Lubricant Testing

LUBRICANT TESTING

Which lube is the right lube for you!

LUBRICANT TESTING

ZFC MAIN TEST (5000km) in brief.  Full version is found HERE as well as via link towards bottom of this web page.

*Note – there is NO CLEANING of chain during main test. The wear rate performance achieved across the test is all up to the lubricant. Many lubricants claim to  “Repel dust, dirt and grime” and to “Clean as they Lubricate” etc. Cleaning maintenance during test would severely impact the ability of the test to assess key performance abilities and marketing claims. It is a difficult test, lubricants that maintain a low wear rate through the full test are thus impressive in their performance for their actual use case – on a bicycle chain. Not a short clean lab test. Not a tribology test. Not ISO standards tests using ball bearings or pin on disk test, or spinning wheel on bearing cylinder brugger / falex test. Or Milspec testing – using Milspec because it sounds more hardcore if it has military in it. It will have performed in its ACTUAL use case, so the cross over of ZFC test results to the real world is MUCH greater than any other test known in this space, at this time. If a lubricant performs poorly in the ZFC test, regardless of the results of other non relateable tests, then you should hold a lot of concern with regards to how it will perform in the real world on your bicycle chain, and the rapid wear and damage to chain, cassette and chainrings that may follow. Rapid / notable wear of metal parts inside chain on on your drivetrain – that is not low friction running. And it is much more costly.

Join the land of low friction and consider trying a product that has proven it excells in its actual use case – on a bicycle drivetrain, over thousands of kilometers, and including both dry and wet contamination.</span>

Link to Main Test Brief document below – PLEASE take 5 mins to read just the test protocol below before sending an enquiry such as “Is the chain cleaned during the test? Is the chain re lubed during the test? How often is it lubed etc etc. All is stepped out nice and clearly in the test brief, and the main test will all make sense why it is the most robust test in this space at this time, and why it is heavily used by Manufacturers to prove how their lubricant stacks up on the league  table.

You will soon see for yourself why the ZFC main test is so valuable – to cyclists of all demographics and to the lubricant manufacturers who have developed genuinely great products for this very specific use case.

To the test, enjoy!

CLICK HERE FOR OUR NEW "COST TO RUN CALCULATOR!"

FRICTION WEAR TEST RESULTS

COST TO RUN

SINGLE APPLICATION LONGEVITY

PERFORMANCE CHARTS

Please note the full lubricant testing spreadsheet is not designed for use on mobile, it comprises comprehensive test data that really requires a PC or tablet for best viewing.

Click below to download the full Read Only excel document which contains the data for all lubricants tested to date, as well as more in depth data on various worksheets.

Full Lubricant Testing File

KEY LEARNINGS OF TESTING

Click on the links below to read about the Key Learnings from Testing and the Full Test Brief

 

KEY LEARNINGS FROM LUBRICANT TESTING

 

FULL TEST BRIEF