Originally Posted by canklecat

I had a similar experience with White Lightning Easy Lube, which appears to be mostly paraffin in naptha. I hoped it might serve as a touch-up for my hot-wax-dipped chains between crock pot sessions.

Nope. Easy Lube wasn't remotely the same thing. It left snot-wads of a gummy, waxy substance between the cogs of my freewheels and cassettes. The chain and chainring didn't seem any cleaner than with regular wet lubes like the Park CL-1 I'd been using a few years ago (and still use on an errand bike for wet weather). It was a PITA to clean up.

I was still determined to find a dribble-on lube that suited me as well as hot waxed chains. After reading a bunch of user comments I tried Rock N' Roll Absolute Dry. It appears to be PTFE in red-tinted naptha. Totally different experience from Easy Lube. Absolute Dry runs fairly clean for a lube that goes on wet -- not as clean as hot waxed chains, but not bad and wipes off pretty well. No buildup between cogs. The lubrication feels much smoother.

As with some paraffin lubes, Absolute Dry doesn't last long and needs to be reapplied every ride or two, depending on distance and conditions, and your tolerance for drivetrain noise. I reapply it after any wet ride, even if it's just riding through a few wet patches in the road, barely puddles. But despite the increased drivetrain noise, the chain outer plates still feel slick.

Absolute Dry doesn't seem picky about needing a perfectly clean chain. As they describe, it pretty much "cleans" while you ride as the naptha gradually displaces the original factory lube or user's replacement. When I use my fingers to wipe the chain and chainrings I don't feel any accumulation of grit. That was a problem with Easy Lube.

The main challenge with paraffin/wax, dry/hot or liquefied in solvent, is that the chain needs to be stripped of any existing lube. Otherwise the wax will just flake off quickly. It's likely any residual lubricant is the original factory lube in the friction bearing surfaces. And it will wash off and lead to a squeaky chain after a good rain or enough rides through puddle splashes.

After trying a couple of paraffin type lubes liquefied in solvent -- White Lightning Easy Lube and Boeshield T9 -- I'm not seeing any real advantage to those over ordinary lubes. They aren't a substitute for hot waxing. However Boeshield is still useful for some purposes because it's much cleaner than Easy Lube and seems more persistent. I've used Boeshield T9 to prolong the life of old cables and housings until I had time to replace them -- the T9 quickly wicks down the entire length of the cable. And I've used it on a pocket knife (Spyderco Dodo, stainless steel) that used to rust from being clipped into my sweaty waistband on bike rides. There's no palpable residue, but the Boeshield T9 does prevent rust.

But from what I've tried so far, if I want waxed chains I'll need to resume using the crock pot and melted bars of Gulf Wax or comparable stuff. And that means more effectively stripping out original or old lube.