Testing for a Bike Fleet Operator - Cyclon detail review

[@clintmichigan9112]

Cyclon's new advertising..... better than muck off !!

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

only better than one by the end of block 5...... Muc-off new advertising - better than cyclon?!

[@chrisjong8412]

Cyclon is a Dutch brand and used in the general bikestore here in the Netherlands. I worked at two big service providers ( Get Bike Service and Yelply) for these fleets and its not anything we use. Almost all bikes in these systems are Gates belt drive as that is the only thing really lasting

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

i think if my choice was chain with cyclon or belt, i would go belt.....

[@ridefast0]

You could test the properties of medicinal eye drops as a chain lubricant. Might perform better.

[@gregmoxham2120]

Very good catch on the biodegradable credentials of this lube. It's a classic example of the unregulated greenwashing endemic in the cycle industry. My guess around the eye irritation may not necessarily be a specific event, but if called out in the SDS then they will have to have processes in place to protect their employees. I'm involved in distribution of a bona-fide biodegradable and petrochemical-free range of lubes, and you really have to dig through the marketing to get down to the facts for most other products on the market. Our lube has independent certification to guarantee the environmental / bio credentials, very rare for cycling products. Always look forward to low friction Fridays, keep it up 😀

[@BillFalck]

Regarding oil detection and reuse of Chain Stripper type products...any info on what products and procedures Josh/Silca and the UFO folks used in order to come up with their recommendations on product reuse? I've used the Silca Chain Stripper and per their instructions, used the coffee filter. My experience was that the filtering process was GLACIALLY slow and the Chain Stripper was noticeably darker after the first use. If the oils are encapsulated as Josh describes I can see how the product could look "oily" but still be effective for multiple uses. I'm curious as to how they tested this. Thank you for your efforts on this.

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

yes that is definitely next check with silca and CS - i have a strong feeling they use more sophisticated lab analysis - something i may end up needing to do (ie send samples to X test lab) - but the parameters of that would need to be done correctly - it is expected the cleaning solution will become more heavily contaminated, we really need to assess the chain - so it would need to be sections of chains sent in etc. Knowing exactly how silca and CS assessed will be very handy - and ideally there must be a way to get the powder to work.....

[@RenAigu]

I've gotten some spare Cyclon All-weather lubes from before I started waxing. I found it pretty meh and is probably the reason I started looking at Silca synergetic first and then falling into the waxing "trap". Thanks Cyclon! Kidding it's okay and easily available in Dutch LBS's and one of the brands that explicitly cares about the environment. (typed before watching the testing data) E: lol Fleet of vehicles with suppliers KMC, Axa and Cyclon, half open chainguards and no cleaning of the chain before relubing, sound like a Dutch company to me! E2: (after seeing the first test results) Yeah glad I changed from CyclOn and relegated it to cable and deraileur joint lubrication.

[@CenterfoldSharp]

Appreciate the detailed breakdown! Just a quick off-topic question: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). How should I go about transferring them to Binance?

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

thanks! And erm, have you seen me and anything I.T / computer related? You may as well ask an amish community that question. Lol no idea why you think im the guy to help with you with that one hahahahaha

[@dawn_rider]

The bike fleet operator maintenance policy 12:43 worries me. If the only time chain maintenance is done is annually then they are going to have wear issues no matter what lubricant they use. Especially for the E-bikes , a monthly chain wear check and deep clean to at least boiling water flush clean levels would be useful. If a decent bio-lubricant is found, testing the efficacy of the various cleaning methods on it may be useful ? Doing so at the end of ZFC testing would be the ultimate test. KMC have their own 'Go Wax' so can't be impartial. It would be interesting to know what chain model(s) the fleet operator is using ( Z , X , E series , EPT or standard coating etc ).

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

Yes indeed. I am still chasing my follow up questions to their lubricant choice criteria because really running any wet lubricant in all conditions with no maintenance other than the odd re lube - at years end they will be replacing everything anyway. Things will be less crapped out, and less likely to be presenting issues to customers (ie components too worn then risks of chain failure increases, but also chains dropping, jumping under load, chain suck if lubricant starts to struggle etc etc) - so for sure customer experience for a year could be much better upheld with one choice vs another. And yes on the project list is looking at testing various on bike quick flush clean methods - this would be relatively easy to test for effectiveness, just holy batman when / how to fit in. one day. And i think with kmc not having a lubricant (Go wax is just re bottled squirt -99.99% certain of this) - they do not have a competing product in what the fleet operator is looking for, however why they have sign off approval is a mystery. On what basis would they give their approval or not currently mystifies me.

[@RenAigu]

@@zerofrictioncycling992 Potentially (too) careful about legal things? Don't really get why anything that tests well would be so out of spec to really give problems in that area. If it tests well, it should be by definition a suitable legally defendable choice. And if a chain manufacturer "blocks" the use of a lubricant that is more performant and makes their product more durable, they should get in trouble with consumer rights.

[@TnFruit]

Hi, you have tested candle wax, so why you dont test olive oil for comparison?

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

Resources - did you see the update on where i am at with test machines? at this stage first spot for an open test is looking around march 2025. If olive oil is the most requested product to test then sure, but i highly doubt that is the lubricant most people want to know about...... There is nothing stopping people testing and reporting - ie how many kms to a genuine 0.5% on olive oil? give it i whirl and let me know! :)

[@joshuabuilds3051]

I mean they were trying to warn you with the name. Cyclon b, Zyklon B.

[@RenAigu]

They've been trying to rebrand themselves from pronunciation cyc-lon to Cycl(e) - On, probably got something to do with this

[@Lacking_something]

1. Do cassettes and chainrings only wear if a chain beyond 0.5% wear is used? 2. Does running multiple chains just make it easier to keep on top of waxing, and reduces risk of going beyond 0.5% and thus wearing out rest of drive chain?

[@firstlast1174]

1. No, there is always some wear, but the damage you do increases non-linearly as the chain wear rises. If you go well above 0.5%, you will probably have to replace chain and casette at once, as the casette will be too worn for a new chain to fit. 2. Yes to both of those. It also guarantees you will get at least 2 chains worth of life out of your drive train components. If you were to first "use up" one chain, there is a risk you notice the first chain is worn over 0.5% too late. You also avoid the situation where you have a very unworn chain on a already pretty worn casette. At the end of the day, all drive train components are consumables, the question is not if, but when you will have to replace them, provided you keep cycling.

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

no cogs and rings will always wear, just much more slowly the closer the chain is to 0.0%, and also it is a bit dependent on ones riding. Ie if in dry road, and chain is not worn - the very small movement of roller against tooth surface will cause very very little wear. If riding in dusty offroad - there can be dust between roller and tooth surface, and as it settles into place - that tiny amount of movement but at high load and with dust in between - that will cause a tiny tiny bit of wear. But multiply this across millions of interactions over thousands of kms - the teeth will keep wearing. Having a lubricant that is very abrasive in between also does not help. Running something abrasive and past the wear tolerance where now the rollers are really sliding down the tooth face - wear is very rapid. Multiple chains can be very handy for some, but really only if keeping up with one chain is a bit of hassle, and also if simply using a top up compatible wax lubricant in between is not an option being used. High mileage, harsh conditions - for sure chains on rotation is a great way to go. Low to medium mileage, dry road conditions - its pretty easy for most to re wax as needed.

[@markifi]

maintaining a collection of personal bikes now counts as "fleet operator". time to update my resume

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

i have long thought of mine as my little battle fleet. I just need to fully embrace and walk around all the time in the right looking uniform as an adjusted star fleet operator. And change my last name to kirk.

[@rafaeldegiacomoaraujo8778]

I would try to get a large volume contract with Rex and trial that as a cost efficient product

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

yes, i have suggested that! Even just domestique would be brilliant for them, they wouldnt need black diamond.

[@diggusbickus3739]

Seems they could just slop on some low temp Squirt and be in 80% better shape without all the messing around with "bio" lubes.

[@zerofrictioncycling992]

yes or i think effetto would be worth a try as that is very enviro friendly - but wax drips can easily have more issues re rusting post wet rides and just park bike, which i think is what is driving the focus on oils for their use. I have given them a bunch of stuff to try to pummel mfg's with next before they select another bio lube - in a sane world mfg's should obviously have some tangible evidence that backs the marketing claims of their product - but most do not because why bother when you can claim whatever you like anyway - but if they can get a mfg to provide something reasonably robust about their product first - that will help. Otherwise they should just get on the blower to Rex, silca, revolubes, NFS - there already well proven performing wet lubricants and i am sure processes can be in place around not rubbing them in ones eyes (and i think those are pretty good on the enviro front anyway but that could be checked deeper as well).

[@colinl2908]

10/10 pass for no eye irritation. That must be the main requirement for that company. 😉

[@wazzup105]

47/53 ... ouch. I have a bottle of that stuf which I use on my commute bike (daily 2 x 2 km trip so it'll be a while before I hot 1000 Km :-)

[@wazzup105]

Actually .. didn't you say that all bikes needed to be brought in for repair every year.. Looking at the performance of cyclon that might be related? Then imagine what the cost savings could be if they chose a better lube.

[@better.better]

if I was you I'd clean that drive train right away and switch to... well, almost anything else is better, I guess. it's easy to say "oh I'm not going that far" and dismiss that wear because it takes such a long time, but that's about ⅛ of the distance that I put on my drivetrain at 3× the wear rate, just switching to Rock & Roll Gold would probably extend your chain-life by 2 years for you. and switching to wax immersion would extend it to like 16 years or something crazy... and you'll have saved enough lubricants and parts to buy a whole new bike before the end of that

[@clintmichigan9112]

Thank god it's friday

[@dawn_rider]

Reminds me of 'Dragnet' kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGGtaXZjp9F5nK8 🙂

[@Jasonr606]

Another one bites the dust😢