by Darren Dencklau

Feature

Squirt Lube — a Biodegradable Hit / Sweatsucker - Does The Job

The kind folks at Bikinventions recently sent the Bicycle Paper staff a few bottles of Squirt Lube to test on our own bikes. Having tried just about every lubricant on the market throughout the years, I was excited to give their product a shot, or in this case, a squirt.

Photo by Darren Dencklau

Instead of petroleum products used by many lubricant manufacturers, Squirt Lube is a wax-based dry lube designed for both wet and dry conditions. The company claims that it doesn’t attract substances like dirt and sand and that excess lube will remove itself by shedding surplus wax as it hardens. One of my favorite attributes of Squirt: it’s biodegradable.

This past summer I used the lube extensively on both my commuter bike and my singlespeed mountain bike, which included a few Wednesday Night World Championship races at Seattle’s South Seatac Park and a self-supported bike tour in Canada.

During application the lube comes out uniformly, as long as you shake the bottle first. The directions state that you don’t need to wipe off the excess after applying and I found that after a few rotations of the drivetrain the lube penetrated evenly and adequately.

Performance-wise it worked superbly in all conditions. One unique aspect of Squirt Lube is that my chain stayed clean. It was a dry summer and the races I did were extremely dusty, which normally attracts dirt to petroleum-based chain lubricants like dehydration attracts stomach cramps. Even on my geared bike, the pulleys and chain remained cleaner than normal and what buildup did take place eventually clumped together and fell off.

I’ll undoubtedly continue using Squirt Lube through the wet winter months and have also used it during cyclocross season, where the true test of a good lube takes place. It worked particularly well in Seattle’s often-inhospitable climate as well as in the mud and sand that is typical of ‘cross races. Besides, if it’s good enough for Travis Brown and Ned Overend, both of who ride for and use Squirt Lube, it’s probably good enough for a hack like me.

MSRP for a 4 fluid ounce bottle is $10. Visit their website at www.squirtlube.com


Squirt Sweatsucker — Does its Job
by Claire Bonin

We all know at least one of those people who sweat so much that water drips off their chin, and their face and body gets coated in salt ... well I am one of them. I have to admit, when I first laid eyes on the Sweatsucker I was less than impressed. How could this thin little white band, with some funny granules inside, stop sweat from getting into my eyes?

I tried it for the first time on Seattle’s warmest day of the summer, 100 degrees — we don’t see that often. I rode the 10 miles from the office back to my home in the heat of the day, with no wind. Up the hill I went, and to my surprise, the little sucker was doing its job. I actually had to make sure I was sweating to believe it. When I took it off, I thought I would squeeze the sweat out of it, nope! The band was slightly damp but that was it. I adopted it and have been using it on my commute and touring rides ever since. It has not let me down, even when going over Stevens Pass.

Summer is over, but for all of you big sweaters who now ride inside on the rollers or the trainer, give it a try. The Sweatsucker really absorbs, transports and keeps the sweat out of your eyes. Check it out at www.squirtlube.com.