Latest News 60 – Effetto Mariposa FlowerPower

All right, low friction people, here I am again!

Again please excuse any strangeness in this article due to voice to text experiment ongoing as I need to use that for upcoming stint as a one armed man.

The detail review for Flower Power wax is now uploaded. And you will also find on the lubricant test page, the updated data including a number of other completed tests including Boeshiled T-9 Aerosol as well as Silca synerg-E, both of which I will do a brief overview prior to detail reviews in a future low friction news article.

This is to do a quick focus on Flower Power and whether this is a lubricant that you should consider. Firstly, it is always a pleasure to be involved in testing for a manufacturer that has worked really hard and invested heavily to bring a new, great product to market in this space this is really where ZFC likes to try to play the best part that I can to highlight a manufacturer that is doing great work, as well as on the other side hold to account rubbish products launched or on the market with very misleading marketing claims.

So, should you consider Flower Power?  The main strengths;

• The very high dust contamination resistance of a top wax lubricant
• No initial penetration issues that can plague a number of wax drip lubricants (squirt / Smoove / grax, ab graphen lube)
• Smooth
• Solid treatment longevity
• Good performance in wet conditions
• OVERALL NEW RECORD LOWEST WEAR RATE for a drip lubricant across the main test protocol, making this suitable for all rider demongraphics from dry road to offroad to anything.
• Very environmentally friendly lubricant – no concerning additives and sunflower seed base to create the wax.
• Priced well for the market and in line with its very high performance.

Very, very impressive.

Whilst ZDC endorses the great drip lubricants such as Silca super secret drip and CeramicSpeed UFO drip due to their very low wear rates and proven very low efficiency losses, and they remain very clean, the simple fact is that many cyclists will just will not pay around $50 for a bottle of lubricant.

FlowerPower wax is priced at $29.90 AUD for Australian retail price. This puts it well under the likes of SS Drip or UFO drip, and not much more really than squirt or Smoove, especially considering the much lower wear rates recorded vs those products, and no penetration issues.

At this pricing for this level of performance and wear protection, I think this product should have great appeal across almost all demographics of cyclists. This is really the perfect product that bike stores should be stocking, prominent front and centre on their shelves as opposed to what is too often seen re finish line, Muc-Off and similar that tend to dominate.

Really, what I want to see is stores giving shelf space to products that have great independent proof that this lubricant ACTUALLY LUBRICATES A BICYCLE CHAIN BEING RIDDEN OUTSIDE in its actual use case, vs the wear rates we see from what is typically stocked on their shelves.  Such  products should be supported.

If they are not on bikes store shelves then such products will typically struggle to gain the market penetration they deserve at the expense of bike stores continuing to sell lubricants based on either 30 year old technology that was crap for the purpose to begin with, or stuff with, in ZFC opinion, extremely questionable marketing vs real world results.

I can’t get products like Flower Power wax into bike stores around the world, but YOU can.  You need to have the conversation with your bike store about what they are stocking and why they are stocking it and getting them to check with zero friction cycling to see if they can make any better decisions for their customers.

Ask them what is the normal drivetrain lifespan they see of bikes through the workshop that they have sold customer finish line wet ceramic, or muc-off c3 dry? They wont know, or just say, lifespan is normal / good / as expected.

What ZFC is extremely confident in saying, is that the drivetrain lifespan for those running Flower Power vs the Muc-0ff or Finish line line up can be expected to be many, many times longer. So…. Shouldn’t they be stocking products like that?

It is not ZFC that will be selling to the bike stores, but the bike stores will be supporting products and manufacturers that deserve the support. And also m, the golden rule – Bike stores that look after their customers to the best of their ability will find that the customers looks after them. Selling them a proven truly great product that saves them a lot of wear on their magnificent drive train will be very much appreciated versus being pushed a product that rapidly eats through their components. The former is what bike stores should be aiming for in the relationship with their customers.

Alright, so a quick summary of pros and some cons for Flower Power. In the pros we have a drip lubricant that has new record low wear rate across the zero friction cycling test for drip lubricant, including especially in dry dust conditions, and it is very well priced. It has no penetration issues. It is an extremely environmentally product based on sunflower seed wax.

It is smooth and decently long lasting per treatment.

In the negative column –  it does run blacker and more oily vs the refined paraffin wax base lubes like SS drip etc. It will look and feel on your chain and drive train almost like a wet lubricant. But it isn’t. However, if you need to handle chain for a rear puncture, you will have black fingers. And if you’d like to keep your drive train looking squeaky clean, it will need more maintenance – just from a cosmetic level vs keeping low friction, than the refined paraffin base wax lubricants.

Being a sunflower seed base it is also showing to not really be cross compatible with the immersive waxes of Mspeedwax and Silca hot melt. So for those who are on the very clever, happy path of immersive waxing with either of those two proven top waxes and you are looking to use a drip lubricant in conjunction with your waxing, then you should stick to Silca ss drip or UFO drip or true tension tungsten all weather, and not Flower Power.

Also whilst testing is still ongoing, I do not believe a boiling water reset works as well with this wax as opposed to what can be done with SS drip and similar where the highly refined paraffin base will largely melt off, making for easy bulk clean post proper wet or wet muddy rides. So it will likely need some level of  solvent flush clean (like wet lubricants), but most solvents do not work on wax so you need a wax specific solvent.

Top recommended overall at the moment is UFO drive train clean. Effetto do have their own Alpine extra product which works brilliantly on flower power and is an extremely environmentally friendly solvent – however I am not stocking at this time as the price for me to get in stock makes the retail price too high at around $40 for a 500 ml bottle. Should this change in future I will look to stop Alpine extra as well as UFO drive train clean so that those looking to do a perfect reset (and if you are in Europe, maybe you can get alpine extra with your flower power at a good price).

For more information on chain maintenance, be wet lube or Lex lube refer to the chain maintenance guide in instructions tab.

So, overall brilliant product. Very happy to give the highest recommendation for non immersive wax cyclists to consider as their next lubricant.

I hope summary of pros and cons will help with your decision making. Oh, I almost forgot to mention due to the price of the lubricant and the extremely low wear right across the test, the cost to run modelling for Flower Power wax was also the lowest for any drip lubricant tested to date. When you have a low lubricant use cost as well as components protected extremely well from wear, this is just great news for your wallet that can now spend on other fun cycling stuff vs replacing worn parts.

Right I best dash –  i will be behind in updating some stuff in the next week or two as I recover from a shoulder operation,  however I hope to update re a bunch more testing stuff before Christmas break.

My super retail manager Andrew will be tackling inquiries over the next two weeks vs myself as best he can. You can expect answers just as good and 500 words shorter ????.

Anything that really needs my response I will get to as soon as I am able. If they read really weirdly, I will blame the oxycontin.

Thanks all and stay low friction!