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EB17: Muc-Off nano techs your chain; adds grease gun, gloves & smooths your legs?

muc off nanotube chain lube to minimize friction on your existing bicycle chain just like their coated nanotech chains
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Muc-Off and a couple other brands have pushed drivetrain efficiency to new heights, both in terms of claimed friction reduction and prices. Their Nano Tube Optimized Chain debuted to the masses last year at a price of ~$200.

Now, they’re offering a (slightly) more affordable version called, simply, Nano Tube Chain. Notice the word “optimized” missing here, and that’s the key difference. The chain is still ultrasonically cleaned and coated in their nano tube solution, but it’s not put on their in-house run-in machine to fully mash the tubes into place. This video helps explain:

Basically, after a short run in time, the nano tubes are “optimized” because they’ve settled into the nooks and crannies of your metal chain’s granular structure. Meaning, the chain gets better after some use, and their Optimized version comes already better. By removing that time-intensive step at the factory, they can move production along much more quickly and pass those savings along to you…to the tune of $50 off. Which means your NTC chain comes in at $150 n(€130 / £109) and will actually improve after you’ve ridden it a bit.

muc off nanotube chain lube to minimize friction on your existing bicycle chain

From Muc-Off: “Each Shimano Dura-Ace chain is sonic cleaned and handtreated with an innovative carbon nanotube formulation, which penetrates each chain link to create a super smooth and highly durable friction-reducing layer. Rigorous testing on Muc-Off’s in-house C.L.O.D (Chain Lube Optimisation Dynometer) has proven that, in performance terms, the NTC can knock up to 3 miles off a 112-mile Ironman stage! This is calculated using the average time of 6 hours and 25 minutes when compared to using the leading wax-based optimised chain on the market over the same distance.”

Then, they sell the NTC chain lube ($65 / €60 / £50) with those same carbon/graphene nano tubes in it so you can reapply as needed. They say it puts the chain back to within one or two watts of the original coating’s efficiency. This isn’t the first nano-tech chain lube we’ve seen, and if you clean your chain really well first, you can use this on any chain. For now, the NTC chains will only come in Shimano Dura-Ace/XTR trim.

muc off bicycle grease gun and mechanics gloves and hydraulic brake fluid

Also new are mechanics gloves, a grease gun kit and brake fluid. The gloves are super stretchy and super thin, with seamless rubberized finger tips that make grabbing small bits very easy. The BioGrease is an earth friendly option for lubing moving parts like suspension joints, etc. The DOT 5.1-compatible brake fluid has a 320°C boiling point, meaning you’re much less likely to experience severe brake failure during extended descents.

muc off athlete performance body care warmup endurance embrocation and lotion plus shaving cream

When it comes time to pamper yourself, their Athlete Performance line includes a moisturizing sunscreen, warming endurance lotion, shaving cream, massage oil and a chamois cream, among others.

Muc-Off.com

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Age grouper.
Age grouper.
6 years ago

There is a guy here locally selling a chain lube supposedly made with graphene that needs the chain to be blasted and coated and just like this it’s a wet mess. When did lubing a chain get so complicated seriously if you gut dura ace this and super record that do you really want it all wet to save maybe a handful of watts for hundreds of dollars and meanwhile 70% of drag comes from wind resistance.

Tim
Tim
6 years ago

10 watts, hahaha. I think mucoff lost out to ceramicspeed when they launched their new ufo lube. In britain we call this throwing the toys out of the pram. I’d like to see mucoff prove their bulls**t. nice gloves though.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
6 years ago
Reply to  Tim

It’s all sort of BS at the amateur level. I’ve won a TT on a chain that had surface rust because it was ridden in the rain a week prior to the race and I didn’t wipe off the chain. This infinitesimal amount of mechanical resistance saving is a joke; ok if you’ve got a 400+ watt ftp and extremely aero position and all your competitors do as well than maybe something like this can help but for the majority of racers just pick a lube that matches your climate, conditions, and how frequently you want to reapply and you’ll be fine.

Tim Brown
Tim Brown
6 years ago

I always wonder if this is going to end up being an environmental nightmare like the beads they started putting in makeup (not saying it’s related).

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