What is the best way to lubricate a bike chain? Keep your drivetrain happy and efficient with this selection of top bike chain lubes

Silca's Synergetic Drip Lube lasts for ages, is very clean, and will save you loads of money on drivetrain components. Yes, its RRP is £32 a bottle which is around £53 per 100ml, but that will last you a year and save you many times that amount by replacing prematurely worn components.

Tester Mike writes: "The compelling argument for Silca Synergetic is long-term. It's easy to apply, lasts ages and keeps things clean, but the real benefit is the protection it gives your components. Even if those components, like mine, live in Scotland. The longer you use it, the more you offset the price, and happily it lasts really well.

Based on my experience over 800km of mostly off-road riding, Silca Synergetic can save you enough money – over time – that it's functionally cheaper than the 'cheap' options. It's extremely effective, very easy to live with, and will keep your bike out of the shop and rolling in those hills where it belongs."

Morgan Blue Dry Wax chain lubricant provides effective, quiet and long-lasting performance in dry conditions in particular. Like other wax-based chain lubes, it keeps the chain cleaner than an oil-based lube. It's not recommended for cold weather though, Morgan Blue suggests not using the lube below 0°C, which isn't unusual with wax-based lubricants. 

It's a really good option for general riding and racing as it applies easily, runs clean and performs well in mixed conditions. It's also effective at keeping the drivetrain quiet and smooth running, and it's reasonably priced. 

Wolf tooth's WT-1 all conditions chain lube is easy to use, long-lasting, weather-resistant and – perhaps best of all – makes your transmission really easy to keep clean.

Tester Neil writes: "Wolf Tooth's WT-1 Chain Lube may be the first I've tried that really delivers everything I want from it – and quite a bit more besides. It's a blue-green liquid that's thick enough to apply sparingly, one link at a time. There's no need to remove old lube first, but I started with a freshly-degreased drivetrain anyway, because I wanted to see exactly what this does differently."

"Once it's applied you can run the chain through the transmission a couple of dozen times, or go for a short ride. This allows the 'detergent-like' component to get to work. After this, a wipe with a 'micro-cloth' brings off a remarkable amount of black gunk – so much so, I found it hard to imagine any lubricant being left behind. However, on the next ride the chain ran impressively quietly and smoothly."

Fenwick's Wet Weather Chain Lube provides very effective winter protection for your drivetrain, it's reasonably priced and environmentally friendly too. 

Tester Jim writes: "It needs less of it applying than you might think, too, so the bottle should last a good while. One application takes care of a couple of rides, even if it rains most of the time, and if things are a little less soggy it can go longer still. Extra good news is that this lube is biodegradable, so won't be helping to make the storms even worse". 

Blub's Graph Premium Race Quality Bike Lube is a clean, quiet and long-lasting wax-based lube with claimed efficiency gains. According to Blub's own unratified testing, its lube lasts longer and stays more efficient for longer than other brands' waxes. Though being somewhat coy, Blub has left those other brands anonymous, so it's hard to know just how much emphasis to put on those claims, but being more efficient is exactly what you want from a race lube. 

In the real world, tester Josh said "I found it durable, and during summer rides at least, it ran smoothly, quietly and left the drivetrain clean and free of grease and crud." He added, "I found I needed to reapply the lube very infrequently, and in summer while I was racking up a decent mileage, applying the lube once a week was more than adequate, leaving me with a very quiet chain and drivetrain."

The £16.99 cost of the Blub lube makes it more expensive than a lot of conventional lubes but it's a well-priced entry to the world of drip-wax lubes. If you haven't tried a wax-based lubricant yet, Josh says that this is certainly worth a go.

Another eco-friendly offering is the NZero Bike Wet Lube which is capable of giving wet petrochemical blends a good run for their money. NZero Wet Lube is a plant-based formula promising to do everything you'd expect of a wet lube but without any nasty chemicals or harm to the environment.

In common with wet lubes generally, it's a high-viscosity (slow-pouring) blend and flows very predictably, so the lion's share won't be adorning your rear wheel.

Reviewer Shaun said, "I've used and remain generally very fond of some plant-based wet lubes, which have been slick and broadly on a par with basic mineral oil/PTFE blends in terms of durability and characteristics. NZero Wet, though, is much closer to a middleweight petrochemical such as Finish Line Wet".