Guitar Ted Lube-Off 2022

Announcing The 2022 Version of the Guitar Ted "Lube-Off":

The super-unscientific, random, "data-point-of-one" lubrication test will be conducted again for this coming riding season. This is purely for fun and enjoyment. If you get anything worthwhile out of the Lube-Off than that is good, but it is not meant to be a technical, scientific based comparison. 

Essentially all this amounts to is me taking you along on my journey to find what lube works best for me in Iowa on dry, dusty, crushed rock roads. 

The Lube-Off is not sponsored, paid for, nor supported by any company, distributor, or brand/marketing group. I do this purely of my own volition and when I do get gifted lube to try I will point it out here in the posts dealing with the Lube-Off.  I may refer you to the Standard Disclaimer Page .This will cover any instances where I get product for free or as a gift. 

The Set Up For 2022: Last year I pitted the NixFrixShun Blue Devil Lube against the SCC Tech Lube and both came out with high marks, entering my "Lubes of Recommendation" status. In fact, I am running the Blue Devil Lube through the wetter season here to see if what a commenter claimed to me is true. They said that it is great at wet weather performance. (So far, it seems to be holding up) I will revisit that once drier weather sets in and when it makes sense to end that experiment. 

A possible contender for this round

So now I am thinking about what lubes I want to get into the rotation for this round of the Lube-Off. Last year I asked for recommendations from you- the readers- and I received some great suggestions and used two of them to get my contenders for last year. Thanks for helping me do that, by the way!

As I recall, last year there were more than a few requests for me to try out SILCA's "Super-Secret Chain Lube". I didn't want to get into having three different lubrications pitted against one another last year, so unfortunately I didn't get into the SILCA offering. But what do you think about this lube for the 2022 round? Let me know in the comments.

And as always, feel free to chime in with any suggestions for other brands.

I'll take the top two vote-getters and go with those. ALSO- I happen to have a bag of Molten Speed Chain Wax. Convince me that I should use it, and I will give it a whirl for you all to see what I think. NOTE: I am VERY reticent to use a product that requires futzing around with heating up wax and that requires a bunch of "procedures" to use when I can use MANY other products MUCH more easily with GREAT results. So, you'd better come with some great convincing arguments for me to use that chain wax stuff. 

And I may continue to roll either the Blue Devil or the SCC Tech as a "control" for comparison to anything new thrown into the mix for 2022's round of the Lube-Off. Plus, I want to do a special compilation post of ALL past Lube-Offs and give you all a place to see ALL my recommended lubricants and why I recommend them. Stay tuned for that soon... 

Thanks for reading G-Ted Productions! 

Guitar Ted Lube-Off 2022

Announcing The 2022 Version of the Guitar Ted "Lube-Off":

The super-unscientific, random, "data-point-of-one" lubrication test will be conducted again for this coming riding season. This is purely for fun and enjoyment. If you get anything worthwhile out of the Lube-Off than that is good, but it is not meant to be a technical, scientific based comparison. 

Essentially all this amounts to is me taking you along on my journey to find what lube works best for me in Iowa on dry, dusty, crushed rock roads. 

The Lube-Off is not sponsored, paid for, nor supported by any company, distributor, or brand/marketing group. I do this purely of my own volition and when I do get gifted lube to try I will point it out here in the posts dealing with the Lube-Off.  I may refer you to the Standard Disclaimer Page .This will cover any instances where I get product for free or as a gift. 

The Set Up For 2022: Last year I pitted the NixFrixShun Blue Devil Lube against the SCC Tech Lube and both came out with high marks, entering my "Lubes of Recommendation" status. In fact, I am running the Blue Devil Lube through the wetter season here to see if what a commenter claimed to me is true. They said that it is great at wet weather performance. (So far, it seems to be holding up) I will revisit that once drier weather sets in and when it makes sense to end that experiment. 

A possible contender for this round

So now I am thinking about what lubes I want to get into the rotation for this round of the Lube-Off. Last year I asked for recommendations from you- the readers- and I received some great suggestions and used two of them to get my contenders for last year. Thanks for helping me do that, by the way!

As I recall, last year there were more than a few requests for me to try out SILCA's "Super-Secret Chain Lube". I didn't want to get into having three different lubrications pitted against one another last year, so unfortunately I didn't get into the SILCA offering. But what do you think about this lube for the 2022 round? Let me know in the comments.

And as always, feel free to chime in with any suggestions for other brands.

I'll take the top two vote-getters and go with those. ALSO- I happen to have a bag of Molten Speed Chain Wax. Convince me that I should use it, and I will give it a whirl for you all to see what I think. NOTE: I am VERY reticent to use a product that requires futzing around with heating up wax and that requires a bunch of "procedures" to use when I can use MANY other products MUCH more easily with GREAT results. So, you'd better come with some great convincing arguments for me to use that chain wax stuff. 

And I may continue to roll either the Blue Devil or the SCC Tech as a "control" for comparison to anything new thrown into the mix for 2022's round of the Lube-Off. Plus, I want to do a special compilation post of ALL past Lube-Offs and give you all a place to see ALL my recommended lubricants and why I recommend them. Stay tuned for that soon... 

Thanks for reading G-Ted Productions! 

Guitar Ted Lube-Off: Long Term Blue Devil vs. SCC Tech

 Last Summer I ran another round of the "Guitar Ted Lube-Off". This is a 'contest' of which lube works best for gravel road riding in dry conditions. It's maybe a bit more technical than that, but that is the gist of it. So, I declared that SCC Tech Lube was superior to the NixFrixShun Blue Devil lube in this post. However; what I did not tell you all was that I decided to just roll with those two lubricants long term and then see what the results might be. 

Before I get to the nitty-gritty, I want to point out that each lubricant was re-applied at least once since the end of this test. Both - I know - were re-applied at least one time, but I may have re-upped the SCC Tech Lube twice. (Bad me! I did not write this stuff down!) I do know that I re-applied the Blue Devil lube right before Gravel Worlds and the SCC Tech Lube shortly after that. There may have been one other SCC Tech Lube application in there, which I vaguely recall being this past Fall. Anyway....

Following are some images and commentary on each lubricant.....

The SCC Tech Lube has been a good performer for me.

Yes, there is a bit of grime, but....

SCC Tech Lube:

The SCC Tech Lube provided me with spotless shifting performance and nearly a spotless chain throughout the Fall and into Winter. Keeping in mind that this was the bike I used on my Tour of Black Hawk County, which was a super-dusty affair, and that speaks volumes for me, anyway. 

Shortly after that ride I did have to re-apply lubrication though, as the chain was starting to make a bit of noise. Fall continued on and the dust never got any better. I put a lot of ride time into this bike due to review items which I had on it. So, again, I may have re-applied lubrication once more on this bike. I'm pretty sure I did. 

This lube won the initial "Lube-Off" between these two lubricants and after a long period of usage in severe dust conditions I think it is fair to say that this still is a top-shelf lubricant for a gravel bike. Now, add in moisture and things could go quite differently, but as for what I saw, this stuff is pretty good stuff.

And you don't need to use a ton of it to get these good results. In fact, that is pretty much true of any of the better lubricants I've tried. Less is 'more' when it comes to chain lube in dry conditions. So, keep that in mind when you are lubing your own chain up. 

The 'Blue Devil' lube is the new stuff from NixFrixShun meant for gravel travel.

This was a big surprise. Much cleaner than I expected.

Blue Devil:

This lube is a new-ish lube from NixFrixShun that was developed for gravel riding. I was duly impressed, but it really wasn't just up to the same level as the SCC Tech lube at the time I did the summer test. 

However; it was kept running here on the MCD and right before I went to Gravel Worlds in mid-August I decided it would be best to re-lube, even though it didn't necessarily need it. Since then, I know I have not re-lubed this chain. In fact, I'm not sure where my bottle of this lube is! 

The chain has maybe a touch more gunk on it from dust accumulation, but the touch-test showed very little residue off it. I was, quite frankly, a bit shocked by that. Shifting performance and noise have been non-issues. I really have a hard time faulting this lube for anything beyond the slight gunkiness. (If that is a word!)

Conclusions: So, in terms of the longer view, I would elevate Blue Devil lube to be equal to the SCC Tech. In fact, I have seen no reason to use more Blue Devil, and the SCC Tech lube has had to be applied one time more. But, I haven't looked at mileage so that may be a wash. Either way, I'd highly recommend either of these lubricants for dry, long mileage use. 

Not that either of these is as good as DuMonde Tech, or the Muc-Off C3 Ceramic Dry, but these two are closer to the Muc-Off lube's performance than the DuMonde Tech. I would recommend any of them, honestly. Now for wet? Hmm..... That's a different story. DuMonde Tech holds up pretty well there, but I don't know about these others. So, I plan on using the SCC Tech and Blue Devil throughout the Winter as they are dual purpose lubes. 

So, in the future look for another update on these lubes. Next year when things get warm again I will introduce a couple more lubes to the series. 

I bought the SCC Tech Lube and the NixFrixShun Blue Devil lubricants for this round of the Lube-Off. I was not paid nor bribed for these posts and I try to give you my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

Guitar Ted Lube-Off: Long Term Blue Devil vs. SCC Tech

 Last Summer I ran another round of the "Guitar Ted Lube-Off". This is a 'contest' of which lube works best for gravel road riding in dry conditions. It's maybe a bit more technical than that, but that is the gist of it. So, I declared that SCC Tech Lube was superior to the NixFrixShun Blue Devil lube in this post. However; what I did not tell you all was that I decided to just roll with those two lubricants long term and then see what the results might be. 

Before I get to the nitty-gritty, I want to point out that each lubricant was re-applied at least once since the end of this test. Both - I know - were re-applied at least one time, but I may have re-upped the SCC Tech Lube twice. (Bad me! I did not write this stuff down!) I do know that I re-applied the Blue Devil lube right before Gravel Worlds and the SCC Tech Lube shortly after that. There may have been one other SCC Tech Lube application in there, which I vaguely recall being this past Fall. Anyway....

Following are some images and commentary on each lubricant.....

The SCC Tech Lube has been a good performer for me.

Yes, there is a bit of grime, but....

SCC Tech Lube:

The SCC Tech Lube provided me with spotless shifting performance and nearly a spotless chain throughout the Fall and into Winter. Keeping in mind that this was the bike I used on my Tour of Black Hawk County, which was a super-dusty affair, and that speaks volumes for me, anyway. 

Shortly after that ride I did have to re-apply lubrication though, as the chain was starting to make a bit of noise. Fall continued on and the dust never got any better. I put a lot of ride time into this bike due to review items which I had on it. So, again, I may have re-applied lubrication once more on this bike. I'm pretty sure I did. 

This lube won the initial "Lube-Off" between these two lubricants and after a long period of usage in severe dust conditions I think it is fair to say that this still is a top-shelf lubricant for a gravel bike. Now, add in moisture and things could go quite differently, but as for what I saw, this stuff is pretty good stuff.

And you don't need to use a ton of it to get these good results. In fact, that is pretty much true of any of the better lubricants I've tried. Less is 'more' when it comes to chain lube in dry conditions. So, keep that in mind when you are lubing your own chain up. 

The 'Blue Devil' lube is the new stuff from NixFrixShun meant for gravel travel.

This was a big surprise. Much cleaner than I expected.

Blue Devil:

This lube is a new-ish lube from NixFrixShun that was developed for gravel riding. I was duly impressed, but it really wasn't just up to the same level as the SCC Tech lube at the time I did the summer test. 

However; it was kept running here on the MCD and right before I went to Gravel Worlds in mid-August I decided it would be best to re-lube, even though it didn't necessarily need it. Since then, I know I have not re-lubed this chain. In fact, I'm not sure where my bottle of this lube is! 

The chain has maybe a touch more gunk on it from dust accumulation, but the touch-test showed very little residue off it. I was, quite frankly, a bit shocked by that. Shifting performance and noise have been non-issues. I really have a hard time faulting this lube for anything beyond the slight gunkiness. (If that is a word!)

Conclusions: So, in terms of the longer view, I would elevate Blue Devil lube to be equal to the SCC Tech. In fact, I have seen no reason to use more Blue Devil, and the SCC Tech lube has had to be applied one time more. But, I haven't looked at mileage so that may be a wash. Either way, I'd highly recommend either of these lubricants for dry, long mileage use. 

Not that either of these is as good as DuMonde Tech, or the Muc-Off C3 Ceramic Dry, but these two are closer to the Muc-Off lube's performance than the DuMonde Tech. I would recommend any of them, honestly. Now for wet? Hmm..... That's a different story. DuMonde Tech holds up pretty well there, but I don't know about these others. So, I plan on using the SCC Tech and Blue Devil throughout the Winter as they are dual purpose lubes. 

So, in the future look for another update on these lubes. Next year when things get warm again I will introduce a couple more lubes to the series. 

I bought the SCC Tech Lube and the NixFrixShun Blue Devil lubricants for this round of the Lube-Off. I was not paid nor bribed for these posts and I try to give you my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

Guitar Ted Lube-Off: SCC Tech Lube Results

 NOTICE:  The Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' is a comparison of different lubrication products for bicycle chains that is undertaken in 'real world' conditions in a set way. Then I compare and contrast the results with past 'Lube-Off' products to see "which one is best for me". This is done for entertainment purposes and the reader should apply their own reasoning and discernment while reading my 'Lube-Off' entries. What works for me may not work for you at all. 

Okay, the time has come for me to render a final verdict on the SCC Tech Lube. I also have a bit of news on this lube which I will share first. But even before that, if you missed the last update on this lube, you can click this link to go back and read that. Plus there is another link there to take you to the intro. 

 Now for the news: Wolf Tooth recently introduced their chain lube, which- as it turns out- is this very SCC Tech Lube! They call it "WT-1" but it is the same lubricant as this SCC Tech stuff I already have. So, you are essentially getting a review on the WT-1 as well. Bonus! (The link takes you to my "FN&V" post where I detailed the news on that lube.)

The SCC Tech Lube left a little residue on the cassette, and maybe a bit on the inner plates of the chain.

As far as how this lube performed overall, I would say that it is pretty darn good stuff. I was a bit put off initially by all the black residue that milked out of the chain to begin with, but SCC Tech claims this is the lube doing its 'self-cleaning' thing. Okay.....I decided to bite, and in the end? The lube started to behave in a way that didn't collect more dust and grit, stayed slippery, and kept this chain relatively quiet. I did follow the advice of SCC Tech to wipe down the chain with a rag from time to time, but even this became less of a need as time went on during the test. 

SCC Tech Lube passes the 'Touch Test' with flying colors.

As far as my 'Touch Test' goes, SCC Tech did very well once the lube settled in and quit milking out all that black residue. This ended up being on par with DuMonde Tech and the Muc-Off C3 Ceramic lube. Pretty impressive! 

Shift quality remained excellent throughout the test, but for whatever reason, this lube - or probably this Wippermann chain- is a chunky, loud shifting deal at times. I'm blaming the chain here, because as this lube got drier, the chain shifts got louder. Less wet stuff to damp noise is what that is. So the shifting seemed great, it was just this chain, I think, which was a bit on the loud side when shifting at times. 

At the end of the day, I slot this lubricant in at Number Three on my all-time Lube-Off list. It just is not as clean overall as DuMonde Tech nor as good as the Muc-Off in this regard. The SCC Tech Lube also has that initial period of 'self-cleaning', which can be a bit more maintenance intensive as you should be wiping that off periodically as this process works itself out. That's an extra step neither of the top-two lubricants I have tested require. 

But......SCC Tech Lube is not just a dry conditions lubricant either, so if you see that as a step above from a versatility standpoint, I would take that point and maybe say the SCC Tech Lube could be the better lubricant in those situations where you need an all-around conditions lubricant. So, it depends on how you look at this. I am testing for dry conditions only here, so take that into consideration in my final verdict. 

SCC Tech Lube vs NixFrixShun "Blue Devil" Lubricant: 

 

So, this round featured the two 'blue' colored lubricants, NixFrixShun's Blue Devil and the SCC Tech Lube. The Blue Devil lube's final verdict is here at this link. So, what do I think about the Blue Devil against the SCC Tech Lube? I feel Blue Devil is pretty good, but it was clearly more apt to gather grit and gunk on the side plates of the chain and on the derailleur jockey wheels than the SCC Tech. While Blue Devil kept the chain quiet and shifting really well, it just is not as clean, so it falls below the SCC Tech in that category. Had the SCC Tech Lube stayed dirty as it was out of the gate, this would have ended up being a tie, but the SCC Tech seems to get better with age, in terms of staying gunk-free. 

I will concede that Blue Devil is also listed as an 'all-conditions' lubricant, so it may have staying power through wet and muddy conditions that I did not test for. Again though- it just doesn't stay as clean over-all. To my way of thinking, dirt and gunk on the chain equals a possibility for advanced wear on components, besides slowing you down a tiny bit. That's especially not good in these times where getting new parts is tough, or impossible in some cases. We want to make our parts last as long as possible. A clean drive train goes a long ways toward that goal. 

So, that's a wrap on this round of the "Guitar Ted Lube-Off". I'll check into some lubricants for the next round, but it was clear that many of you thought that I needed to check out the Silca Super Secret Chain Lube and one reader suggested this lube from Prestacycle that has made some amazing claims. Many also suggested Silca's Synergetic lube, but Silca lists this as a 'wet lube' and typically anything specifically listed as such fails miserably in my testing. Remember- dry, dusty, dirty conditions are what I will be subjecting these chains and lubricants to. So, I think it is a bit unfair to put a 'wet lube' up against my proven winners in a 'dry conditions' testing environment. Convince me otherwise and I may change my mind.....

So, this is my ranking so far: DuMonde Tech, Muc-Off C3 Ceramic Dry Lube, SCC Tech Lube. I would heartily recommend any of these three for dry, gravel, dirt road, or pavement use. 

Okay, a final note:  I bought the SCC tech Lube and the NixFrixShun Blue devil lubricants for this round of the Lube-Off. I was not paid nor bribed for these posts and I try to give you my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

Guitar Ted Lube-Off: SCC Tech Lube Results

 NOTICE:  The Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' is a comparison of different lubrication products for bicycle chains that is undertaken in 'real world' conditions in a set way. Then I compare and contrast the results with past 'Lube-Off' products to see "which one is best for me". This is done for entertainment purposes and the reader should apply their own reasoning and discernment while reading my 'Lube-Off' entries. What works for me may not work for you at all. 

Okay, the time has come for me to render a final verdict on the SCC Tech Lube. I also have a bit of news on this lube which I will share first. But even before that, if you missed the last update on this lube, you can click this link to go back and read that. Plus there is another link there to take you to the intro. 

 Now for the news: Wolf Tooth recently introduced their chain lube, which- as it turns out- is this very SCC Tech Lube! They call it "WT-1" but it is the same lubricant as this SCC Tech stuff I already have. So, you are essentially getting a review on the WT-1 as well. Bonus! (The link takes you to my "FN&V" post where I detailed the news on that lube.)

The SCC Tech Lube left a little residue on the cassette, and maybe a bit on the inner plates of the chain.

As far as how this lube performed overall, I would say that it is pretty darn good stuff. I was a bit put off initially by all the black residue that milked out of the chain to begin with, but SCC Tech claims this is the lube doing its 'self-cleaning' thing. Okay.....I decided to bite, and in the end? The lube started to behave in a way that didn't collect more dust and grit, stayed slippery, and kept this chain relatively quiet. I did follow the advice of SCC Tech to wipe down the chain with a rag from time to time, but even this became less of a need as time went on during the test. 

SCC Tech Lube passes the 'Touch Test' with flying colors.

As far as my 'Touch Test' goes, SCC Tech did very well once the lube settled in and quit milking out all that black residue. This ended up being on par with DuMonde Tech and the Muc-Off C3 Ceramic lube. Pretty impressive! 

Shift quality remained excellent throughout the test, but for whatever reason, this lube - or probably this Wippermann chain- is a chunky, loud shifting deal at times. I'm blaming the chain here, because as this lube got drier, the chain shifts got louder. Less wet stuff to damp noise is what that is. So the shifting seemed great, it was just this chain, I think, which was a bit on the loud side when shifting at times. 

At the end of the day, I slot this lubricant in at Number Three on my all-time Lube-Off list. It just is not as clean overall as DuMonde Tech nor as good as the Muc-Off in this regard. The SCC Tech Lube also has that initial period of 'self-cleaning', which can be a bit more maintenance intensive as you should be wiping that off periodically as this process works itself out. That's an extra step neither of the top-two lubricants I have tested require. 

But......SCC Tech Lube is not just a dry conditions lubricant either, so if you see that as a step above from a versatility standpoint, I would take that point and maybe say the SCC Tech Lube could be the better lubricant in those situations where you need an all-around conditions lubricant. So, it depends on how you look at this. I am testing for dry conditions only here, so take that into consideration in my final verdict. 

SCC Tech Lube vs NixFrixShun "Blue Devil" Lubricant: 

 

So, this round featured the two 'blue' colored lubricants, NixFrixShun's Blue Devil and the SCC Tech Lube. The Blue Devil lube's final verdict is here at this link. So, what do I think about the Blue Devil against the SCC Tech Lube? I feel Blue Devil is pretty good, but it was clearly more apt to gather grit and gunk on the side plates of the chain and on the derailleur jockey wheels than the SCC Tech. While Blue Devil kept the chain quiet and shifting really well, it just is not as clean, so it falls below the SCC Tech in that category. Had the SCC Tech Lube stayed dirty as it was out of the gate, this would have ended up being a tie, but the SCC Tech seems to get better with age, in terms of staying gunk-free. 

I will concede that Blue Devil is also listed as an 'all-conditions' lubricant, so it may have staying power through wet and muddy conditions that I did not test for. Again though- it just doesn't stay as clean over-all. To my way of thinking, dirt and gunk on the chain equals a possibility for advanced wear on components, besides slowing you down a tiny bit. That's especially not good in these times where getting new parts is tough, or impossible in some cases. We want to make our parts last as long as possible. A clean drive train goes a long ways toward that goal. 

So, that's a wrap on this round of the "Guitar Ted Lube-Off". I'll check into some lubricants for the next round, but it was clear that many of you thought that I needed to check out the Silca Super Secret Chain Lube and one reader suggested this lube from Prestacycle that has made some amazing claims. Many also suggested Silca's Synergetic lube, but Silca lists this as a 'wet lube' and typically anything specifically listed as such fails miserably in my testing. Remember- dry, dusty, dirty conditions are what I will be subjecting these chains and lubricants to. So, I think it is a bit unfair to put a 'wet lube' up against my proven winners in a 'dry conditions' testing environment. Convince me otherwise and I may change my mind.....

So, this is my ranking so far: DuMonde Tech, Muc-Off C3 Ceramic Dry Lube, SCC Tech Lube. I would heartily recommend any of these three for dry, gravel, dirt road, or pavement use. 

Okay, a final note:  I bought the SCC tech Lube and the NixFrixShun Blue devil lubricants for this round of the Lube-Off. I was not paid nor bribed for these posts and I try to give you my honest thoughts and opinions throughout.

Guitar Ted Lube-Off Update: Blue Devil Lube Results

NOTICE:  The Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' is a comparison of different lubrication products for bicycle chains that is undertaken in 'real world' conditions in a set way. Then I compare and contrast the results with past 'Lube-Off' products to see "which one is best for me". This is done for entertainment purposes and the reader should apply their own reasoning and discernment while reading my 'Lube-Off' entries. What works for me may not work for you at all. 

These articles are done with no support from any bicycle entity unless where noted. All the lubricants in this round were purchased by me and I am not being paid, nor bribed for these posts. Now, please read that and understand that before commenting. 

Now, on with my latest findings! I decided that since I was limiting the test to six hours of actual road riding on crushed rock or dirt roads during the last round of testing, that I would continue on with that format this time. The first lubricant used for at least six hours has been the NixFrixShun Blue Devil product. 

As you may recall, this was applied to a new chain, per NixFrixShun's instructions, and then I have ridden this bike with this lubricant now for just past the six hour time check. So, with that, lets' take a look at what I have found. 

Not the worst, but not the best ether.

Here we have residue, but it is mostly along the edges of the side plates. The lubricant also left a darkened color on the cassette cogs it ran on. I did not detect any 'gunk' build-up on the jockey wheels of the derailleur either. The rollers themselves seem to be free from any dirt, dust, or build-up of lubricant/dirt/dust combinations. 

Let's see what the 'Touch-Test' shows. 

So, as I suspected, this is just build-up along the edges of the side plates. I'm not going to condemn the Blue Devil lubricant for that. However; the top dogs in my long running 'Lube-Off' tests- DuMomde Tech and Muc-Off C3 Ceramic Dry Lube- do not seem to do this much, or at all. They also tend not to leave a discoloration on my cassette cogs. So, in that I still hold those two lubricants as better than this NixFrixShun lube. That's just my take on things so far here. 

But I do like how this Blue Devil lubricant has affected shifting, which is positively, and there is zero grittiness on the drive train bits, so that is impressive. It just is not as clean as the others. That said, I plan on sticking with this lubricant and seeing how long I can run it before it needs reapplying. I've a feeling that this lubricant will run quite a while. 

It also bears noting that this is not necessarily just a dry lube. NixFrixShun claims it is an extreme conditions lubricant, and so I might give this a bit of grace when it comes to leaving some residue behind as it does not necessarily claim to run super-clean. While running it in the wetter conditions might prove interesting, I am going to stick to dry conditions riding as much as possible for this test. Maybe I'll run this later in the year in a "wet" edition of the 'Lube-Off'.

So for now, no.....this is not going to be top-dog in my testing, but it is intriguing enough that I want to keep going with it to find out more, if I can. I'll likely run this until it either gives up the ghost and needs reapplying, or if I get annoyed by the dirt accumulation. 

I'll also have an update on the other lubricant in the test soon. 

Stay tuned.....

Guitar Ted Lube-Off Update: Blue Devil Lube Results

NOTICE:  The Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' is a comparison of different lubrication products for bicycle chains that is undertaken in 'real world' conditions in a set way. Then I compare and contrast the results with past 'Lube-Off' products to see "which one is best for me". This is done for entertainment purposes and the reader should apply their own reasoning and discernment while reading my 'Lube-Off' entries. What works for me may not work for you at all. 

These articles are done with no support from any bicycle entity unless where noted. All the lubricants in this round were purchased by me and I am not being paid, nor bribed for these posts. Now, please read that and understand that before commenting. 

Now, on with my latest findings! I decided that since I was limiting the test to six hours of actual road riding on crushed rock or dirt roads during the last round of testing, that I would continue on with that format this time. The first lubricant used for at least six hours has been the NixFrixShun Blue Devil product. 

As you may recall, this was applied to a new chain, per NixFrixShun's instructions, and then I have ridden this bike with this lubricant now for just past the six hour time check. So, with that, lets' take a look at what I have found. 

Not the worst, but not the best ether.

Here we have residue, but it is mostly along the edges of the side plates. The lubricant also left a darkened color on the cassette cogs it ran on. I did not detect any 'gunk' build-up on the jockey wheels of the derailleur either. The rollers themselves seem to be free from any dirt, dust, or build-up of lubricant/dirt/dust combinations. 

Let's see what the 'Touch-Test' shows. 

So, as I suspected, this is just build-up along the edges of the side plates. I'm not going to condemn the Blue Devil lubricant for that. However; the top dogs in my long running 'Lube-Off' tests- DuMomde Tech and Muc-Off C3 Ceramic Dry Lube- do not seem to do this much, or at all. They also tend not to leave a discoloration on my cassette cogs. So, in that I still hold those two lubricants as better than this NixFrixShun lube. That's just my take on things so far here. 

But I do like how this Blue Devil lubricant has affected shifting, which is positively, and there is zero grittiness on the drive train bits, so that is impressive. It just is not as clean as the others. That said, I plan on sticking with this lubricant and seeing how long I can run it before it needs reapplying. I've a feeling that this lubricant will run quite a while. 

It also bears noting that this is not necessarily just a dry lube. NixFrixShun claims it is an extreme conditions lubricant, and so I might give this a bit of grace when it comes to leaving some residue behind as it does not necessarily claim to run super-clean. While running it in the wetter conditions might prove interesting, I am going to stick to dry conditions riding as much as possible for this test. Maybe I'll run this later in the year in a "wet" edition of the 'Lube-Off'.

So for now, no.....this is not going to be top-dog in my testing, but it is intriguing enough that I want to keep going with it to find out more, if I can. I'll likely run this until it either gives up the ghost and needs reapplying, or if I get annoyed by the dirt accumulation. 

I'll also have an update on the other lubricant in the test soon. 

Stay tuned.....

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.

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.

Friday News And Views

Canyon's new Grizl gravel adventure bike.

 Canyon Bikes Debuts New Gravel Adventure Rig:

 Canyon Bikes, the direct to consumer brand, has announced a new 'gravel adventure' bike (I'll comment on that later here) which has a carbon frame for now, but will have a less expensive aluminum framed model in the range later on. 

There is room for 50mm tires without fenders and 45mm tires with fenders. The bike comes with fork mounts for extra bottles or the "Anything Cage" type racks. Models will be offered in 1X or 2x drive train set ups with Di2 Shimano GRX 800 being the top of the range for the time being. GRX 400 ten speed equipped Grizl's go for just North of 2G.

Comments: Hoo boy! A Canyon gravel rig without the ding-dong, two-tiered handle bar/stem unit? Yes! But enthusiasm may become a bit tempered here since Canyon uses a 1 1/4' steer tube diameter, meaning that 'normal' stems do not retrofit to this bike. Yep! Gotta get a Canyon stem or pretty much nothing else. This means things like a Redshift ShockStop stem will not go on this bike. That's kind of a big deal if you are aiming this bike at the rougher side of gravel travel. 

Secondly, the geometry chart for the Grizl lays out a bizarre set of numbers. A big bottom bracket drop here which is 75mm on larger sized bikes in the range. Then if you notice the head tube angle- a crazy steep 72.5°! Remember early 29"ers? Those bikes had 72° - 73° head tube angles and shorter offset forks which were roundly criticized for some poor handling traits. This led to 29"ers getting progressively more slack in the head tube angles to, where now with adventure based 29"ers, (what few there are), we have anywhere in the higher 60's for head tube angles with slightly longer offsets. Wouldn't it make more sense then to have a slacker head tube angle and longer offset fork on a gravel bike than something in the 72+ degree range? While one should not completely dismiss a bike solely based upon the numbers, this is a bad look for Canyon, in my opinion. 

There is a lot to like here about the new Grizl, but there are a couple of critical concerns which, even though the price seems attractive, would make me choose elsewhere. I'd like to see a 71° head angle here on larger sizes with a 50+mm offset fork. I'd like to choose my own stem, thank you, and not some over-sized stem which, if you buy into the bigger diameter = stiffer component handle bar theories, is the wrong direction to go here. These opinions are based upon a lot of years of testing bikes and riding gravel roads. Your mileage may vary.....

I get that Canyon thinks this design is a more MTB flavored gravel option, but would they design a hard tail XC/Adventure bike like this? (The answer is no: All their XC oriented hard tails are sub-70 degree head angle bikes.) So why put goofy geometry, which has proven to be sub-standard elsewhere, on an "adventure gravel" rig? I don't know......

When do we go to "MTB Drop Bar Bike" and forget about "gravel"?

Slicing Up A Segment:

 As mentioned above with Canyon, many marketing departments are busy trying to sell you more than 'just a gravel bike'. Now you have to have a racing gravel bike, or an adventure gravel bike, or whatever other nuanced version of the 'all-road' bike (that was never meant to become a mountain trail going rig) type of bike. The companies selling these rigs are trying to appeal to those who are not into the extreme geometry/activities version of mountain biking. A style of mountain biking that some of these very same companies helped to grow over the past 20 years.  

I've written about this many times before, but the high-end, decent handling, comfortable hard tail MTB with a rigid fork pretty much died out in the late 2000's. 29"ers represented the last good bikes in this category. Bikes like Salsa's El Mariachi, Niner Bikes SIR 9, (which is still around), Redline's Monocog, and others with rigid forks made great 'all-arounders'. But they fell prey to expensive, longer travel suspension forks, the 'long-low-slack' geometry trend, and 1X drive trains that limit speed on flatter terrain and smoother down hills. While those bikes are great, they came in at the expense of those previous hard tail designs which disappeared.

Instead of a return to what was great about hard tail MTB's, we see companies trying to reach back into this category via 'gravel' with drop bar designs. Bikes similar to Fargos, but more 'road-ish', if you will. It's as if 30+ years of great hard tail MTB design never happened. I find it odd, but more than this, I find that companies trying to invent more niche categories within the umbrella of 'gravel' rather telling. 

First of all, most trends in cycling end up this way because the marketing wonks still haven't figured out how to get the non-cycling public interested in cycling. You know, things might grow more if we just made our streets safer. Things might grow for cycling if we had less emphasis on cars and more on the alternative forms of moving folks, cycling included. Tie in the physical and mental health benefits, the other pluses of cycling, and grow the pie from that angle. Your new "more MTB-ish grav-grav bike" is not going to do diddly-squat in terms of making 'new cyclists'. 

Sorry- not sorry.

Not what you want to keep seeing......

A Quick Update On The Guitar Ted Lube-Off:

I thought I'd give you all a quick update on how things are going with the lubricants in this edition of the 'Guitar Ted Lube-Off', my simple look at what lubricant is best for a bicycle chain being used for gravel grinding.

You might recall that I am using NFS 'Blue Devil" lube and the SCC Tech Lube. I used both lubricants on new Wippermann chains and one, the SCC Tech, is on the noble GX5 and the Blue Devil lube is on the pink MCD. 

Well, NFS says you'll get a bit of a dark residue off their lube but that it doesn't 'gunk up' and collect dirt or whatnot. Yeaaaaahhhh......hmmm....let's just say I have not experienced that, not yet anyway. There is a gunk building up very slightly on the jockey wheels and cassette, but I'll give this a few more long rides and then we will see. It has been very dusty out there, so this is a good test of the lubricants. 

The other lube, the SCC Tech, well, that is also leaving a black mark after I do the "\Finger Swipe Test". But again, I'm going to give both of these lubes some grace here and keep on keeping on for a while. I figure on doing about three good rides on each before I give any more first impressions. So far? Not super impressed with either of these lubricants versus DuMonde Tech and Muc-Off C3 Ceramic lubricants. But we will see soon....  

All manner of parts are still rare and hard to get, like rims.

Parts Shortages Persist:

Obviously by now you've all figured out that 2021 is not a good time to be looking for a new bicycle. (Well, in case you haven't....HELLO!) The parts for bicycles are also still hard to find as well, although this changes now with sporadic supplies and quick depletion of that supply due to pent up demand. So, here's the latest.....

Chains and cassettes are still super hard to come by. There was a spurt in supply late in the Winter but most bike shops grabbed what there was for upcoming seasonal repairs and stock lists as of this writing show nothing available. Last year it was 7-8 speed stuff but this year everything is really hard to find. 

Another perennial out of stock item is tires. 26 inch tires have had a run on them since the beginning of 2020 and it hasn't let up. The good news is that a stock of 26"ers just hit the states and has reached distributors and shops right now. I suspect that this bubble of supply will be gone in a couple weeks or less. You know things are bad here when powerhouse distributor, Quality Bicycle Products, puts up the pile of Maxxis 26"ers they got on all their social media channels.  Twenty-six inch tires! Something to get excited about in 2021? Who'd a thunk it? 

Crank sets are non-existent, chain rings as well, and square taper bottom brackets are due late Summer. So, yeah......doing repairs is even getting dicey. This situation with regard to local bicycle shops is getting really tenuous. If we cannot sell new bicycles because there are none and if we cannot repair your old bicycles because parts are nonexistent, what then? 

Strange days indeed. 

That's a wrap for this week. get out and ride if ya can!

Friday News And Views

Canyon's new Grizl gravel adventure bike.

 Canyon Bikes Debuts New Gravel Adventure Rig:

 Canyon Bikes, the direct to consumer brand, has announced a new 'gravel adventure' bike (I'll comment on that later here) which has a carbon frame for now, but will have a less expensive aluminum framed model in the range later on. 

There is room for 50mm tires without fenders and 45mm tires with fenders. The bike comes with fork mounts for extra bottles or the "Anything Cage" type racks. Models will be offered in 1X or 2x drive train set ups with Di2 Shimano GRX 800 being the top of the range for the time being. GRX 400 ten speed equipped Grizl's go for just North of 2G.

Comments: Hoo boy! A Canyon gravel rig without the ding-dong, two-tiered handle bar/stem unit? Yes! But enthusiasm may become a bit tempered here since Canyon uses a 1 1/4' steer tube diameter, meaning that 'normal' stems do not retrofit to this bike. Yep! Gotta get a Canyon stem or pretty much nothing else. This means things like a Redshift ShockStop stem will not go on this bike. That's kind of a big deal if you are aiming this bike at the rougher side of gravel travel. 

Secondly, the geometry chart for the Grizl lays out a bizarre set of numbers. A big bottom bracket drop here which is 75mm on larger sized bikes in the range. Then if you notice the head tube angle- a crazy steep 72.5°! Remember early 29"ers? Those bikes had 72° - 73° head tube angles and shorter offset forks which were roundly criticized for some poor handling traits. This led to 29"ers getting progressively more slack in the head tube angles to, where now with adventure based 29"ers, (what few there are), we have anywhere in the higher 60's for head tube angles with slightly longer offsets. Wouldn't it make more sense then to have a slacker head tube angle and longer offset fork on a gravel bike than something in the 72+ degree range? While one should not completely dismiss a bike solely based upon the numbers, this is a bad look for Canyon, in my opinion. 

There is a lot to like here about the new Grizl, but there are a couple of critical concerns which, even though the price seems attractive, would make me choose elsewhere. I'd like to see a 71° head angle here on larger sizes with a 50+mm offset fork. I'd like to choose my own stem, thank you, and not some over-sized stem which, if you buy into the bigger diameter = stiffer component handle bar theories, is the wrong direction to go here. These opinions are based upon a lot of years of testing bikes and riding gravel roads. Your mileage may vary.....

I get that Canyon thinks this design is a more MTB flavored gravel option, but would they design a hard tail XC/Adventure bike like this? (The answer is no: All their XC oriented hard tails are sub-70 degree head angle bikes.) So why put goofy geometry, which has proven to be sub-standard elsewhere, on an "adventure gravel" rig? I don't know......

When do we go to "MTB Drop Bar Bike" and forget about "gravel"?

Slicing Up A Segment:

 As mentioned above with Canyon, many marketing departments are busy trying to sell you more than 'just a gravel bike'. Now you have to have a racing gravel bike, or an adventure gravel bike, or whatever other nuanced version of the 'all-road' bike (that was never meant to become a mountain trail going rig) type of bike. The companies selling these rigs are trying to appeal to those who are not into the extreme geometry/activities version of mountain biking. A style of mountain biking that some of these very same companies helped to grow over the past 20 years.  

I've written about this many times before, but the high-end, decent handling, comfortable hard tail MTB with a rigid fork pretty much died out in the late 2000's. 29"ers represented the last good bikes in this category. Bikes like Salsa's El Mariachi, Niner Bikes SIR 9, (which is still around), Redline's Monocog, and others with rigid forks made great 'all-arounders'. But they fell prey to expensive, longer travel suspension forks, the 'long-low-slack' geometry trend, and 1X drive trains that limit speed on flatter terrain and smoother down hills. While those bikes are great, they came in at the expense of those previous hard tail designs which disappeared.

Instead of a return to what was great about hard tail MTB's, we see companies trying to reach back into this category via 'gravel' with drop bar designs. Bikes similar to Fargos, but more 'road-ish', if you will. It's as if 30+ years of great hard tail MTB design never happened. I find it odd, but more than this, I find that companies trying to invent more niche categories within the umbrella of 'gravel' rather telling. 

First of all, most trends in cycling end up this way because the marketing wonks still haven't figured out how to get the non-cycling public interested in cycling. You know, things might grow more if we just made our streets safer. Things might grow for cycling if we had less emphasis on cars and more on the alternative forms of moving folks, cycling included. Tie in the physical and mental health benefits, the other pluses of cycling, and grow the pie from that angle. Your new "more MTB-ish grav-grav bike" is not going to do diddly-squat in terms of making 'new cyclists'. 

Sorry- not sorry.

Not what you want to keep seeing......

A Quick Update On The Guitar Ted Lube-Off:

I thought I'd give you all a quick update on how things are going with the lubricants in this edition of the 'Guitar Ted Lube-Off', my simple look at what lubricant is best for a bicycle chain being used for gravel grinding.

You might recall that I am using NFS 'Blue Devil" lube and the SCC Tech Lube. I used both lubricants on new Wippermann chains and one, the SCC Tech, is on the noble GX5 and the Blue Devil lube is on the pink MCD. 

Well, NFS says you'll get a bit of a dark residue off their lube but that it doesn't 'gunk up' and collect dirt or whatnot. Yeaaaaahhhh......hmmm....let's just say I have not experienced that, not yet anyway. There is a gunk building up very slightly on the jockey wheels and cassette, but I'll give this a few more long rides and then we will see. It has been very dusty out there, so this is a good test of the lubricants. 

The other lube, the SCC Tech, well, that is also leaving a black mark after I do the "\Finger Swipe Test". But again, I'm going to give both of these lubes some grace here and keep on keeping on for a while. I figure on doing about three good rides on each before I give any more first impressions. So far? Not super impressed with either of these lubricants versus DuMonde Tech and Muc-Off C3 Ceramic lubricants. But we will see soon....  

All manner of parts are still rare and hard to get, like rims.

Parts Shortages Persist:

Obviously by now you've all figured out that 2021 is not a good time to be looking for a new bicycle. (Well, in case you haven't....HELLO!) The parts for bicycles are also still hard to find as well, although this changes now with sporadic supplies and quick depletion of that supply due to pent up demand. So, here's the latest.....

Chains and cassettes are still super hard to come by. There was a spurt in supply late in the Winter but most bike shops grabbed what there was for upcoming seasonal repairs and stock lists as of this writing show nothing available. Last year it was 7-8 speed stuff but this year everything is really hard to find. 

Another perennial out of stock item is tires. 26 inch tires have had a run on them since the beginning of 2020 and it hasn't let up. The good news is that a stock of 26"ers just hit the states and has reached distributors and shops right now. I suspect that this bubble of supply will be gone in a couple weeks or less. You know things are bad here when powerhouse distributor, Quality Bicycle Products, puts up the pile of Maxxis 26"ers they got on all their social media channels.  Twenty-six inch tires! Something to get excited about in 2021? Who'd a thunk it? 

Crank sets are non-existent, chain rings as well, and square taper bottom brackets are due late Summer. So, yeah......doing repairs is even getting dicey. This situation with regard to local bicycle shops is getting really tenuous. If we cannot sell new bicycles because there are none and if we cannot repair your old bicycles because parts are nonexistent, what then? 

Strange days indeed. 

That's a wrap for this week. get out and ride if ya can!

Guitar Ted Lube-Off Update: NFS Blue Devil Lube

My new Wippermann chain as it looked out of the box.

 Hey folks! It's another Guitar Ted 'Lube-Off' update! I know.......super exciting stuff here. More ride reports will happen soon! But for now, here is the first report I have for the NixFrixShun, (NFS) 'Blue Devil' lubricant.  I decided to put this on my other new Wippermann chain I purchased recently, and that all went on the pink BMC MCD bike. 

So, looking at the page for the Blue Devil lubricant, I got two very different approaches to the application process. But one thing I did see which I was not surprised by was that NFS recommends that you only apply the lubricant to a clean chain. Say no more! I dunked my brand new Wippermann chain in a solution of warm water and dawn dish soap and scrubbed, rubbed, and let it sit for a bit, then I removed it and air dried it. How did I air dry it, you might ask? Well.......

Centrifugal force is a neat thing. Using that idea with air flow, I went into the back yard, checked for any overhead obstructions like wires to the house, etc, and swung that chain 'round like a propeller blade, holding it by its end. There is something rather boyishly satisfying that comes from hearing the 'whooshing' sound of an object that you wield while swinging it through the air. Anyway, I swapped ends, and repeated the process for good measure. 

Post-application look at the chain with the Blue Devil lubricant.

I had thought about laying it then across the hood of my still smoldering grill which I had used to cook dinner on, but it felt so dry that I skipped this measure. So, off to the dank reaches of 'The Lab' to install the golden strand and apply the Blue Devil lubricant! 

The interesting observation I have made so far in this round of the 'Lube-Off' is that both lubricants I am trying are colored blue. DuMonde Tech's 'regular blend' is also blue in color. Coincidence? We will see.... At any rate, getting back to that application process- NFS's site has wording to do the application in one way, then recommends you take a look at a video, which tells of a bit different application process. Actually, the two are pretty different. I took the road the video showed me, so we will see which is correct.  

Well, that done, I went and checked on the shifting and found that my cable tension was off. Like way off! It's funny how much better a new chain shifts than an old one does. So much so that my minor adjustments to cable tension as that old chain wore made the new chain shift horribly. It was so bad it had become unrideable. Something to think about if you swap chains. 

Speaking of the chain- This Wippermann chain did not start out nearly as noisy as the first one but hasn't gotten as quiet as the first one has either. So, kinda consistently 'ker-chunky', if you know what I mean. Shifts are smooth though. Even under heavy pedal pressure. Good there so far.

And as you can see, the new lube, which was run in for about 40 minutes or so, looks okay so far. But this is not gravel riding. So, stay tuned for the next update on this lubricant coming soon.