3-In-One oil is one of those things that seems to belong in another age. An age of metal oil cans, Imperial tools, screwdrivers with wooden handles, Whitworth threads and green-painted lathes. But now this most traditional of lubricants has been brought up to date.

The most obvious change is the move from dripper bottles to an aerosol can. In many ways it’s a more user-friendly package, and while the old dripper bottles were certainly economical a spray does mean that any stuck bits can be easily given a good dousing.

The second change is the addition of PTFE (which you may also know as Teflon) to the venerable 3-In-One mix. PTFE is very slippery stuff, making it pretty good for lubes. The inability of things to stick to it gives it good protective qualities, too.

The catchily-named 3-In-One With PTFE is endorsed by Jon Whyte, designer of Marin and Whyte full suspension bikes. “3-In-One is the best lubricant I tried for the chain and transmission in the wet and muddy UK conditions. It keeps your bike looking, sounding and riding as if it were still brand new and it complements our low maintenance suspension systems perfectly,” he said.

We’d have to say it seems a little thin for a severe conditions chain lube, but there’s only one way to find out… It’s certainly pretty effective at unsticking stuck things like gunged-up front mechs and partially-corroded barrel adjusters, so even if you just use if for that and cables and things it’s well worth having around. We’ll let you know how it performs as a chain lube shortly…