Video: Testing expensive bike lubes! | Graphenlube vs Revolube vs CeramicSpeed UFO

A little while back we made a video trying out AbsoluteBlack’s new Graphenlube. Could we measure the claimed efficiency gains using just a power meter and an indoor trainer? And the answer was yes. Yes, we could.

And now we’re back because, essentially, we’ve made a rod for our own back and all the other bike lube manufacturers are saying, what about our lube then? So welcome to part two of ‘road.cc tries out a bunch of lubes’. And this week we’re featuring three lubes, all of which make grand claims which we've quoted below.

Graphenlube is back, as our sort-of control to see if we can repeat what we found last time. It’s the most expensive lube here by a country mile, at £115 for 140ml. Or £821 a litre. Here’s what they say about it.

"GRAPHENlube – World’s first hydrocarbon-based (wax) chain lubricant containing Graphene. It exhibits extraordinary durability at single application whilst maintaining impressively low friction for a prolonged period of time in both wet and dry conditions. It’s everything you can really wish for in lubrication.

Interestingly, AbsoluteBlack claims that in dry conditions, you can get up to 1800km on a single application. 

> Review: AbsoluteBlack Graphenlube

Next up: Ceramicspeed’s UFO drip, which looks a relative bargain by comparison at only £35 for 180ml, or £194 a litre. This is what they say...

"At CeramicSpeed, we know that every watt lost through excessive friction is one less watt propelling you towards your goals. Our new and improved UFO Drip Chain Coating represents another leap in our quest to further streamline drivetrain efficiency. It consists of a unique blend of waxes, trace oils, and friction modifiers that come in an easy-to-apply liquid that provides protection, low friction, and minimal power loss through the drivetrain."

> Review: CeramicSpeed UFO Drip

Last we have Revolube, which at £16.90 for 50ml, or £338 a litre is nestled in the middle. Naturally, they make some claims about it too… it says,

"Revolube Bike Chain Lube is a hydrocarbon complex, specifically formulated to help reduce wear and friction of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. It bonds chemically with the metal component molecules, forming a microscopic, mono-molecular, wear-resistant coating. This exclusive lubricating formula combines the extraordinary features of Calcium Sulphonate and Alkan Chloride components that meet Military and Industrial specification requirements."

So there you go, three of the most expensive lubes out there, all of which claim to make you faster through less friction. Which we’ll attempt to test.

The testing procedure is very similar to last time because it seemed to work. Dave will ride on an indoor trainer, on a bike with a crank power meter, and we’ll make him do a series of standard workouts, recording the data from both power meters. What we should see is that the indoor trainer records a lower power, because there are losses associated with the drivetrain. The lower those losses, the closer, in theory, the two numbers should be.

We’ve made one change to the testing procedure. Last time we started with a new chain and tried the lubes in turn. It’s difficult to know if there’s any benefit for a lube being first or last when testing, or whether any of the previously used lubes affect the results of the later ones. So this time we’re using a brand new chain for each. We’ll do a set of tests on the chain fresh out of the box, then we’ll strip the packing lube off it, apply the lube according to the manufacturer’s instructions, then do another set of tests. After that, we’ll try to standardise the data so the baseline numbers from a fresh chain are all the same, because they’re bound to vary a little, and compare the results of the three lubes against each other. 

So, what did we find out? You'll just have to watch the video to find out...