Guitar Ted Lube Off: Smooth Operator Lube Update

Much better when used sparingly.

The last "Lube Off" update, back in February, was all about the wet weather performance of the lubes and techniques I was testing out. (Check it out HERE) I had just tried out the new Smooth Operator lubricant on my Ti Mukluk, but it was a bit on the messy side. I offered that perhaps I used it too liberally on the Muk's chain, and that I tried it on the BMC with a restrained hand.

Well, this is after a couple of hundred miles of gravel and a few commutes. You can read the chain side plates quite clearly. Using this lube sparingly seems to be the ticket to success with it. The chain now is dry-ish, but if I roll the rollers of the chain, I get some wetness out of there still. There is s wee bit of build up inside the links and on the jockey wheels, so this isn't on the same level as DuMonde Tech, or even the Rock & Roll Gold I used last Summer, but it is close.

Conditions have been a mixed bag of wet, damp, and very dry in the weeks following the last update. The Smooth Operator lube has earned a pass on to the next phase of testing here, so I will re-up on an application to the chain on the BMC and continue onward.

So, I will move on to dry weather testing again and I am planning on adding a couple of new lubes to the mix. I finally found my sample of ChainL Lube, and I also am going to give Squirt lubricant a try in the future.

Guitar Ted Lube Off: Smooth Operator Lube Update

Much better when used sparingly.

The last "Lube Off" update, back in February, was all about the wet weather performance of the lubes and techniques I was testing out. (Check it out HERE) I had just tried out the new Smooth Operator lubricant on my Ti Mukluk, but it was a bit on the messy side. I offered that perhaps I used it too liberally on the Muk's chain, and that I tried it on the BMC with a restrained hand.

Well, this is after a couple of hundred miles of gravel and a few commutes. You can read the chain side plates quite clearly. Using this lube sparingly seems to be the ticket to success with it. The chain now is dry-ish, but if I roll the rollers of the chain, I get some wetness out of there still. There is s wee bit of build up inside the links and on the jockey wheels, so this isn't on the same level as DuMonde Tech, or even the Rock & Roll Gold I used last Summer, but it is close.

Conditions have been a mixed bag of wet, damp, and very dry in the weeks following the last update. The Smooth Operator lube has earned a pass on to the next phase of testing here, so I will re-up on an application to the chain on the BMC and continue onward.

So, I will move on to dry weather testing again and I am planning on adding a couple of new lubes to the mix. I finally found my sample of ChainL Lube, and I also am going to give Squirt lubricant a try in the future.

Guitar Ted Lube Off: Wet Season

Rock & Roll Gold: Too sticky!

Okay, with the Summer season well behind us, and the DuMonde Tech and Rock & Roll lubes having been great during that time of the year, it is now time to check out my "wet" weather results and what I have planned so far up to this point in the season.

First, an update on Rock & Roll Gold lube. It is not a good wet weather lube here. What worked in the dry times seems to not be so good when mud and moisture come into the picture. I'm not picking up a lot of gunk on my chain, but I am getting much more than I did when it was drier. What I am getting is a sticky chain and it caused chain suck on a 36T ring the other day. This was right after applying a fresh coating of the lube only hours before. That's not going to cut it for me. So, that's it for this lube. I would recommend it heartily for anything dry, as far as conditions, but not when things get nasty.

Of course, DuMonde Tech is going to be used going forward, but I also have some "off the wall" solutions in the mix. I won't say what they are just yet, but I have gotten some surprising results. More on all of that soon......

Stay tuned. This is going to get real interesting.

Guitar Ted Lube Off: Wet Season

Rock & Roll Gold: Too sticky!

Okay, with the Summer season well behind us, and the DuMonde Tech and Rock & Roll lubes having been great during that time of the year, it is now time to check out my "wet" weather results and what I have planned so far up to this point in the season.

First, an update on Rock & Roll Gold lube. It is not a good wet weather lube here. What worked in the dry times seems to not be so good when mud and moisture come into the picture. I'm not picking up a lot of gunk on my chain, but I am getting much more than I did when it was drier. What I am getting is a sticky chain and it caused chain suck on a 36T ring the other day. This was right after applying a fresh coating of the lube only hours before. That's not going to cut it for me. So, that's it for this lube. I would recommend it heartily for anything dry, as far as conditions, but not when things get nasty.

Of course, DuMonde Tech is going to be used going forward, but I also have some "off the wall" solutions in the mix. I won't say what they are just yet, but I have gotten some surprising results. More on all of that soon......

Stay tuned. This is going to get real interesting.

Guitar Ted Lube-Off: Update

Post-Odin's: DuMonde Tech

Okay, I'm about a week overdue with this update, but I was ill last week and didn't get out on a specific ride I wanted to do before I posted an update. So, that happened finally and here is the update.

First I wanted to give you all a look at how my DuMonde Tech lubed chain did at Odin's Revenge a couple of weeks back and tell you my thoughts on the performance so far.

It is going to be hard to impart to you readers just how severe the dust was at Odin's this year. Essentially, it was the polar opposite of what I put this very same drivetrain through at the Dirty Kanza, where it was wet and muddy. Odin's had this powdery, fine silt that was getting dumped all over the drivetrain at the bottom of every hill and on every dirt road I rode on during my time in the event. Probably around 30 plus miles of dirt roads alone. Each time I rode through a valley or a dirt road, the chain was getting bathed in this fine dust.

The result was that I have dirt stuck to every non-contact point on the chain, but where the parts meet and mesh, the chain is completely clean. DuMonde Tech recommends that you not reapply lube until you hear the chain. So, post-Odin's I kept riding, and only just the other day did I detect any chain noise. I'll probably back pedal the chain through a rag to knock the dust off first, then re-lube it. While it doesn't match up with DuMonde Tech's mileage claims, I don't think dumping bucket loads of dirt on the chain while riding was accounted for either. Same with the DK200 mess. Both very extreme circumstances, and I am going to take that into account here when comparing and contrasting with the other lubes in this test.

Rock & Roll Gold so far....

Rock & Roll Gold:

 The next contender I wanted to show you is the Rock & Roll Gold lube which is on the Standard Rando right now. I applied this lube per label instructions and have about 25 miles of commuting and about 16 miles of crushed rock road with an additional 10 road miles on the chain.

The Rock & Roll has been keeping the chain looking really great until the 16 miles of gravel happened. That dirtied up the chain to what you see here so far. The roads were overlaid with fresh gravel for about half of those 16 miles, and the rest was typical Iowa gravel, so nothing really extreme here.

What I am seeing here is concerning me a bit, but I will reserve final judgement until I can pile on more gravel miles on this chain/lube set up. So far the shifting performance has been okay, but the drivetrain is noisy with this lube in as far as shifts and just running down the road is concerned. Not at all squeaky, just mechanical sounding, if that makes any sense. I hope to get a gravel ride on this bike this week to get me into the same territory in terms of mileage that I had with the T-9 before I punted that lube out from the test. I'll have an update along with the Pro Gold very soon.

Guitar Ted Lube-Off: Update

Post-Odin's: DuMonde Tech

Okay, I'm about a week overdue with this update, but I was ill last week and didn't get out on a specific ride I wanted to do before I posted an update. So, that happened finally and here is the update.

First I wanted to give you all a look at how my DuMonde Tech lubed chain did at Odin's Revenge a couple of weeks back and tell you my thoughts on the performance so far.

It is going to be hard to impart to you readers just how severe the dust was at Odin's this year. Essentially, it was the polar opposite of what I put this very same drivetrain through at the Dirty Kanza, where it was wet and muddy. Odin's had this powdery, fine silt that was getting dumped all over the drivetrain at the bottom of every hill and on every dirt road I rode on during my time in the event. Probably around 30 plus miles of dirt roads alone. Each time I rode through a valley or a dirt road, the chain was getting bathed in this fine dust.

The result was that I have dirt stuck to every non-contact point on the chain, but where the parts meet and mesh, the chain is completely clean. DuMonde Tech recommends that you not reapply lube until you hear the chain. So, post-Odin's I kept riding, and only just the other day did I detect any chain noise. I'll probably back pedal the chain through a rag to knock the dust off first, then re-lube it. While it doesn't match up with DuMonde Tech's mileage claims, I don't think dumping bucket loads of dirt on the chain while riding was accounted for either. Same with the DK200 mess. Both very extreme circumstances, and I am going to take that into account here when comparing and contrasting with the other lubes in this test.

Rock & Roll Gold so far....

Rock & Roll Gold:

 The next contender I wanted to show you is the Rock & Roll Gold lube which is on the Standard Rando right now. I applied this lube per label instructions and have about 25 miles of commuting and about 16 miles of crushed rock road with an additional 10 road miles on the chain.

The Rock & Roll has been keeping the chain looking really great until the 16 miles of gravel happened. That dirtied up the chain to what you see here so far. The roads were overlaid with fresh gravel for about half of those 16 miles, and the rest was typical Iowa gravel, so nothing really extreme here.

What I am seeing here is concerning me a bit, but I will reserve final judgement until I can pile on more gravel miles on this chain/lube set up. So far the shifting performance has been okay, but the drivetrain is noisy with this lube in as far as shifts and just running down the road is concerned. Not at all squeaky, just mechanical sounding, if that makes any sense. I hope to get a gravel ride on this bike this week to get me into the same territory in terms of mileage that I had with the T-9 before I punted that lube out from the test. I'll have an update along with the Pro Gold very soon.