From a head-turning chain lube idea to bike updates, nifty gadgets and coffee, we’ve got everything a cyclist could ever wish to read about in this week’s Tech of the Week round-up. Let’s not waste any more time and start with that chain lube, shall we?
Can this “revolutionary” solid graphite block really lube your chain better?
So, there’s a company claiming to have developed a “revolutionary” new way to lube a bicycle chain, all without liquid, drying time, mess, sticky residue or petrochemical impact, and apparently producing “unmatched” results.
This one’s going to take a lot of unpacking, but it’s the work of a company called CHA which calls the product “smart bicycle lube”. At first we couldn’t even work out what the product was, but then it dawned on us. The C-shaped block used in all the advertising is the product.
More than £90,000 in pledges have been put into the company’s fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, almost 3,000 people apparently intrigued by the concept.
In short, it appears to be a solid graphite block which you run the chain against, apparently producing clean, residue-free lubrication that “keeps your bike performing at its best”, without any mess.
The design has been patented and CHA reckons its product also boasts “low coefficient of friction”, is dust-repellent, anti-corrosive and offers “unmatched natural lubricant”.
The videos on the website show riders backpedalling their chain against the CHA product, the company also claiming it provides “aerospace-grade lubrication”.
We’ve contacted the designers behind it and really want to get our hands on one ASAP. With that said, some discussion of the product online raises concerns about how well a solid block would be able to penetrate rollers and links like more traditional lubes.
The answer, according to CHA, is: “Graphite in powdered form behaves very differently from what most people picture when they think of a solid. The individual particles are microscopically fine, small enough to migrate into the gaps between chain plates, rollers, and pins through normal mechanical movement. Once inside, graphite’s layered molecular structure causes the particles to adhere to metal surfaces and form a coherent film within the contact zones — not on top of them.”
As we said, we’re intrigued to get our hands on one of these and will report back. The full info is on CHA’s website, if you want to go down a lubrication rabbit hole…
Genesis updates Croix de Fer, Vagabond and Tour de Fer models
Genesis has updated five models across its popular Croix de Fer, Vagabond and Tour de Fer ranges. There’s new paint jobs for the Croix de Fer 10, 20 and 30, Genesis hoping the “bold, updated look” adds to its claim to being a “true modern classic”. There’s also a new paintjob for the Vagabond 10, but the biggest updates come on the Tour de Fer 30.
Genesis tells us it also has a new refined paint finish but has also been updated with a straight-bladed fork, fully housed brake and gear cables, and a new Shimano Cues Linkglide drivetrain. The changes, the brand suggests, all support the Tour de Fer 30 being “better suited than ever to commuting, long-distance touring and everyday reliability”.
Senior Sportline Brand Manager Brodie Gardias said: “Our approach with the latest Genesis line-up was straightforward: keep the soul and character intact but add benefits riders will notice. Each model has a loyal following because they are dependable and are a joy to ride, so we focused on refining each specification to boost rideability, durability and serviceability wherever possible.
“The result is a range that feels familiar yet more capable, designed to go further, last longer, and inspire even bigger adventures.”
Thule’s new (very expensive) bike rack features parking sensors
If you’re transporting your bike to an event or on your summer holidays, the last thing you want to do is forget it’s on the roof and smash it against a height restriction, or reverse your pride and joy into a car park wall. Thule reckons it’s got a solution for one of those scenarios and has added parking sensors into its new bike racks.
It’s a smart new feature of the Thule Epos ParkSecure, although it doesn’t come cheap. The two-bike version is £1,319.99 and the three-bike version £1,449.99, then again maybe that is good value when weighed up against the cost of crumpled carbon.
“Deserves more than just a quick rinse”: No more mouldy bottle smell with Elite’s bidon steriliser
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Elite reckons it can stop your bottles going bad. You probably know that smell all too well, the bottle that’s had several too many post-ride rinses and not enough actual cleaning. Worse still if you’ve left it a couple of days in a warm place, the plastic acting like a bidon greenhouse. Well, for £15-£22 (depending on where you shop) you can get Elite’s Neto sterilising kit.
The vid popped up on our feed this week but it seems Elite came up with this product a while back. You essentially steam clean your bottle and its lid using the handy device and a microwave. You can do the maths on how many bottles saved you’d need to get your money back, but as someone who’s especially bad for the post-ride ‘that will do’ bottle rinse, maybe having something like this would have saved several bottles over the years… or I could just stop being lazy and wash them properly.
Zéfal’s torque wrench
The Z Torque Wrench is fairly self-explanatory, it’s Zéfal’s new torque wrench (told you). It comes with 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10mm hex bits and 10, 20, 25 and 30 Torx bits. There’s also an extension and 4mm bit specifically for brake callipers. The adjustments come in 0.1Nm and it goes up to 24Nm which is good for almost everything you’ll ever need to tighten on a bike (bottom bracket cups and cassette lockrings aside). Zéfal has priced the new torque wrench at €69.95.
An iconic coffee deal for Ineos Grenadiers
Sorry, Soudal Quick-Step, your announcement the other week about partnering with Costa Coffee has been outbid…
The Ineos Grenadiers have announced possibly the coolest cycling sponsorship we can remember in ages, Café de Colombia coming onboard for all the team’s caffeine needs.
For fans of a certain age, Café de Colombia was, of course, one of cycling’s most iconic sponsors, the Colombian team of the 80s winning the 1987 Vuelta a España and the Alpe d’Huez summit finish at the 1984 Tour de France with Luis Herrera.
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Unfortunately, Ineos Grenadiers won’t be swapping their oil and gas giant, 4×4-promoting sponsorship for some Café de Colombia branding, but the famous name is now the team’s official coffee partner.
“We are delighted to officially welcome Café de Colombia to the team,” CEO John Allert said. “Coffee is synonymous with cycling and has a unique way of bringing people together.”
What the cobbles do to a bike
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3 thoughts on “Can this “revolutionary” solid graphite block really lube your chain better? Plus Genesis updates popular models, bike racks with parking sensors + more”
The graphite thing is just graphite in a different form factor. You can buy it in powder form to improve old keyboard contacts and remote controls. Or to lubricate locks.
Or you can just get sandpaper, a pencil, and sprinkle it over your chain.
Or just use oil like any sensible person.
You can microwave your cycling bottle, already, as I do, just put some water in the bottle, put it on its side in then microwave with the nozzle open, if you put too much water in it will come out, put less in next time, and put it on until the water is boiling and your bottle will be steamed if you leave it in there for a few minutes
Don’t see how the graphite could work. Can’t get in between the rollers, you need a carrier for it to do that (such as graphite added to molten wax). Also, by itself it doesn’t adhere well to metals and would get washed out quickly.
Curious to see some independent testing data.