Stop pulling my chain and sort me out

Chain Lubrication

I realise after a month of bonding with Charlotte that I still hadn't done anything about sorting out her chain protection.  With winter rapidly closing in this had to be resolved.

Lube or Oil ?

I did a lot of reading up and asking around on the forums about the choices for chain lubrication.   Opinions seemed to be fairly split on the subject as to whether oil or aerosol lube is best.  Oiling appealed to me because with winter on the way it provides a constant source of new magic for the chain every time Charlotte and I go out. During the summer when its nice to pamper your ride I can see applying lube after a wash or the occasional downpour of rain being ok to do, when its -4 and dark outside it would rapidly become a chore.  Cost also seemed to be more expensive in the long run when using aerosols but I didn't go into it that deeply so that might not be the case.

Oil System Choices

The three main choices I looked at were Scottoiler, Tutoro and Loobman. 

Since I'm a bit of a tech lover, the Scottoiler S-system being fully computerised appealed to me, but the cost of it just couldn't be justified on Charlotte and in my present circumstances.  Yes its all singing and dancing but for the price I'd expect it to be. Their X-system seemed to be the S-systems previous years model without a nice electronic display.  It still involved electronics which seemed to be overly complex for the job requirements and the price was still steep.  Their V-system was closest to my requirements but I wasn't keen on having to mess around with small diameter vacuum advance pipes which get brittle with age.  Charlotte keeps me busy enough without building in another vulnerability.

Loobman on the other hand was the other extreme.  As basic as you could get.  The price was right but it still required me to remember to push a button every time I wanted oil to be dispensed.  Something I just know I would forget to do.    The system itself looked great though.  So it was crossed off the list of possibilities due to the fallible human element ie me.

So as you've guessed I went with a Tutoro system in the end at a very reasonable £80 + change cost. 

Why Tutoro ? 

Lots of reasons is the short answer.  It ticked off all of my requirements for a system. Basic to use, non electrical, well designed, minimal maintenance.  I liked that once the flow rate is set to how you want it, you can just fill up the reservoir and more or less forget about it. A quick visual check of the reservoir and the rear sprocket and you know its working ok.  It works when you move as its inertia and gravity that motivates the oil to descent to the sprocket.

All of the kit is well made.  It looks well made and feels well made.  Its hard to describe but you just know it is. There's no rough edges to anything.  The attention to detail and pride in their product I think that just shows through.  There are no vacuum pipes, no electrical connections so nothing to break really.

Another factor was the company itself.  It turns out its a small but constantly innovating family run British company.  There are precious few nowadays so supporting it just seems to make sense.  They are fairly local to me so when I was out on a bimble on Charlotte to Brecon Reservoir I decided to just 'pop in' and have a nose and possibly buy a system if they had a shop onsite.

Bearing in mind I had just rocked up and it was gone 4pm the owner was really welcoming and invited me into this little unit that was like a tardis.  We discussed what I wanted out of a system, he came outside and critically eyed Charlotte up and down (I swear she blushed), suggested mounting points and maybe more importantly NOT mounting points for the bits of his system and then gave me a little tour of the production area.

To say he knew his product inside and out is an understatement.  You could also tell he was a rider and had listened to the feedback from others on his products as he cited various ways to utilise the components of his kits.  He produced a kit for me and we went through it on the bench so that I knew what to use, where to use it as well as imparting those important installation tips you just don't get until you have messed it up first time around.

Its the type of support that is just so rare nowadays to find.  I get the feeling that if I need aftersales support it will be there as well which is just as important as the initial sale in my opinion.