I have used almost EVERY formulation of lubricants and even the ones I have designed myself.......
Mainly because I now live in an agricultural area, that has main highways between the towns and dirt roads everywhere else, and dust and crap from all the ploughing and top soil blowing away, just covers the sealed roads with GRIT and DUST.
Since it's a REAL issue to shield the chain or enclose the drive system etc... I have more or less given up the idea of anything less than either a more or less totally enclosed drive or moving to hydraulics, or to use dry lubes - that are self cleaning, in copoius amounts.
My bike is my sole mode of transport so it gets treated like a work vehicle, I am not going to pull the chain off every week and clean it and dry it and oil it and wipe it..... only to repeat the process.
Your damned right I sulk and cry and throw temper tantrums - because I'd really like to keep all the crap off the chain and gears in the first place.
So I have just given up cleaning with scrubbing brushes, solvents, compressed air and more scrubbing and brushing and solvents and relubing and wiping and another 4 or 5 days later the chain and gears are covered in black grinding paste again and then the endless weekly clean and lube and doing that month in, month out, year in and year out......
I can make my chains shiny and clean and internally free of all grit and crap - but a week later, it's all back to square one..... full of free grinding compound.
I have also found that the total loss "constant drip feed" oiling systems that are great on motorbikes are not so good on bicycles, nor are copoius regular drenchings of the chain - to keep the crud flushing off the chain.....
Vegetable oils are great - but they tend to dry into a varnish when the excess lands everywhere else and never gets wiped up.
All the wet lubes attract dirt, all the dry ones - well Tri Flow Sucked, the Lightning lubes are fine - but too expensive in their TINY little premium priced bottles, and I am thinking that the Squirt lubricant may be the way to go.
Apply weekly and it's self cleaning as I go.
That is about all a MODERN chain lube should be.
I'd still rather that the chain drives be fully enclosed and running in an oil bath, or that a directly driven gear box and shaft drive be fitted into the frame.
Hydraulics ARE good, but at this stage - the power losses are too high to accomodate with the mere mortal power source.
I also hate buying the teeny little bottles of "speciality lubes", I'd rather just get one or two, one liter bottles of it, and come back for seconds after 20 years.
If I could give the chain a good weekly weed and feed with a decent douse of the self cleaning lube and be done with it, I'd be happy with that.
The White Lightning "CLEAN" is sold here in 1 liter bottles.... I think I feel a purchase coming on - unless the Squirt people can make me a similar offer, I will get this. it builds up crud around the jockey wheels but applying 5ml or 10ml every week, a quick wipe and doing nothing else, has much appeal.
http://www.bumsonbikes.com.au/bikes/bik ... r-758.html#
Time to go cry and hit the pillows, "Ohh my chain gets dirty and I have to clean it again".... Boo Hooooo.