MyRedTrek

The instructions say after shaking it to drench the chain specifically saying you shouldn't judiciously apply it to each roller. Then make a big point of telling you after drenching it to wipe it all off, that it's impossible to overdo wiping it all off.

I get that you don't want to attract abrasive dirt but if you wipe it absolutely dry doesn't this remove corrosion protection and lubrication from the parts of the chain that contact the gear teeth?

They say it cleans as well as lubricates but I always give the chain a good scrubbing with multiple hits with an expensive Park Tool chain scrubber first - typically four fresh loads of degreaser solution and a thorough rinsing. I'm not depending on the lube as part of the cleaning process.

Is this a ruse to sell more lube or is there a good reason for obsessively removing lube after telling you to drench it with lube?

Joe Remi

I found this quote from a review:

[ Wipe the side plates, rollers and jockey wheels surgically clean before curing, otherwise it'll develop a gungy, grimy patina – much less than wet types in the same contexts, but it still defeats the object. ]

My impression from this statement is you'd have to really scrub to get the thin coating off, meaning anything short of that is standard "wiping off" and you shouldn't be shy about it. But that's just a guess based on the review.

tFUnK

Whatever you just described is exactly what I still occasionally do with motor oil. It's not my preferred lube but I have plenty of it laying around and sometimes I just get lazy.

Well, you want to put enough on so the entire chain is well covered but you want to remove enough of it so that it has the ideal properties when riding. I think this would be true with any lube.

For me, I do it because it's easier to just put a bunch of one lube on and then wipe off, rather than mess with different containers of different solvents, lubes, etc. I only do this with motor oil and some other thinner lubes.

delbiker1 

I do not use that product, but why would you put all that oil on the chain just to wipe it off. I clean the chain, let it dry, then 1 drop of oil on each roller, then run the chain through a hand held rag to remove excess. Most of the time, after a ride, with the chain left on the bike, I hold a rag on the chain and spin the cranks a couple revolutions to wipe it down. My chains last a lot of miles. IMO, the plates do not need the lube, the rollers do.

pdlamb

The moving parts of a chain are not the ones you can wipe off. Inside the side plates and the insides of the rollers are where you need the lube. You can't wipe those off because you can't get to them (as long as you leave the chain assembled).

Corrosion protection? Shortly after I started using R&R, I went for a morning ride after an overnight rain while the roads were still wet. The next day I had surface rust on my chain. So like other dry lubes, I figure it means you only want to ride on dry roads after using the stuff on your chain; and of course chain ring tattoos are much less noticeable.

GhostRider62

I've used it for years, years ago.

You have to really use a lot, it acts as a solvent to free particles inside the pins, rollers, bushings, etc. Not a cheap product to use as directed but it is my favorite after hot dip wax.

fooferdoggie 

yes rain is its biggest enemy. I am trying this to see how it holds up to rain so far we have not had any rain. but it seems a bit cleaner then rock and roll.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

t2p

I use R&R Holy Cow - which is prob very similar to R&R Gold ... R&R Gold might be a slightly better lubricant for some uses (?) ...

when you wipe it off the chain, the lubricant / residue will still remain on the chain

it cleans crap and junk from the chain as it’s applied (can make a mess) - and then keeps the chain well lubricated and relatively clean ... almost dry to the touch ... (R&R Gold might differ - might be ‘stickier’ or ‘wetter’ ?

for me it has been a great chain lube and a game changer - one of and probably the best bike related products I’ve recently used

squirtdad

why because that is how is is designed and that is the instruction on the bottle. it is not oil. It is more solvent/teflon mix

why comment if you don't use or about a product?

delbiker1 

Why question why I post? Are you the designated post policeman for the day.? If you are, do I have to get your permission to post? I am a paying member, I post when I wish to, with content that I wish to post. It is that simple. I am pretty sure, if the moderators have a problem with my posts, they will let me know. Actually, I know from experience that they will. There are already enough seemingly perfect posters, I do not care to be one. Thank you for posting your concern. Perhaps I should be added to your ignore list.

MyRedTrek

It's not obvious to me but there might be a factor that I'm not aware of - maybe some property of this lube? - ergo the motivation for my question.

MyRedTrek

Ah - so that's what the white material is that settles at the bottom.

delbiker1 

I was not questioning you. I understand why you made the post you did. The instructions made no sense to me. In an above post, I was informed that I was un-informed, and questioned why I posted. What I have to say regarding that has been posted. I am sure you will figure out the how and what of chain lubrication that works best for you.

Bob Ross

Reminds me of an experiment I did not too long ago: I filled one of those Park Cylone Chain Scrubber tools with Pro Gold Prolink chain lube instad of going through the usual routine of clean/degrease, then dry, then [insert any number of intermediate steps], then lubricate judiciously with carefully controlled single-drop applications to the rollers only with chain lube... It was a completely ostentatious (mis-)use of the product.

It also took freakin' forever to wipe the chain down afterwards to the point where it wasn't spraying chain lube every which way with every pedal stroke and leaving oily grease marks on anything that came within 18" of the drivetrain.

But man did that chain come out spotless, and run smoothly and silently!

fooferdoggie 

the problem with holy cow is that you need to use it in a warm area I have no such thing in winter.

MyRedTrek

I think you and I were in the same place - *why* does it need to be slobbered on like that only to be wiped off?

redshift1

I used R and R Gold for the first time recently.

I didn't think much of the instructions either because it left me in doubt as to whether the usual pre-cleaning was still necessary or was not necessary as the product says it cleans as well.

If the latter, I imagine the rationale is : you saturate the dirty chain, the solvents run through the rollers and link plates and pick up the debris. transferring it to the outside, then you wipe off the excess product together with the debris. Or that's the theory I expect.

Be great if it was this simple but I doubt this can clean a chain properly. At least not without using a bottle of chain lube per application...

It simply is not stated anywhere that I've seen that by following this product's instructions, you can omit the previously done chain cleaning.

1/10 for the instructions, 10/10 for the product.

p.s. I pre-clean.

Polaris OBark

Yes.

​​​​​​​

fooferdoggie 

the problem with holy cow is that you need to use it in a warm area I have no such thing in winter.

2_i 

Same experience here: vast patches of rust after first rain, translating, in my book, to useless junk. I do not stop riding because of rain and rains are an everyday occurrence in our area. There was no follow-up use of R&R. To quote from the label: "The King of Lubes" *Extreme* Rain, slop & dust. This stuff is a must. When the going gets tough, etc. Well, just junk.

Le Mechanic

Rock n Roll Gold is my favorite chain lube. I use other lubes for different occasions, like if I know it's going to be rainy for several days, but it's generally pretty dry in Denver CO. I made a video a few years ago when I was testing some different chain lubes to see how long they last, so I'll share it here. It doesn't take long at all to apply and wipe off, plus it keeps your chain relatively clean. At least that's been my experience...

MyRedTrek

Just for grins I'm going to give that a try with the Prolink and one or two varieties of the Rock 'N Roll. They're actually not crazy expensive if you buy the larger bottles. I'll start with a clean-scrubbed chain first instead of depending on the lube to do the cleaning.

Kontact 

People seem to not understand how lubes work:


If you want a wet weather lube, use thicker oil. Not dry lube.

If you want high performance, buy a high performance lube and apply it as instructed.

If you know better than the lube manufacturer does about how lubrication works, make you own lube.

fooferdoggie 

and yet boeshield t-9 is supposed to be great I the rain and it does last a little longer I the rain but not much. You Just cant get a clean lube that works I the rain. so you either apply it after each rain or use a wet lube that makes a messy drive train. rock and roll is easy to reapply and even in the rain does not make much of a mess. life is full of compromises.

2_i 

Falsehood. R&R does not provide any protection against rain. The rust appears after one ride in the rain. T-9 protects for about 2 weeks of daily rides in the rain, whereupon rust begins to appear. Is this much better than other lubes? No. Two weeks is typical for many reasonable lubes. Are there any better lubes with that respect in the market? Certainly not among those I tried and I tried many. I heard about some, but at this stage I was tired of the claims that did not pan out, with an overall impression of the market being widely open to snake oil and perpetuated by some customers, just like miracle cures. I turn to concocting my own lube and, yes, after much experimentation it includes T-9. My lube protects against rain and snow for months on the chain and years elsewhere