So-called dry lubes use wax instead of oil to provide a lubricating layer between sliding surfaces and are claimed to offer significant advantages over the latter including comparative cleanliness and greater resistance to being washed off by water.
Squirt is a dry lube with a difference; it uses water as the solvent or carrying liquid of an emulsion formed under 'controlled' conditions that won't separate out and which is stable up to 100degC. The emulsion is thin enough to penetrate right inside the moving parts of a cycle chain, where the waxes then remain to lessen friction once the water has evaporated.
Application must be done to a clean, dry and degreased chain to avoid contamination by old oil or a different wax-based lube. It should be applied generously to each roller and pivot, with a second application if this is the first time Squirt has been applied to a particular chain.
In dry conditions it can be used fairly quickly, but in wet weather it is important to let the lube dry out thoroughly to avoid wash-off.
RCUK lubed a chain as directed and left it to dry before riding in both dry and wet weather. Squirt penetrated quickly and could be seen to be pulled into small gaps by capillary action, so it is reasonable to assume it gets where it is needed. The result was immediately impressive; the chain was eerily quiet in use and the transmission notably smooth both under load and when shifting. After a wet one hour commute, the rollers looked dry but the chain still ran smoothly the next day without a further application. Some lube had washed off but the end result was still better than most oils in the conditions.
More Squirt can be applied any time and is best done before the chain starts to look dry. The claim that this lube does not build a coating of dirty muck is borne out in practice; instead, small lumps of wax form and eventually break away. Small rust spots had begun to form on parts of the chain after wet weather use but repeat application prevented them getting bigger.
Besides cleanliness and durability, the main consideration with any chain lube is, of course, lubrication; how well it minimises friction. There is nothing on the Squirt website to indicate its effectiveness in this regard. The silent running of the chain may be a little misleading in that the waxes will provide noise-quelling cushioning between rubbing surfaces even if the friction reduction is less effective that with a liquid lube.
However, given that the difference between a dry and oiled chain may be perhaps a couple of percent or roughly four Watts, that between a Squirt-lubed chain and an oiled chain is likely to be negligible if any. I'd still use a good oil lube for competition but even that may offer a psychological rather than physical advantage, since the Squirt-lubed chain undoubtedly runs smoothly.
Naturally, we lubed a old chain that was not degreased but had only the remnants of old oil in it to find out what happens. The Squirt took longer to penetrate the chain and produced lots of lumps of black crud that fell off. It only took 100 miles or so to take over from the oil and leave the chain looking much like the properly-treated example.
Squirt is completely biodegradable, non-flammable and easily washed off skin using just soap and water.
www.in2dust.co.uk
www.squirtlube.com
