Tri Flow Lubrication Products: Keeping Bikes Rolling

Guitar Ted's Thoughts on Tri-Flow products:

Foaming Lubricant: This was the most familiar product in that the shop where I wrench at uses Tri Flow lubricant as the “house” lube for tune ups and repairs. The difference here is that the foaming action actually seems to lift out a bit more dirt and grime than a straight spray on lubricant, or the drip bottle applicator. Of course, the typical Tri Flow performance is expected here, and delivered. Tri Flow lubricant is great at lifting up rust and preventing it from coming back too, so I really like it for chains that will see water or damp conditions. Bonus: The flow of lubricant goes where directed with little to no overspray.

Rapid Cleaner/Degreaser: This stuff is supposed to get grime off, evaporate quickly, and not need any extra cleaning to get your parts looking their best. I found it did what it purports, with a test I did on a single speed cog I had. This cog had been used for winter commutes, gravel road rides, and mountain biking. It had a fair amount of that hard, plasticky goo around the edges of the cog’s teeth. You know, that stuff that is really hard to get off! Well, after blasting it with the Rapid Clean it loosened and then I could easily wipe it away. So, good deal on the cleaning function. The stuff does also evaporate quickly as well. If you know anything about chemicals, then you know what happens when something evaporates, and you had better be in a well ventilated area, or better yet, outside, if you use Rapid Clean. My shop area smelled of the stuff for a good hour afterwards!

The Citrus Cleaner Degreaser was a foaming type cleaner that worked well if you let it set and do its thing for a few minutes. Not for the impatient, that’s for sure! However, it had far less fumes and was easily as good as the Rapid Clean, albeit not as fast acting. You also need to wipe the Citrus Cleaner Degreaser off, so that will also take some time, but for me, this is well worth it to avoid the fumes left behind by the Rapid Cleaner Degreaser.

Moving on to the greases, I used the Synthetic Grease in hub overhauls where I wanted maximum water repellency and resistance to melting out of the hub. (Yes, grease can melt and migrate out of hubs!) The Synthetic Grease is a thicker grease than the other grease product we got, so I usually stuck with using the stuff in bearings.

The other grease, the Red Grease, is my favorite product in the bunch. It comes in a great applicator that allows pinpoint accuracy in application and frees up a hand to hold the part you are working with. The Red grease is thinner grease perfect for threads, seat posts, or anywhere a thin coating of grease is desirable. I used this product the most by far, and to my mind it is the standout of the bunch here.

Grannygear's Impressions:

I should be able to do something with all this!Well, what do you do with a box full of bike care products?  I figured I would give a bike some well deserved TLC, that’s what.  So, in order to make use of the fine products for tri Flow, I decided to spend some R&R time on the singlespeed.  The RST M29 fork had never been refreshed since its installation 3 bikes ago on the Karate Monkey and that held true for the hubs as well.  The King headset and Shimano Octalink BB were sealed units and both were still quite smooth.

My goal was to use every item in the box Guitar Ted sent me from Tri Flow.  Can I do it?  Can I even take the fork apart and get it back together again?  We shall see.

To begin with, if I am to disassemble a fork I like to have the outer bits clean so I do not contaminate things with grime and dirt.  I grabbed the Foaming Citrus Cleaner Degreaser and doused the wipers, crown, stanchions, and fork legs, then let it sit and cook a bit.  Taking a large scrub brush and some running water, I removed most of the gunk and took the fork apart.  Nice lemony smell, that foamy cleaner. 

One product down. Before foamy cleaner stuff...After foamy cleaner stuff.I bet this would be great for light degreasing of a bike and its parts, like in a wipe down/clean up type of use.

The fork came apart easily (see the rest of the photos here in the Images Page) and I used the heavier degreaser to spray inside the sliders once I ran some towels inside a few times to remove the old grease.  It was actually pretty clean in there, but I think there was too much grease if anything.  Once most of the grease was out, I first sprayed some of the degreaser and then alternated with the foamy stuff to see if it would clean the rest of the grease out.  That met with mixed results, but it was still pretty clean in there now.  I used the Red Grease to re-lube the fork and I really liked the pressurized can and the pointy applicator.  Sweet.  Changed the oil next and added new 5wt to see how that felt.  It went back together, but not without losing one of the teeny springs that give me a detent setting on the compression valve adjustment.  Drat.

Now, of course, the entire fork is covered with greasy fingerprints.  So, I grabbed the foamy stuff and foamed up the fork, brushed it lightly again, and then washed it off.  Sparkling and less chance of dirt settling on the fork from all the greasy residue. 

Next I pulled the rear wheel and took apart the rear hub, at least as far as the freehub body and two of the bearing seals [see pics in the Images Section]  I used the heavier Synthetic Grease in the sealed bearings, the Red Grease around the roller bearings at the back of the free hub, and the Superior Foaming Lubricant on the pawls and springs.  Tadahhh!...Success in that I used all the products in the box.  In fact, I would have been hard pressed to duplicate the process without the nice array of Tri Flow lubes and cleaners that were so graciously provided.  The cans of good stuff now sit on the shelf, awaiting the next time I dive into the inners of a bike.

Tri Flow can be reached here