White Lightning Wet Ride chain lube

White Lightning Wet Ride is exactly what it says on the label: an extreme conditions heavy lube. It’s well suited to wet, salty coastal climes, and bikes with a constant chainline such as singlespeeds and fixed-wheel bikes. Being tenacious and sticky it doesn’t get rinsed off easily by rain or waterlogged roads, but it easily accumulates grit and grime. You’ll need to be fastidious about drivetrain hygiene to prevent premature component wear.

The purple juice is so thick it can be applied to bikes stood in the living room without dripping over the carpet! Before applying it, clean the chain – maybe not in the living room – and then pour sparingly over every link, turning the cranks to aid penetration. It’s not just useful on the chain. A drop or two silences rough and ready OEM singlespeed freewheels, and it’s effective as a grease substitute on pedal and derailleur threads, carrier fixings, bottle mounts, etc. Its consistency is too thick for pivot points, jockey wheels and control cables – unless you’re looking for an unfair advantage over a training partner and plan to apply it to his bike.

I’ve been using Wet Ride on a fixed-wheel bike, belting along winter lanes and riding axle deep on flooded salt-water causeways. There hasn’t been even a hint of orange rust on cleats, chains or bargain basement sprockets.

It’s a similar story on derailleur-equipped bikes: 70-odd mile loops taking in river crossings, muddy farm tracks, and green lanes have made negligible impression on the lube’s integrity. Silt, grit and other contaminants have, however, quickly accumulated on the chain’s side-plates and derailleur cages. It’s horses for courses. Gear changes have remained slick, if slightly remote compared to drivetrains treated with lighter lubes.

In terms of miles per application, we’ve been getting about 300mpa on fixed-wheel bikes and singlespeeds and 225 on derailleur bikes.

Verdict

Super-tenacious lube for the worst conditions. Requires good drivetrain hygiene