Muc-Off Bicycle Wet Weather Lube

Muc-Off Bicycle Wet Weather Lube is a good option for keeping your chain smooth over winter. It lasts well, it's easy to apply and it's biodegradable.

This lube is a vegetable-oil-based formulation and it's not as viscous as some winter lubes. That makes it quite easy to apply with the pipette bottle, but it did mean that I tended to overdo it a bit before I got the hang of how much was coming out. On the flip side, the mid-weight nature and precision bottle mean it's quite good for other applications like shifters and cables as well as your chain, so it's quite a versatile buy.

Muc-Off markets this lube as 'ultra durable' and it says that it contains 'Extreme Pressure Additives' to help coat every bit of the chain. As a company, Muc-Off has phased out non-biodegradable PTFE as a component of its products and says that this lube has been 'derived from natural ingredients and made completely from renewable sources'.

My experience during some very wet rides was that it's certainly effective: I could complete over 200km of wet riding on a single application, just wiping the chain between rides, before it started to sound dry.

Deliberately being naughty and leaving the bike with a wet chain in the shed overnight indicated that it was doing a good job of protecting the whole chain: a few spots of rust formed, but mostly it was good news.

In less damp conditions you can eke more mileage out of it, although it definitely picks up dirt over time; even so, it's not as bad in that regard as thicker wet lubes can be. I'd say as a compromise it's pretty good – you're probably giving up a bit of longevity with the lighter formula but it's still enough to last most rides you're likely to be doing in the rain, and it's easy to top up and reasonably clean running.

I normally stick a little 5ml bottle of lube in my seatpack in case I need it en route (or anyone else does) and the Muc-Off Wet Lube is ideal for that because it's versatile enough for most jobs on the bike and easy to decant.

At £12 for a 120ml bottle it's not bad value – you can pay £50 for Muc-Off's dearest lube – though there are cheaper options: Oxford Mint Wet Lube is still £3.99 for 75ml. If you're not looking for marginal gains, or a shiny-clean chain all through winter, then it's easy to recommend. Given how easy it is to wipe off the outside of the chain to keep everything clean, it'll probably work fine in drier weather too (not that we've had much of that during testing), although Muc-Off also has all-weather and dry lubes in the same range which I'm sure we'll get in for review once conditions start to improve.

> What is the best way to lubricate a bike chain? Keep your drivetrain happy and efficient with this selection of top bike chain lubes

Verdict

Easy to apply and effective wet lube for winter riding