Wilko Performance Lubricant

Reviewed by Martin Childs

Wilko, £2.49 (£25 per litre)

All the lubing you need at a lower price.

One thing that really winds me up is the commercialisation of cycling. This includes when companies take some generic product stick a label on it with the picture of a bike and charge many times the price. Bicycle oil is a prime example; all we need is a bit of something to splash on our chains which will keep it lubed.

I'm sure that I could actually use pretty much anything so long as it doesn't wash off or attract insect life but it needs to be in a convenient dropper bottle so you can get a good application. The oil makes have though of this one - they all come in un-reusable bottles!

So on to my review, it certainly ticks all the right boxes, dropper bottle (which is re-useable by the way), all weather and has a dose of Telfon to boot. In application it is quite thin compared to the likes of Finish Line wet lube (which comes in at a whopping £60 per litre) - so much so that on my first attempt is squirted it straight through the chain and onto the carpet, but a more deft touch it goes on like another other product.

My other main concern with lubes is how long they last, the type of MTB'ing I seem to be doing lately strips my chain completely clean - both dirt and lube so anything which will last more than a really wet ride has my blessing. There's nothing more annoying that a premature squeak from the chain when you are not even half way round the ride - something so far Wilko's offering can beat.

It actually looks suspiciously like a rebadged Weldite TF2 performance lubricant (ignore the green-ness they've photoshopped it) except they've made it cheaper (Weldite's runs at £40 per litre) and it's just handy that you can pop into a Wilko to pick some up when needed. Wilko also seem to sell a rebadged version of their regular cycle oil as well, its just a shame they don't do Weldite's Extreme Wet as well.

In summary this stuff is cheap and lasts well.

Rating: 4 out of 5