Bike maintenance – keeping a well-oiled machine
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| Wet Lube | Dry Lube | All condition |
Making sure your bike’s chain is fully lubed is crucial where ever and whenever you ride. You may have noticed that just like everything else in the bike world, there are different types of chain lube that are designed for different conditions, namely wet, dry and all condition.
A quick pointer before I explain the types of lube. WD40, GT85, Muc Off Bike spray and any other similar spray on PTFE based spray will not work as a lube. PTFE sprays are designed to coat your frame and make it shine, not lubricate your chain. You have been warned!
View all Lubes here
Wet Lube
Pros
Wet lube is used when the weather is, well, wet. Wet lube will help repel the vast amounts of water and mud that can be thrown at your running gear when you go for a spin most weekends in the UK.
Cons
The thicker oil is great for repelling water, but use it in the dry and the dust will stick to it making for a sticky black tar like coating – not good for your bike.
Recommended use
Use when wet and clean it off after, or you’ll do more harm than not using any lube at all.
Dry Lube (wax)
Pros
Wax lube is great for dry dusty conditions and will repel dust.
Cons
A dry lube is fairly useless when it’s wet, so unless you’re a fair weather rider or mostly ride on the road, you might want to give dry lube a miss.
Recommended use
Dry lube is great for a road bike in the dryer months (whenever they are?) or a mountain bike in the dry dusty alps. Make sure you let it dry before riding your bike.
All Condition Lube
Pros
All condition doesn’t tend to stick to dust like wet lube and it will stand up to the rain and mud better than a dry lube will – sort of why it’s called ‘all condition’ really.
Cons
All condition lube doesn’t tend to last as long as wet or dry lubes, so you might find you have to apply it before every ride. But it does lead to less cleaning.
Recommended use
All condition lube does what is says on the bottle – it’s ok in the summer and the winter and is a lot cleaner and less of a faff – you’ll just use more of it.
About the Author
JT James has been a cyclist for over fifteen years and in that time he's raced off road in both the UK and Europe. He's a Cytech level 2 mechanic, qualified cycle coach, guide and has extensive cycle industry experience. JT rides both road and mountain although refuses to commute by bike because he lives so close to work. You'll also see his mug on most of our Tredz TV productions.
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