What Type of Chain Lube Is Best for You

Choosing the right type of chain lube can make a big difference in your ride.  It effects everything from noise and cleanliness to efficiency and drivetrain longevity.  Everybody who has been around the sport for a while has their preferred type of chain lube but might not even know why that is what they use.  Unfortunately a lot of people are getting this decision wrong because it is based on their local bike shop mechanic’s opinion that was passed down from another mechanic, rather than based on any kind of research or technology.  We will dive into where we think each type of lubricant belongs and the benefits and drawbacks of them.

Wet lube has long been recommended by your local bike shop for when you ride in wet conditions, hence the name.  It is the best oil-based option out there.  Wet lubes are not all created equal and can range from a low-quality oil with PTFE powder all the way to high quality synthetic oils with some of the lowest friction additives known on the planet and everywhere in between.  If you want to see some of our head to head tests, you can check out our Chain Lube Shootouts. 

While hot wax is certainly the preferred lubricant in almost every single scenario, it isn’t without some downsides as well.  The biggest one is the cleaning process.  Removing the chain and multiple baths of harsh chemicals are required to strip the chain then you must melt the wax and dip the chain.  Previously you would have to have a dedicated slow cooker to melt the wax and SILCA has overcome that with a Sous-vide bag that allows you to melt the wax repeatedly without having a dedicated kitchen appliance, but the cleaning has still been a hesitation point for some. 

Cleaning is often looked at as a barrier to wax or downside, but after the initial cleaning it is very much a positive.  Ride on a dusty trail with oil and it will take a ton of work to get the chain clean, but with wax all you need to do is wipe with a clean rag.  It might not even need to have more lubricant applied since you didn’t have to remove the lubricant to clean the dirt off the chain.  This is a huge plus in our opinion and very much worth the little extra effort up front.  That up front work is something we are working on as well, so stay tuned!

With the rise of these ultra-endurance events, we are getting a lot of questions about relubing a chain in the middle of an event.  If you have an extremely dirty 200-mile ride wax will struggle to make it the entire distance.  Some will recommend applying our next type of lubricant with emulsified wax, but we recommend applying a wet lube over wax because the emulsifiers in drip wax can bring any remaining wax out of the chain and make any issues you are having worse.  This longevity is probably a downside for some ultra-endurance athletes, but we think the efficiency advantages are certainly worth applying a new lubricant if that is needed.

The other downside of wax is that it doesn’t get along with water all that well.  Since there is no oil to repel water from the metal, it can lead to rust if you ride in the rain and leave the bike overnight.  A waxed chain needs to be cleaned post ride if there is much water then re-lubed.  You can clean it off with a gear wipe or clean rag, then drop it back in your hot wax or use an emulsified wax like we will touch on below.

The downsides of drip wax are that they aren’t quite as clean as hot melt, not as quiet, and still requires an intense cleaning, and you still have the slight issue with water.  In our opinion these are small downsides for the benefits of lower friction, cleaner drivetrain, and the silence on the bike, but they are certainly worth noting.

Chain lubrication is certainly a rapidly evolving topic that we are looking at differently than we did 10 or 15 years ago.  We are certainly fans of wax here at SILCA and would recommend it for almost every application and are working hard to continue developing new formulas that are better and better than we have ever seen before.