NOTE: Stan's sent the Biobased Bike Care Products, Stan's Exo-Core valve stems, and Stans DART tool for review to Guitar Ted Productions at no charge. GTP is not being paid, nor bribed for this post and all opinions are Guitar Ted's.
Stan's recently introduced a new line of "biobased" products and sent a suite of these to me here to check out. The products are centered around lubricants, maintenance, and cleaning. I also received a set of Exo-Core valve stems and a Stan's Dart tool with the accessory handlebar mount.
I will be breaking out separate reviews on several of these products and accessories over the next couple of months. This post will get you acquainted with what I have and I will let you know what my plans and expectations are for each product.
Stan's had Whistler Performance Labs develop lubricants and oils by manipulating the biomaterials and their properties into products for your bicycle. They claim these products will not harm the environment if/when they get washed off your bicycle. All products are USDA Certified Biobased and come in bottles which are 100% recycled "sea plastic". The grease, lubricants, and oil are products of Canada.
Lubricants: Let's get into the lubricants first. While Stans may not be the first name you think of when it comes to grease and chain lube, they hope to make a mark with the following offerings.
First up we have Stan's Biobased Wet Chain Lube. ($13.00 USD) This is intended for mixed to wet conditions and has a unique "Emulsifite Technology". This is a feature which allows you to clean your chain after the lubricant gets dirty by spraying it with water. This allows you to re-lube the chain again.
Next we have, (obviously) the Stan's Biobased Dry Lube. ($13.00 USD) This PTFE free lube is meant for your dry conditions and promises longer component life.
Then we have the Stans Biobased Grease ($15.00 USD) A waterproof, safe for seals and elastomers grease for general maintenance purposes.
Finally we have the Stans Biobased Forkboost ($13.00 USD) This oil helps to reduce "stiction" and lubricates seals on suspension forks. Safe to use on all fork seals and is PTFE free.
Stan's Biobased Bike Wash ($15.00 USD) is a cleaner which promises to cut the gunk and grime off your bike to bring back that shiny thing lurking beneath all the gravel dust.
Non-corrosive and free of VOC's and phosphates, this cleaner is safe to use on any frame material.
Comments: My intentions here are to run the dry lubricant in a Guitar Ted Lube-Off over the riding season. The Wet lube will be a little trickier since we would have to rely on wet/rainy weather, which may or may not happen here. I will try the Wet lube on my commuter bikes though, since those have the better chance of seeing rain or any sort of moisture.
The Forkboost oil will go to N.Y. Roll who will use it on his Santa Cruz Blur. I don't do suspension at this point, and honestly, I told Stan's not to send the Forkboost, but they did. (You can thank me later N.Y. Roll!) I will get him to chime in with a report on how this works for him later on into the Summer.
The Bike Wash will go to work at the Cedar Valley Bicycle Collective where it will see use on a myriad of dirty bicycles and when I get a few, or several, bikes cleaned with this product I should have a handle on how it works enough to come back with a final word on the product in a few weeks.
But wait.....there is more.
Stan's also sent over their Exo-Core valve stems for tubeless usage. There also was a Dart tool and Dart Tool handle bar mount in the box. So, let's take a look at these tubeless accessories.
The Exo-Core stems are a unique design with a promised higher flow rate, a resistance to clogging, and which come in various lengths to fit most rim depths. You can even get custom colors to match your bike's other components. The Exo-Core stems cost $55.00 USD.
Next up we have the Stans Incredible Dart Tubeless Repair Tool and Incredible Dart Handle Bar Mount.
The Dart tool goes for $72.00 USD and the Handle Bar Mount is another $32.00 USD.
Comments: The Dart tool and handle bar mount will go in my kit and we will see if I have to use it or not as time goes by. Before this happens I will do a separate detailed look for both of these pieces.
The Exo-Core stems will also be detailed out, installed on a wheel set, and I will get some new tires to air up using them to see how the claimed higher air-flowing valve helps out or does not help.
In the meantime, please check out these Stan's products via any of the links in the post or go to www.stans.com for more on these products and all of Stan's offerings.
I should be back with a look at some of these products in more detail very soon. Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions.
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