Motorex Dry Chain Lube

Motorex dry lube is a semi synthetic blend of wax and synthetic oils that has proved phenomenally long-lived despite the winter's characteristically hostile conditions and the fact there hasn't been much dry to test it in. Even in the wet it's tenaciously stuck to the chain without becoming a gritty, transmission chewing mess. Oh and I've just passed three hundred miles on a single helping…

Having stripped the chains of the bikes I was testing it on of pre-existing lubes,I was expecting to apply something with an emulsion/wax consistency but instead it oozed from the twist spout as a middleweight synthetic - the dry in its name refers to the conditions it's designed for rather than the type of lube it is. There hasn't been much 'dry' around this winter or indeed last summer/autumn, and spring. So much of this test was conducted in the very opposite of dry... and so far this Motorex lube had coped easily.

Coursing through each link's most intimate regions, the carrier lacks the flammable potency of some but keep some kitchen towel or clean rag hovering beneath to catch any overspill. A single helping is quite sufficient. Galvanised coatings can get distinctly arthritic but a deft nudge of the pedals saw ours glide serenely and with none of the sluggishness sometimes associated with traditional wet potions.

I was stunned to return from my initial outing to find the chain and cassette looking decidedly grimy-residual lube everywhere! Convinced I'd made a schoolboy error somewhere, I cleaned both in stale petrol, dried thoroughly and applied afresh, this time leaving overnight. Fifty miles in and once again, the chain looked filthy...Further enquiries suggest while unsightly, this is perfectly normal, the muck sticks to the bonding agent but stays safely on the outside.

Taming my revulsion, tubby tourer and frisky fixer settled down to some serious, saddle moulding mileage. Numb bum aside we cruised past 150 miles without hint of grittiness/squeaking (although I wiped the tourer's side plates twice weekly). Most ceramics last around 220 in foul weather, so I took to the trails convinced that some long grass and shallow stream shenanigans would lick this curious hybrid lube clean...

200 came and went serenely, the fixer too (no surprise since we don't venture beyond tarmac). Just as well since the fixed doesn't wear mudguards so by this point was fiendishly filthy around the fork crown and rear triangle. Cutting the saga short, it took three hundred miles and two thorough citrus based de greasings before arthritis set in.

Verdict

Exceptionally long lived and deceptively clean lube so long as you can get past how quick chains look grotty.