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Muc-Off launches new Nanotube Chain

  • Ron 

Muc-Off, the independent UK-based bike care and performance specialist located in Poole, Dorset, today announces the launch of its much-anticipated Nanotube Chain, which has been proven to offer more than 10 watts efficiency savings against Ceramic Speed’s Shimano Dura Ace UFO Chain over a race distance on a Dynometer.

The Nanotube Chain, or NTC for short, is the culmination of over 10 years’ worth of research and development into drivetrain optimisation.

Unlike wax-based treated chains available in the market, the NTC delivers excellent performance in all weather conditions. This is even true in dry environments, where the NTC has demonstrated time and again to be more durable than wax-based optimised chains which suffer from a severe performance drop-off after only a very short amount of use.

A major finding to come from Muc-Off’s Development House was the shorter durability of Ceramic Speed’s Shimano UFO Chain. Whilst efficiency of this product was admittedly quite good in the first few minutes, registering at around 4.5 – 5 watts, this performance began to deteriorate after only 18 minutes. In comparison, the NTC only continues to get faster, with over 10 watts advantage against Ceramic Speed’s latest treatment UFO Shimano Chain after four hours. See attached graph for more information.

Each Shimano Dura-Ace chain is sonic cleaned and handtreated with an innovative carbon nanotube formulation, which penetrates each chain link to create a super smooth and highly durable friction-reducing layer. Rigorous testing on Muc-Off’s in-house C.L.O.D (Chain Lube Optimisation Dynometer) has proven that, in performance terms, the NTC can knock up to 3 miles off a 112-mile Ironman stage! This is calculated using the average time of 6 hours and 25 minutes when compared to using the leading wax-based optimised chain on the market over the same distance. Simply a huge saving.

Alex Trimnell, Managing Director at Muc-Off, said:

“The NTC is what we’ve been dreaming about ever since we launched our first ever bicycle chain lubricant in 2005. We’ve come a long way since then, working with some of the world’s top athletes and teams to push drivetrain optimisation to its absolute limit, and we’re happy to say that we can offer the fastest treatment we’ve ever developed. Critically, our nanotube formula lasts for hundreds of miles in all weathers without the risk of a severe performance drop off, which can easily happen with a wax-based treated chain after a very short period of use. This means you are then running on metal-to-metal, which could destroy your race times, not to mention potentially wrecking your components! The proof is all in the data.”
The NTC is the natural evolution of Muc-Off’s Nano Optimised Chain, or NTOC. Developed in 2014, the cutting-edge nanotube formulation started its life as a joint-project between Muc-Off and Team Sky. Having produced an all-weather, high-performance lubricant for the pro team, the Poole-based company began experimenting with adding nanotubes to its formula.

Muc-Off then used C.L.O.D. to prove the real-world savings of its technology with hard data, developing a deep expertise which helped Sir Bradley Wiggins achieve his Hour Record attempt and deliver gains in efficiency that helped British Cycling athletes bring home 12 medals during the Rio 2016 Olympics. Team Sky and Chris Froome also used an NTC chain to ride to victory in the 2017 Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

As the NTC is not run-in under load, unlike the NTOC, the total production time is shortened and allows for the cost savings to be passed on to the end customer. The NTC will then reach its optimum state after 4 hours of riding at 250+ watts. The NTC chain will then be at the same performance as the NTOC chain for many hundreds of miles of all-weather riding.

This makes the Nanotube Chain ideal for road cyclists, triathletes and mountain bikers looking to push their bike to the absolute limit during a race, trying to conquer their PBs or even nail a tough Strava segment!

Each NTC will be available through Muc-Off’s global distribution channels from 1st October. A highly advanced ‘top-up’ bottle of Nanotube Lube will also be available at launch, which will generate power savings within 1-2 watts of the original chain.

Tags: 2017 Tour de France, Alex Trimnell, Bradley Wiggins, British Cycling, Chris Froome, cycling, Dura-Ace, hour record, Ironman, Mechanics, mountain bike, MUC, Physical sciences, Shimano, Sports equipment, Strava, Team Sky, technology
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