Since fitting the PC-971 to the Roux about 400 miles ago, I've only ever lubed it with the White Lightning Epic Ride I introduced in a previous post. I've noticed signs of wear recently like the chain checker sitting very low in the chain and being able to see between the inner and outer chain plates if I flex the chain sideways sooooo... I'm switching back to a wet lube. They can be messy but I'm starting to suspect they offer more wear protection.
The Finish Line ceramic wet lube isn't very water proof so I decided to try Muc-Off's wet lube as I believe it's been reformulated since I last tried it. The original lube smelled vaguely of blueberries but this stuff smells incredible! It's like the smell of old-fashioned gear box oil mixed with blueberries. If you don't like mechanical type smells like petrol, diesel or gearbox oil etc maybe give this one a miss, it's quite potent, but I love it.
I applied one drip per link to a thoroughly degreased chain and although I've only done 34 miles on it, I'm pleased so far. It was a dry ride so I've no idea how water-proof it is but my chain was smooth and super-silent yesterday.
2nd November update: Well, summer's over and the rainy weather is starting again. I went out for an hour in the pouring rain recently and the morning after there wasn't a speck of rust on the chain so I'm impressed with the water proofing of this lube. Sure the chain gets a bit clarty and gritty but with wet lubes you have to accept the chain needs to be deep cleaned every 60-100 miles.
2 years later review (October 2016): I have stopped using this lube now in favour of synthetic based oils. This lube is vegetable based and vegetable oils go through a process known as resinification where the oil dries out and becomes clarty and gluey. I've used a couple of the bikes since this review where they hadn't been ridden for 6 months and oil had turned into a hard black residue that was a pain in the arse to clean off.
We went for a meal at the Indian on the by-pass last night for my brother's birthday. I had to take the bike to free up room in the car and I had to use my front light on the way back which sucked, the nights are drawing in...
Unless you're a professional spanner, you're probably like me and get confused which way certain threads loosen and tighten on your bike. The pedals and bottom bracket each have a side that threads in in reverse ie tightens anti-clockwise and loosens clockwise. To make it even more confusing, pedals threads and bottom brackets threads each have a different 'wrong way' thread!
I was inspired to create this post when I came across a statement on the internet that suddenly make it easy to remember which way English threaded bottom brackets thread in and loosen - each side tightens towards the rear of the bike - simple!
The drive-side of the bottom bracket tightens towards the rear of the bike which makes it the unconventional thread:
The non-drive side tightens towards the rear of the bike which makes it the conventional thread:
It's easy when you know how! It's now easy to remember which way pedals thread into the cranks - they tighten towards the front of the bike ie the drive side has a conventional thread while the non-drive side has the unconventional thread.
2nd August: Not a promising start to August, it's absolutely chucking it down! BBC Weather shows it looking a lot better later on this evening so I may charge my AAs and go out tonight...
3rd August: Well I didn't get out last night as it rained in an absolutely biblical fashion, I was surprised there weren't frogs everywhere afterwards! However, it was overcast but dry today so I went out this afternoon and did the Alec's hill ride but did a lap of one of the industrial estates in Kirby.
Although the sun came out half way around the route it was extremely windy all the way around. The industrial estate was curiously cool as it was deserted so a bit like bombing around a race track! A fun ride and 22.9 to start August off.
9th August: Did the above route again today minus the Alec's hill bit. Extremely warm and very windy but 21.1 more miles in the bag.
15th August: Did the above route again today. Fairly warm and very windy but 21.1 more miles.
16th August: Did a fairly short ride today as James hasn't been on his bike much over the last month for various reasons. It was a route I found on Cycle Routes and turned out to be a nice flat ride through farmland and small villages.
The weather was distinctly autumnal with a fairly strong wind all the way around which miffed James somewhat and seven miles from the car the rear of my bike started feeling very bouncy - puncture. Yay. Given that at least 3/4 of the entire route was lined with freshly flailed hawthorn hedges it was no huge surprise and my new Lezyne pump meant a new tube tube was fitted and ready to go in no time. Anyhow, 26.0 more miles.
24th August: Revisited the route I got from Alix's dad that we did back in March. The traffic was worse than I remembered and the roads are often appalling, especially coming into Todmorden, but it is still a beautifully scenic ride.
The weather was hot but with a cold breeze which made for very pleasant cycling conditions and I think I finally becoming a roadie, the second half of the ride has a couple of very long climbs and I really enjoyed them both! Another 33.6 miles in the bag for August.
25th August: The weather's very meh today but I wanted to get out the house so I decided to do the old Coach road route on the road bike as a bit of an experiment. By concentrating constantly, trying to stick to 8-10 mph, avoiding the big cracks and off-camber bits because the algae makes it very slippery, I managed to survive and it's 14.7 more miles for the month.
26th August: Did the local 18 with the industrial estate tacked on. It was hot but extremely windy all the way around but I managed an average of 17mph so not too bad.
Quite hard work with the wind but another 21.1 for August.
28th August: I need alot of miles to complete August so when mum suggested taking my niece and nephew, Adam and Daisy (and Adam's friend Ethan), to Farmer Teds for the day, I decided to ride there.
The weather on the ride there was glorious August summer sun, the sky then went black and it rained for a couple of hours which didn't bode well for the ride back. However, by the time we left the sky was pure blue and sunny again so a very pleasant ride back too! Another 27.2 for August.
31st August: Did a ride with James today that we first did in early March. The weather was spot on, hot and sunny but with a cold wind, which is ideal for cycling.
The route is heavily trafficed in quite a few parts but we both really enjoyed it, even the long climb up the Blackrod by-pass! The route was 27.0 miles and after a busy last few days, August goes out with 214.7 miles on the clock.
