SILCA Super Secret Chain Lube vs Finish Line Wet Chain Lubricant

SILCA is the only lube here that publishes a reapplication interval and a cure time together, and the wax base keeps a drivetrain cleaner than any oil will. Finish Line publishes both numbers too and is ready to ride in five minutes, which suits people who lube the morning of.

SILCA Super Secret Chain Lube

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Wax in a drip bottle, with both the interval and the cure time published.

• States a reapplication interval of every 200 miles or when the chain becomes noisy, which is the number that sets cost per mile.
• States cure time explicitly: at least 12 hours, and 24 hours if applied in cool or humid conditions.
• Names its additive precisely as tungsten disulfide, printed on the bottle as wax plus nano-scale tungsten disulfide, and warns that the WS2 settles so the bottle needs shaking.
• Gives an application rate of one drop per link, so there is no guessing at dose.

• A 12 to 24 hour cure means lubing the day before a ride, every time, which is a real change to how you maintain a bike.
• Wax-based lubes want a genuinely clean chain to start with, so the first application involves degreasing properly.
• Premium pricing per bottle, though the 200 mile interval partly offsets it.

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Finish Line Wet Chain Lubricant

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The only lube here you can apply and ride five minutes later, with the interval published too.

• Five minute dry time, which is the difference between lubing before a ride and lubing the night before.
• Publishes a reapplication interval of every 100 to 250 miles, after extreme wet weather, and when drivetrain noise is present.
• High-viscosity, water-resistant formula built for wet and salty conditions, where dry and wax lubes wash off.
• Sold in 2, 4 and 8 fluid ounce drip bottles, so the dose scales to how much you ride.

• Wet lube is sticky by design, so it collects grit and the drivetrain gets visibly dirty faster than on wax.
• The wide 100 to 250 mile interval is really a range across conditions rather than a figure you can budget against.
• Needs excess wiped off carefully or the chain picks up more dirt than the lube prevents.

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Side by side

The bottom line

Our overall pick is the SILCA Super Secret Chain Lube - Wax in a drip bottle, with both the interval and the cure time published. Choose the Finish Line Wet Chain Lubricant instead if winter, rain and salted roads, and anyone who lubes on the morning of a ride.

Want the full picture, including the other options we compared and the popular one we'd skip? Read the complete The Best Bike Chain Lubes: 4 Compared (and One to Skip).