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Smoove Lube in wet muddy conditions

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Smoove Lube in wet muddy conditions

Old 03-15-21, 07:33 PM
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scottfsmith
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Smoove Lube in wet muddy conditions

Is anyone using Smoove Lube? I got some a few months ago and all was great for the mostly road riding I was doing, but after 250 miles including a couple very muddy rides the chain started to get scratchy. I wasn't hosing down the chain very well after these muddy rides and the mud was the kind with lots of fine silt in it. They say it is supposed to last 600-900 miles so not sure if I should be cleaning the chain off better after these muddy rides or if it needs more re-application than every 600-900 miles in muddy conditions. I'd appreciate any experience reports with this lube, muddy conditions in particular.

If you have not head of this lube it is a relatively new kind of sticky-wax lube. They don't disclose their ingredients but it seems like a standard wax lube plus pine tar or something like that based on how tacky it is. It reviewed well, see https://www.smoovelube.com/reviews/.
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Old 03-15-21, 07:48 PM
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Originally Posted by scottfsmith
not sure if I should be cleaning the chain off better after these muddy rides or if it needs more re-application than every 600-900 miles in muddy conditions.
I'd ask the manufacturer what they recommend. Personally, I wouldn't try to get 900 miles out of a single application of any lube, but that's me.
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Old 03-15-21, 09:32 PM
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I use Smoove and like it a lot. A very unusual lube - not wet, not exactly dry. I'm not sure though where from your got "900 miles in a mud" number, this seem to be insanely high. For me it lasts about 400 miles for regular road and gravel riding which is typically NOT in the mud (though given Smoove's consistency of a chewed up chewing gum it probably doesn't matter too much). Compared to just 100-150 miles with Rock N Roll Gold under the same conditions, Smoove really lasts forever!
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Old 03-16-21, 06:11 AM
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Thanks for the replies. According to the review at Bike Test Reviews they were told the 600-900 by the manufacturer, and if you read the review they used it every 700 miles for the review. My guess is something may have been lost in translation, this 600-900 is probably for road conditions not mud or dirt.

One thing that surprised me about the Smoove is the chain went from whisper quiet to super noisy after my last mud ride; nothing like that ever happened with regular lube. Regular lube has enough heavy oils that gunk up the chain but at least keeps the noise down. I guess it is good in a way that with Smoove it gets noisy so fast, lazy lubers like me are getting a strong message it is time to lube up again.

I was thinking they wanted you to completely de-grease the chain before every re-application, but I think I was just mis-reading the instructions? In reading them again it sounds like you only need to clean the chain when you switch over from regular lube; it sounds like that is also what the guy in the above review did. Obviously the chain needs to be periodically cleaned, but lazy guys like me would like to do that as infrequently as possible.

Overall I have also been really happy with the lube, I swear the chain is quieter.
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Old 03-16-21, 10:09 AM
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Ha. You do not clean and relube after riding in mud? No lube in the world can handle 50 miles of mud. You hose the bike down and do not relube the chain? Shame on you.
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Old 03-16-21, 10:55 AM
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I confess I am a longstanding chain abuser. If the chain wasn't glowing in rust or sounding like crap it was declared fine. But I am trying to reform myself with my new bike.

I'll be doing a strong hose-down and re-lube of the chain after every muddy ride.
I'll be doing a strong hose-down and re-lube of the chain after every muddy ride.
I'll be doing a strong hose-down and re-lube of the chain after every muddy ride.

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Old 03-16-21, 01:01 PM
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I've never understood the appeal of ignoring your chain for long periods of time. To me it's like cleaning the toilet: do it every week and it's an easy five-minute job. Put it off for a month and it's a disgusting mess.
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