Okay, let’s be honest.

You would probably rather be reading a review about the latest ‘must-have’ piece of kit for your bike right now, all decked out in this season’s BNGs (Bold New Graphics), promising to make you faster, more extreme and more desirable to the opposite sex.

In this age of multi-directional carbonfibre weaves, hydroformed swoopiness and intelligent suspension, reading about a bicycle chain lubricant isn’t that exciting, right?

Well, that all depends on the lube.

Oil-based chain lubes are a pain. All the dirt they attract to your drivetrain soon turns into grinding paste, gleefully eating away at your expensive chainrings, chain and cassette. The only way to stop this murderous attack on your bike is to degrease the drivetrain thoroughly after every long or muddy ride, before any lube is reapplied.
Up here in rainy Scotland, this means pretty much after every ride, a little ritual that soon becomes expensive if you consider how much decent degreasers (like citrus degreaser) cost nowadays.

‘Squirt’ lube is different. It works. Really well. Because it’s wax-based, it never needs degreasing. All you have to do is reapply as you need it. It leaves you more time to ride your bike, and that’s the whole point, right?

Here at The Hub, we have one of the UK’s biggest hire & demo bike fleets (120 + bikes in Summer!), and one of our biggest challenges as mechanics is keeping that fleet clean, properly serviced and safe. This means washing every single bike after every single ride, and using traditional lubes and degreasers is far too time-consuming and expensive. Over the last few months, we have been testing Squirt lube on some of our demo bikes and also our own staff bikes, in some of the worst conditions that a Scottish winter can dish out. We have been so impressed with the results that we now exclusively use Squirt lube on all our hire, demo and all repair bikes in the workshop. Not only does it speed up washing the fleet enormously, it also saves us a lot of dosh previously spent on degreasers.
Unlike other dry lubes, it is also very durable, surviving the wettest, longest rides for days before you need to apply again.

I now use it on all my own bikes - road, commuter, mountain bike and also with my team mates in the Glentress Riders team, racing in the Scottish Cross Country series (check us out, we kick arse!) and I still grin every time I don’t have to spend ages after a race cleaning the drivetrain.

It really is the best £7-99 you could spend on your bike, not as sexy as that carbon handlebar you’ve been drooling over, but it will save you loads in the long term.

...And less time cleaning your bike means more time riding your bike!

For more info on Squirt Lube, pop over to www.in2dust.co.uk or give us a shout next time you're in the shop and see the results for yourself!

Jake the Mech.