Some products are harder to review than others and chain lubes definitely rank amongst the items that are tough to test fairly. Trail and weather conditions vary greatly and what works well in one part of Australia may perform poorly somewhere else. This also makes it difficult to compare one lube with another, as every ride tends to throw differing demands at your drivetrain.
Using a lube over an extended period is the best way to get a solid idea of how it performs, and that’s what we did with the Ride Mechanic products. We’ve been running their Bike Milk and Bike Cream for eight months now and thrown just about everything at it.
Milk
Bike Milk is a dry lubricant; the friction reducing element is suspended in a carrier fluid. To work as intended, the lube needs to be applied the night before your ride so it has at least few hours to dry. Once the carrier evaporates, the chain will appear dry but the film that remains serves to lubricate and protect the moving parts. Ride Mechanic recommends that you thoroughly clean the chain before the first application and really flood the chain to begin with. Additional applications will help in building up a thicker layer of protection.
This type of lube doesn’t attract dust and dirt, so your chain remains clean and relatively free from contamination. The catch is that dry lubes generally don’t last as long as traditional lubricants, especially when you’re faced with a wet muddy ride or one with multiple creek crossings. Ride Mechanic suggests that the Milk is good for rides up to four hours in length.
We’ve tried plenty of dry lubes and while they do keep the chain clean, the drivetrain starts to run noisily and feels bone-dry after a couple of hours on the trail. Some fare better on the durability front but there’s usually a trade-off with certain products being more likely to leave a messy residue that builds up over time.
Given sufficient time to dry, the Ride Mechanic Milk sets up dry and doesn’t attract crud or leave your chain messy after long-term use. It’s toxic smelling stuff and it lasts well for a product of this type. I’d happily run it for two hour rides on my local trails and up to three hours if I gave the chain a solid smothering the night before. It was also very effective at cleaning the chain, loosening any grime and flushing the debris out during reapplication.
Like any dry lube however, it has its limitations in damp conditions. To use the product as intended, you really need to give it time to dry, and that doesn’t work for mid-ride reapplications. That’s where their Bike Cream comes into the picture.
Cream
Ride Mechanic recommends the Cream primarily for road use and commuting—situations that are relatively clean but demand good durability. This durability also extends to mountain biking, but only wet trail conditions where a dry lube simply won’t last. The Cream stays wet on the chain, which helps to keep the drivetrain quiet on longer rides. The catch is that dry sand and dirt will stick to the chain, forming a grinding paste that will speed drivetrain wear if you don’t clean the chain thoroughly. As a result, I’d only use the Cream for wet and rainy rides.
Mix
The really clever part is that Ride Mechanic has formulated their Cream and Milk so they can be mixed. With a bottle of each you can blend according to your needs. Mixing a little bit of Cream (maybe 20%) with the Milk provides added durability for longer rides. If the conditions are dust free and bit on the damp side, add some more Cream to the mix. The more Cream you add, the more you’ll need to clean the chain post-ride, but the more robust its lubrication properties will be on longer rides or in damp conditions.
You can also tailor the mix to suit your personal maintenance regime. I thoroughly wipe my chain clean after every ride and then re-lubricate. Our trails aren’t too dusty either – plenty of hero dirt – so I can get away with a greater percentage of Cream. I found a 50/50 mix worked for me and helped the drivetrain remain quiet on longer rides. Sure it doesn’t remain as clean but that’s a compromise I’m willing to make and the half/half blend is still a lot better than a straight wet lube for most off-road conditions.
Initially Ride Mechanic only offered the Milk and Cream separately but now they’ve added a Mix product to their line-up. It comes in a 80/20 blend with the larger portion being the Milk—it’s basically a clean running dry lube with a bit of added robustness for longer rides or damp conditions. Personally I was sold on the DIY mix and liked being able to make my own decisions on how I wanted my lube to run.
A 115ml bottle of the Cream sells for approximately $21 while 175ml of Milk is around the $19 mark. The Mix comes in a 185ml bottle that also sells for $19. However you play it, the Ride Mechanic products proved very effective and it’s great to see a bit of lateral thinking from an Aussie manufacturer.
Ride Mechanic
1300 98 66 54
www.ridemechanic.com.au
