NOTE: Stan's sent over a bottle of their Polar Drip Wax to Guitar Ted Productions at no charge for test and review purposes. Stan's is not bribing or paying Guitar Ted for this review. The SILCA Super-Secret v2 was purchased for this review by Guitar Ted. All opinions are Guitar Ted's.
It's time to start wrapping up this session of the Guitar Ted Lube-Off. With October winding down, I decided to cut short the test on the SILCA Super-Secret v2 and the Stan's Polar Drip Wax lube. For whatever days I get left to me for testing, I am going to dedicate those to the Triboflux lubricant, seen HERE last. In fact, all three of those hyperlinks take you to the last update on each of the lubricants being tested in this session.
The image above is from the last time I rode the Stan's Polar Drip Wax lubricant. I will say this lube has been quiet, it provided excellent shifting performance, and - for the most part - I was impressed. However; I did have to reapply the lubricant, which is suggested in Stan's own application procedures which say you may want to apply this twice to start out with.
Once the second coating was applied things have shown out to be better. No gunk build up, no adhesion of dirt to the chain, for the most part, which was impressive. But....this was with two applications. I have not had to do this with the SILCA product. So, let's see where we are with SILCA Super-Secret v2.
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| SILCA Super-Secret drip wax on the chain here after a very dusty ride. |
As you can see here, Super-Secret v2 doesn't attract gunk, and it stays fairly clean, despite having a very thin coating of dust all over the chain. This was from an extremely dusty ride, so I am impressed by the outcome here.
However; Super-Secret v2 is noisier and perhaps doesn't allow the chain to shift quite as nicely as the drivetrain using the Stan's product. It is very close, but noticeable to me. Out on the gravel it is not a noisy enough chain to hear, but when you pass by a bridge railing, for instance, I can hear a clackety-clackety chain noise. A normal noise, to be sure, but more pronounced than I am hearing with the Stan's lube.
Who cares? The chain is cleaner, for sure, and any gunk build-up and excessive dust/dirt is what accelerates wear. Noise I can deal with, and again, this is a very minor issue. Also, it should be noted that a pass with a micro-fiber cloth would bring the shine right back to the SILCA treated chain, so a little dust coating is really no big deal.
The Stan's Polar Drip Wax lubricant has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment. Partially due to its recommendation to use the Stan's Degreaser as a chain stripping/cleaning step in the application process. If you were to choose to follow the instructions rigidly, this would lead to a massive failure of the Polar Drip Wax to cure and do what it can do otherwise. Which, by the way, is a pretty dcent job.
Secondly, the Polar Drip Wax instructions suggest a second coating after the initial coating cures. I would make the suggestion that the second coating is required. I saw far better results after the second application than I had with only a single pass of the Polar Drip Wax.
Of course, it is easier and takes less time to apply only one coating of a wax lubricant, which is precisely what Super-Secret v2 offers the user. The lube is perhaps going to allow a tiny bit noisier drive train, but other than that, Super-Secret v2 is a better lubricant. At least when pegged head to head with a single application of Stan's.
If you don't use the Stan's degreaser, and if you go ahead and apply two coatings of Stan's right away, I think there is very little separating these two lubricants. However; I'm giving the nod here, so far, to SILCA, just because of those technicalities in regard to the Stan's product.
Now if the weather holds out, the plan is to close out Fall riding the Triboflux lube and perhaps I'll get a handle on that and be back in a couple of weeks with a final verdict including all three of these wax based drip lubes.
Stay tuned......
