clean the chain more often but I feel it works better.

bikejunkie

Prolink is the way to go. Stays on well in all conditions and doesn't attract a lot of gunk.

ender wiggins

I've heard that Pro Link smells like kerosense or gasoline? Is that true because I store my bike inside my house and I don't want the house to smell like a garage. The Tri-Flow doesn't bother me or smell that strong.

H. Star

I've used prolink, triflow, pedro's ice wax, and white lightning. By far white lightning works the best. I don't know what gunk build up they are talking about because it keeps the chain nice and clean. If you want your chain and everything else to be black as coal try prolink. the down side of white lightning is you need to apply it very frequently, but because it is clean that's no problem.

ender wiggins

Do you mean White Lightning Epic Lube (wet) or White Lightning Lube (dry-wax)?

rwg

Triflow works great if you don't mind the mess. I haven't used pro-link, but any relatively heavy oil or synthetic will work well, it will just attract gunk. My drivetrain is much more quiet with a wet lube than a dry lube.

Right now I am using a Finish Line dry lube b/c it harldy ever rains here. It works well enough. Not as good as triflow, but well enough and it's much cleaner.

my58vw

I use White lightning dry wax lube and it works really nice on my road bike. Now on my jekyll which is always in water it is another story, chain started actually rusting a little and I went back to convential...

Murrays

I like Boeshield (as opposed to Bone Shield mentioned above??)

-murray

Steelrider

I suspect people get gunk because they don't clean their drive train thoroughly enough/at all before starting to use. Have not tried yet, but there are others who swear by Boeshield T-9 and plan on giving this a try when my WL runs out.

Grasschopper

Oops I be read not too gud. Yea what he said, that is the stuff.

JavaMan

I have used many chain lubes since 1987, and I highly recommend White Lightning. I use it every 100 miles.

You must remove the sticky preservative from a new chain first!!!

Tom

H. Star

The original lube, not the new Epic. It's like the other poster said above, reapply every 100 miles (or less) and it is the ticket.

astrocub

i agree. this exactly the same feeling i have about prolink and white lightning. it only takes
a few minutes to clean the chain and apply lube, so it's not a bother to apply multiple times a
week.

i tried prolink based on all of the good reviews, and i was not impressed. i am back to
the regular white lightning.

CycleFreakLS

Rock-n-Roll Gold

greenstork

I use White Lightning Epic and have never had any problems with gunk. The key for me -- and was the advice of my LBS -- is to make sure to completely wipe down the chain and drivetrain after application. There should be no excess lube on the chain, if you completely wipe it after application. Done properly, this prevents gunk buildup and makes for a very clean, and well lubed chain.

I reapply about every 100 miles or so, sometimes more.

feltdude

I agree with these other people, I wipe down my chain and use regular White Lightning every week (150 miles).. no gunk at all, never had a chain seize in the rain.

Patriot

I just scrub the cassette, chainring & chain clean with warm water and simple green every few rides, only takes a minute with a good brush, then I lube with 90weight gear oil/diferential oil. It has detergents to help prevent excessive wear.

Larry3x2

I'm using Pedro's dry now after I bought four bottles of Prolink. The prolink seemed to need reapplication after two or three rides and attracted dirt like a magnet. My LBS told me to stop using it as they thought I had WD 40 on my chain, they recommended Boeshield.
I will give my other bottles of this stuff (Prolink) away for shipping cost if you guys really like it.

Larry

froze

This is one of those questions that's been answered a 1000 times and everyone likes something different. I used TriFlow for the good part of 18 years starting back in the mid 70's and it was the original bike specific chain lubricant and it worked good then and still does today.

But alas some LBS's got me to switch to the wax based crapola and I tried them all for about 5 or 6 years trying to find a good one to no avail (including Pedros and White Lightning). I found out two things about wax based lubes; 1) they don't last longer then about 60 miles before the chain starts raising a fuss so carry a bottle of it with you on long rides. And 2) my chains wore out at least twice as fast as they did using TriFlow.

Then I switched to Speed Skate Lube (yep, the stuff for skate wheels), and it worked great, but I don't like sprays so after about a year of using it I switched to Finish Line Teflon Dry. I have been using this stuff for about 3 years now and like it a lot. It last at least 400 miles without having to relube...BUT don't do that! I clean and relube about every 150 miles just to keep things clean and fresh.

I now clean my chain using only the Finish Line chain cleaning machine, their cleaning fluid and a tooth brush; I use to take the chain apart but this cleaning machine works so well that's no longer necessary.

One note about Speed Skate Lube, this stuff works fantastic on freewheels. I bought a freewheel about 3 years ago, and less then 8 months later the pawls were clicking sporadically loudly; so as an experiment I hosed the freewheel with the Speed Skate Lube. Over 2 years have gone by and the freewheel is still silent.

Raiyn

Still like Pro Link my drivetrain feels better longer than with WL

PhatRoadie

Motorex. Wet or Dry lube. Depending on the weather.