Guitar Ted Lube-Off Update: SCC Tech Lube

Current state of the chain with SCC Tech Lube

 The latest round of the Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' is underway and this time I am pitting the NixFrixShun Blue Devil Lube against SCC Tech Lube. The latest update on the Blue Devil Lube is here in a "FN&V" post (scroll down a bit) . The intro to the SCC Tech Lube is here. 

Okay, so I am impressed with how the chain looks so far with SCC Tech lube. It seems cleaner than the Blue Devil lube and the cassette and derailleur jockey wheels are not showing any signs of gunk build up yet. The cassette maybe is slightly discolored in the gears I've used. Barely, but a little bit. Nothing I'll knock the lube for anyway. 

The shifting performance with this lubricant has been really decent. I've got no beef here either. The Wippermann chain on the Noble GX5 is turning a 1X GRX drivetrain and shifts have been quieter than at first, but still louder by far than with a good Shimano chain like an Ultegra or 105 level chain. 

Okay, so what about the 'Touch-Test'? Well, this chain is still putting out a wetter black residue, but not nearly on the order of the chain with the Blue Devil lubricant. That NFS lube had a drier, gritty component to the residue, not wet and slippery like the SCC Tech Lube. But I did ride the Blue Devil lube in some pretty severe dry conditions. I did not get the SCC Tech as many miles of that yet. 

The 'Touch-Test' reveals some black residue, but it is wet and not as much as the NFS lube.

So, I have quite a ways to go yet on these two lubricants. But just to recap on the two best lubes these are up against, the DuMonde Tech and Muc-Off C3 Ceramic Dry, I'll give some reference for comparison's sake. 

Both of those lubricants did not exhibit any build up on the cassette and derailleur jockey wheels. Touch-Test results for both showed none to very little residue. Shift quality with both was acceptably good, but the comparison to the Wippermann chain makes it a bit difficult to talk about that in comparison. 

Length between re-applications of DuMonde Tech and the Muc-Off c3 was quite long. I don't have anything to say on that front yet, of course, with regard to the two new contenders, but the bar is set pretty high. Let's just say that for now. 

So far I'm more inclined to say that the SCC Tech lube is trending toward the good side and that the Blue Devil Lube has a long way to go before I would be impressed with it. But as I have said, there are many miles yet to ride before I will definitively say what my verdict is on either of the two new contenders.