A tiny, low-cost gadget called the Lubri Disc promises to simplify regular chain maintenance, taking the mess out of lubing a bike chain, ensuring that you get chain lube where it really is needed, and reducing the amount of chain oil needed all at the same time. If you think about keeping your bike’s chain regularly lubed, it isn’t really a difficult task. But more often than not it tends to be a messy task, and especially with thin lubes, can be quite wasteful.
Flectr Lubri Disc clean, efficient chain lubrication gadget
Not this little spinning disc, that looks like a cross between a fidget spinner and a roller from some MRP chain guide I used to use, promises to solve all of our chain lubing woes. The new Lubri Disc is the latest project from Flectr, the same people who created a number of low-key but highly visible reflective add-ons for your wheels.
The Lubri Disc is a simple product that aims to clean up the chain lubing process by more carefully applying low viscosity chain oils directly to you chain links without over-lubing or missing any links.
How does it work?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/outsider-team/lubri-disc/
In between two yellow plastic discs is a special multi-layered, porous (felt?) lubricator wheel that holds chain oil. Simply separate the two discs held together by a strong magnet, and saturate the lubricator wheel with up to 30ml of your preferred thin chain lube. Then just hold the Lubri Disc between your fingers and press it down onto your chain as you spin the cranks backwards. One pass on the top of the chain, one pass on the inside of the chain, and you get consistent lube application without the mess.
Flectr says that as the “microporous and fluid-conducting” lubricator wheel freely rotates inside, it conforms to the shape of the chain, transferring lube efficiently onto the rollers and gaps between the chain plates. Since no lube ends missing the chain, and little ends up on the outer plates, it eliminates most chain lube waste. Flectr claims up to a 90% reduction in the amount of chain oil consumed, while still properly (maybe even more effectively) lubing the chain.
That’s surely better for the environment, since most chain lube isn’t super eco. Plus, less wasted lube means saving money in the long run, and less grime collecting on your chain. Inside the lubricator wheel is a replaceable, consumable part over the long-term, but is also biodegradable itself.
The 40g, 65mm diameter Lubri Disc comes in a simple metal storage can that keeps hands clean, and keeps the oil inside from evaporating. The strong magnet also makes it easy to keep track of the gadget in side a tool box or on the wall of your bike work area.
Flectr is launching the Lubri Disc on Kickstarter now where you can pre-order it on its own from 19€, or as a combo pack with their own bio lube from 25€. Global shipping adds another 7€, with delivery estimates slated from the start of August 2019.
No more messy hands, no lube dripping on the floor or your wheels, and a lot fewer oily shop rags.
