Friday Group Ride #72

The world can be an abrasive place. Whole religions have sprung up and survived on the premise that treading a spiritual path can help you reduce the friction of everyday living on your tiny, tortured soul. But what about your bike chain?

This week’s Group Ride examines your lube preferences. Regale us not with lurid tales of the viscous liquids you ply in your inter/intrapersonal relationships. That’s another site. What we’re interested in here is how you keep metal from abrading metal, how you keep things smooth and rolling on your bicycle.

For my part, I have experimented with many different products and applications without feeling as though I have fully conquered the challenge of optimal lubrication. The Pedro’s line, which includes Ice Wax™, Road Rage™, ProJ™ and SymLube™ , gives us an oily palette of strangely named substances with which to face various temperature and road/trail conditions. This is likely more thought than I can reasonably be expected to put into greasing a chain.

I like a lube you can put on your chain, wipe the excess and then go ride your bike. I don’t want to think about viscosity.

To that end, I have been using T-9 for some time now. A cross mechanic told me he used it on all his bikes, and that it was the best. It is not, as far as I can tell, the best. There is also a French oil that comes in an elegant little bottle that some bike shop friends swear by, but it’s expensive and they claim they have to use it after almost every ride, so I don’t bother because I’m just not that fastidious in my maintenance routines.

So here it is, you masters of velo living, what’s on your chain? How do you apply? How often? And why?