The introduction to this lubricant can be read HERE.
The Effetto Mariposa Flowerpower Wax Lubricant has been on my King Fabrications "Honeman Flyer" now since I built up the bike. The bike was ridden briefly here on Iowa gravel, did several city commutes, and the lube went through 60+ miles of Oklahoma red dirt roads.
The test riding was pretty normal for dry conditions riding. Lots of dust! In fact, in Oklahoma at Mid-South it was so dusty that the red dirt was sticking to everything, including the chain. Here's a shot of my bike right after the Mid-South finish where you can see that the chain looks reddish in color.
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| Mid-South's red dirt roads made my chain match my bike's color scheme! |
I also rode another three extra miles on the bike after the event and a little more goofing around before the start and after the finish. I figure I put on 60+ miles in Oklahoma on this bike. Total riding distance with what I've done here would be well over 100 miles. So, it is time to check into where we are at with the Flowerpower lubricant.
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| What the chain looked like after I got back to Iowa. |
The trip home saw the bicycle riding inside the back cargo area of a Toyota RAV 4 SUV. A lot of that accumulated red dirt was knocked off in the trip. That said, there was more than enough on the chain to cause some concern.
First of all, I need to say that I had no negative issues with the Flowerpower wax at Mid-South. No noises, creaking, or anything like that. What I was looking for here were two things coming out of the riding so far. One - Did the Flowerpower wax lubricant actually keep things running smoothly? Secondly: Did the wax lube cause a gunk build-up?
Added to this is the experiences I have had with SILCA Super-Secret lube and some others of this ilk where a lot of dust deposits on the chain isn't unusual. Typically a quick wipe-down with a terry cloth rag does the trick. Usually the dust comes right off and the chain looks great again.
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| The "Finger Test" showed only dirt. No "gunk" or other lubricant based residue. |
The "Finger Test", where I wipe a portion of the chain with my index finger along the side of the chain that contacts the gears, showed only red dirt. This was good to see. Any gunky-build-up would have been a cause for alarm. The chain rollers did feel slippery and I could detect a slightly waxy feel to the chain itself.
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| This gunky build-up came off the freewheel. There was some on the chain ring as well, but nothing too concerning. |
I did see a little gunky build-up on the freewheel and chain ring, but I did not clean these parts ahead of putting this Flowerpower lubricant on the chain, which was thoroughly cleaned. I noted that this residue was not reddish brown in color, which is weird. But whatever, I went ahead and wiped down the chain. This only partially cleared things up. I ended up having to very carefully wipe each link and I used cotton tipped sticks (Q-tips) to clean in between the chain links.
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| The chain after a cleaning session. |
I did not get every spec of red dirt off the chain, but that doesn't matter. What we have here is a higher maintenance wax chain lubricant than we would have with the SILCA product or with DuMonde Tech lube. Flowerpower isn't bad, but if it requires this level of maintenance versus the others, which require almost no maintenance, then - at least in that view - the Flowerpower lube is not measuring up to the "best".
It did keep the chain running smoothly though, and there was no sign of gunk build-up. So, on those two points I was impressed.
That said, my intuition tells me that what Flowerpower claims may be true. That being that it has staying power in all conditions. Which tells me that this stuff would work great when it is wet. That may get tested soon as I see we are to have several rainy days in the near future.
Stay tuned.....
3 comments:
This mirrors my year of using Flower Power in place of my normal Ceramicspeed UFO drip. It seems to last a bit longer in mixed conditions but also requires you to clean the chain and small amounts of build up away for maximum benefit.
My riding is mostly dry so I prefer the UFO for most of my uses as it just keeps everything really clean and only requires a reapplication every 150-175 miles of use.
I would definitely go back to Flower Power if I wanted a more multi-condition lube however.
@Keith - Thanks for your perspective. I have not tried the Ceramicspeed UFO drip. That may be something I need to add to the mix here soon.
This is interesting… Sounds like a good wax lube to me. That said, you’ll have to pry the bottle of Squirt out of my cold, dead hands. It does everything I need it to do.
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