Finish Line USA sent over a handful of products for testing a few months back and I wanted to do a review on a few of things that I’ve been using on my bikes. The three products we’ll go over here are the Dry Bike Lubricant, Showroom Polish/Protectant and the Pedal and Cleat Dry Film Lubricant…
Dry Bike Lubricant
- Available in 2, 4 (tested) and 8 oz. squeeze bottles, 8 and 17 oz. Aerosol sprays, and 32 oz. or 1 gallon jugs
- Flouro free
- Non-stick ceramic
- Intended for dry and dusty to moderately wet conditions
- $9.99 USD as tested
Starting with the Dry Lube, first off I do have to commend Finish Line on the value aspect. At just under ten bucks, the four ounce bottle I tested is less than half the price of my go to Dumonde Tech in the same size. I started using the Dry Lube at the tail end of summer and all through a fairly dry fall but now that Winter is full on, I’m back to using a thicker, wet lube. That said, as claimed it performed pretty nicely on days that were wet but not sloppy. Anyhow, back in the late 1990s / early 2000s I used White Lightning in my XC racing days but didn’t like the waxy buildup. The way that this Finish Line lube works is slightly reminiscent, although it doesn’t have continuous residue piling up. It leaves a very thin and light coating which repels dust and grit nicely and kept my drivetrain working well without taking on the dust like the average wet lube does. The ceramic base is a nice alternative to paraffin lubes. Another use that I found for it was in lubricating shifter and dropper cables. It’s tough to accurately gauge but I feel like it has offered greater longevity than the Tri-Flow wet lube that it typically use in that arena. Additionally that makes the case that this is more than just a simple chain lube. All in all I’m impressed with the performance and above all the value.
Showroom Polish and Protectant
- 12 oz. aerosol spray (tested), 1 liter spray bottle or 1 gallon jug
- $9.99 USD – 12 oz
- Safe for use on carbon fiber, aluminum, stainless steel, chromoly, chrome, and titanium
Ever since I first became familiar with Maxima’s SC1 protectant I haven’t really used anything else for keeping my bikes shiny and clean. It works well, but the highly addictive smell could be another factor – maybe it has caffeine embedded in it. When Finish Line’s Showroom Polish/Protectant arrived at my doorstep I was stoked to try something new…New to me anyway. At this point in time I’ve used it on both matte and gloss finish carbon fiber frames as well as a bike that is covered in gloss Ridewrap. I also made a point to coat my son’s push bike since it has the only aluminum frame in our garage. Overall I’ve been really impressed by this product. It has a very pleasant smell that doesn’t linger too long or reek like chemicals. On both matte and gloss bikes it leaves a nice luster and shine respectively. I was particularly impressed by how well it manages to pull seemingly baked in dirt out of matte paint and even out the minor scuffs and inconsistencies in the finish. It left the gloss frames looking lovely as well, but perhaps my expectations were slightly lower on just how well matte finish could be revived. One thing of note is that it does feel slightly thick and did need a little bit of extra buffing to work it in. That said, I’m not averse to a little bit of extra elbow grease. Lastly, the protection is fairly long lasting and helps to repel mud and dirt from building up for the first few rides after applying it.
Pedal and Cleat Dry Film Lubricant
- 5 oz. aerosol
- Uses nano-ceramic boron nitride particles
- Dry to the touch
- $9.99
Of all of the products that Finish Line sent over, the Pedal and Cleat lube was the one which I was most excited to test. This was in part due to the fact that my pedal / shoe interface is always making a racket and also due to the fact that it initially seemed like kind of a redundant, overly specific product. Prior to using this stuff, now and again I would just hit my pedals or cleats with a bit of Tri-Flow wet lube, but ironically it never really occurred to me how ineffective – or at the very least short lived – that approach was. As instructed, I simply hit each side of each pedal with a spray and wipe off the excess lube. It dried really quickly and definitely outlived my past approach when it came to quieting things down. I basically hit my pedals with a fresh coat every other ride or two and have found that it has quieted things down nicely. One interesting thing worth noting is that due to the decreased level of friction I found myself coming accidentally unclipped when I first started using this lube. So I ended up adding some extra cleat tension on all my pedals once it became part of my regimen. I’ve been using the 5 ounce bottle regularly for a few months now and it has tons left in it. For $9.99 it’s definitely worth a shot if your pedal/cleat noise drives you crazy.
