Thats my point. The article makes mention of power saving. If you consider power saving to be reduced friction then sure that means less wear and a longer drivetrain life. You're not seeing that in your data are you? So how valid is the articles conclusions and what is the agenda? IMO, the conclusions are just interesting reading until the actual test conditions are very clear. The article bows to the power fad and the moment people see WATTS they go all cross eyed and on to it like dogs in heat. The power savings are 2.4%, just over 1% of the that is chain type and lube. How many tests, what was the repeatability of the tests. Is the test reproducable? Those are TRUTHS that interest me, hence I conclude the article's agenda is too support a business of selling a power saving. If anyone's tried buying into renewable energies like solar water heaters you know that those saving just don't materialise in the real world. Also, the power saving is for a completely clean chain. How is the dirt introduced? The big elephant in the room with that constant load test is just that, CONSTANT LOAD. Nobody pedals a bicycle by applying a constant load to the pedals. Your load is varying through the pedal stroke. That allows the chain links to change distance relative to each other constantly as the chain loads and unloads. This allows dirt to be pumped into the chain. Does the test replicate that? Nope. All I see is an attempt to over complicate a simple problem of chain lube and create a product from it. Kudo's to the guy who did it but it does not impress me and I won't get sucked into the hype around a 2.4% power saving under ideal conditions. AS I said in the previous thread on this matter, I'm loathe to spend R150 for 50ml of camel urine. Now the product is taken a step further in that I can now buy a carefully prepared chain and matching jockey wheel set at a premium to save 2.4% on a dry day in cape Town with no wind after the roads have been swept and the construction trucks have broken down.. There will always be those who jump on the next fad. I see it as them trying to show everyone how much money they have. DOn't get me wrong, I don't dispute the benefits of paraffin wax lubes. Paraffin wax has fantastic properties, as long as it's very pure. The higher the purity, the better the properties. Naphthenic oils don't have much wax so their temperature performance is going to be less than ideal but I've yet to find a cyclist who rides at 40 degrees C or 100 degrees C.... In terms of lubricity, paraffin waxes CAN be better, as log as it's very pure. Theres no many places in the world where paraffin wax is as pure as the stuff they make at Secunda. So if you want a Paraffin wax lube, Squirt gets my vote. Motorcycle lubes have a nice mix of paraffin wax and naphthenic oil (best of both worlds) + additives. Finishline Wet lube (the green stuff) is a nice blend of naphthenic and paraffinic il, hence it has such good lubricity./ Best of all, its cheaper than wax only stuff. I had a debate with Johan Bornman on this some time ago and I went away to do some homework, even using our companies lab. He maintained that the best lube is the stuff that comes on the chain when its still in the wrapper. I hated that stuf because it attracted so much dirt and was sticky. I emailed my contacts at a big groupset company in the Netherlands and asked them what it was but they didn't know. "We buy it from you guys" was all he said... So I tested it and low and behold its a motorcycle chain lube. Obviously applied at the factory with an applicator but essentially its the same stuff just thinned down with a bit of solvent. Later after I tracked down the sale people looking after that account they varified it was a chain lube. Now Johan maintains that is the best stuff and I tend to agree with him. Paraffin wax, in a naphthenic oil applied via aerosol to allow it too penetrate. Some of my pals have had good results with soaking a chain in white lightning over night before fitting it. Problem is what to do once the wax is out of the chain as it won't go back in. There is just nothing strong enough to flush the old wax out. This is where a nice thick (high viscosity ) wet lube comes in. Point is, there is no right answer, there is no way to keep wax in the chain and your chain will see a depreciating performance over time. That is a fact. The best practise is the simply wipe off the sticky lube on the outside of a brand new chain, fit the thing and go ride. When you need to top up the chain lube use a wet lube like Finishline with a dual base oil mix. Eventually you will hav squeezed all the wax out and you're going to need to replace the lube. I simply top it up with engine oil or Finish line as there is no way to relube it with wax unless you can get the chain hot. Some have told me they heat up their lube before applying it. I think that's dangerous (Solvent fumes are flammable and can be toxic). Paying a premium for a 2.4% power saving................... well I guess everyone is selling something and there's a market for everything PS: Sorry for the length.
