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review
Lubrication
Squirt lubeSquirt wax lube

Squirt lube

8
by dave atkinson
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Jan 14, 2010

7
£7.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Easy to apply, tenacious and clean running wax lube
Weight: 
0g
Contact: 
www.squirtlube.com
How we test

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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Good lube, this, and not to be confused with delicate wax lubes that demand you soak your chain in lavender oil for three weeks and then pick out the dirt with a toothpick before you apply it. You can just slap this stuff on, and after a few applications when excess wax starts to build up on the chain, you can easily brush it off, keeping your chain nice and clean. It stays put, too.

The Squirt people describe their wax lube as "an emulsion that is blended under special controlled conditions from a number of waxes" - it's basically a suspension of the wax in water, which differs from most wax lubes that dissolve the wax in an VOC-based carrier. That means it's more environmentally friendly, and it doesn't seem to affect the penetration.

The first test was to add some to a dryish chain and see how it fared under normal conditions. The milky-white liquid is easy to see on the chain, and when the water evaporates you get that slightly greasy wax-lube feel. The Squirt lube easily survived 30-odd miles of normal commuting in all weathers, at which point it faced about the sternest test possible: 40 miles in the salt, snow and rain finishing up on the muddy, puddle-strewn canal towpath. I wouldn't expect any lube to survive that and the chain showed some evidence of rust the next day after a hose down, but it wasn't noisy - there was still some lube in there, so it's pretty tenacious stuff. Squirt market the wax lube at MTBers as well as roadies, and it's certainly a good choice for both. In terms of longevity it's not quite up with the best wet lubes, but it's much better than most of the other dry and wax lubes I've tested.

I was sceptical about Squirt's claim that "excess wax gets expelled by the chain and falls off during riding - cleaning with a dry brush is adequate", but it turns out there's some truth in that. The excess wax is pretty easy to get rid of: it doesn't readily fall off of its own accord but a quick brush buffs up your chain nicely, and dirt doesn't stick to it like it would with a wet lube.

Verdict

Easy to apply, tenacious and clean running wax lube

road.cc test report

Make and model: Squirt Wax lube

Size tested: 120ml

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes: easy, clean and durable

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 190cm  Weight: 98kg

I usually ride: whatever I\'m testing...  My best bike is: Trek 1.5 with Ultegra 6700

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Squirt Lube
wax lube
Squirt Wax lube
lube
Dry lube
chain lube
Squirt dry lube
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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7 comments

Avatar
jthef | 4 years ago
1 like

I've used this for years and love it.

new chain I just clean it and put on. Rewax after a wet ride. dry riding lasts for hundreds of mile 400+. it dose not work well in Jan and Feb in the uk ie very cold dry and salt, but they do have a low temp one which  does work in the winter. when I started to use it the chain lasted about 200 more mile before needing replacing.

Oh and now I don't have to clean my chain at all!

 

Avatar
Lefty | 5 years ago
0 likes

You can just apply it without any need to clean and degrease the chain? 

Avatar
2byte | 12 years ago
1 like

If you have to ride in british weather and find regular oil based lube rapidly turning into a grinding paste and effing up your transmission and being a bitch to clean – this stuff is the bomb! Easy to clean and almost no residue. Just a shame more high street stores don’t sell it.

Avatar
fred22 | 14 years ago
0 likes

Put some on a new chain I thought was cleaned up and it has turned into something like hairspray residue. Did have the idea that it would feel, well, dry? I must confess to this being my first experience of a dry lube anyway but its hard to imagine dirt falling off during riding: I would have thought that it'll be attracting dirt like iron filings to a magnet

Avatar
Trev Allen | 14 years ago
1 like

I've got a crate of it at home! I guess inviting people round for a "Squirt" party would sound inappropriate? Perhaps not then...

The importer Carl has done Idita Bike 5 times. If he is willing to back it for use in tough conditions I think its good enough for the rest of us mortals.

Tops!

Avatar
dave atkinson | 14 years ago
1 like

yeah, really good stuff. One proviso - don't leave it in the shed when it's -6° because it's water-based and it freezes 1

seems to thaw okay though, gave it a shake and it's fine!

Avatar
neilwheel | 14 years ago
2 likes

Spiffing stuff this. I bore the a**e off people telling them how good it is.

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