Juice Lubes launched a couple of years ago and their range of lubes and cleaners hit the market with quite an impact, thanks to their cool bold packaging and the effectiveness of their products.
From their range of lubes we’ve been using Viking Juice. Now, it’s actually a lube aimed at road cyclists (it was developed with Paris-Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt and designed to last the length of the 257km race) but we’ve found it perfect for mountain biking, where you want a lube that will last the ride – especially if that ride is a 12-hour solo mountain bike race.
It’s intended for use in all conditions and as we’ve had precisely that over the last few months, Viking Juice has been serving us well. We get annoyed when chains start squeaking towards the end of a ride, something that is accelerated when it’s as dry and dusty as the trails currently are, but we never once experienced a noisy chain using this stuff.
The lube uses a solvent carrier to help it penetrate the links of the chain, evaporating to leave the lubricant adhered firmly to the chain. Unlike a wet lube, it doesn’t attract dirt and crap, keeping the chain nice and clean. It coped reasonably well with some wetter weather but we wouldn’t reach for it ahead of a weekend of bog riding, it’s best suited to dry summer riding.
The bottles nozzle makes for easy application, allowing you to unscrew the lid just enough to get the right degree of flow. Juice Lubes recommend a clean and degreased chain before application, though when we applied it to a slightly mucky chain it still worked reasonably well. For best results though we found applying after a good degrease of the chain, and applying several layers (allowing each layer to dry) gave the best performance.
A 100ml bottle costs £9.99.
Verdict
A good lube for the summer where it keeps the chain clean and free of grit build-up, but requires a little more time and effort to apply for best results.
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