About

Credit to Zero Friction Cycling

This application exists because of Adam Kerin and Zero Friction Cycling. Over the better part of a decade and hundreds of thousands of kilometres of controlled testing, ZFC has single-handedly moved the field of bicycle chain lubrication forward faster than any lubricant manufacturer's in-house research programme.

Their test methodology, open league table, detailed reviews, and refusal to compromise independence have given cyclists the first genuinely reliable way to evaluate chain lubricants — and have forced manufacturers to raise their standards. Every wear, longevity and cost-to-run number that drives the rankings on this site is theirs, unmodified. Commentary from manufacturers (Silca, CeramicSpeed) is indexed alongside as context, visibly tagged so readers can weight it appropriately — but the rankings themselves only move when ZFC's numbers move.

Want a plain-English five-minute breakdown of how the test protocol works (what each "block" means, which numbers actually matter, how to read the wear chart)? See the ZFC protocol breakdown →

Support ZFC

The retail side funds the testing side. Four things you can do:

1. Buy tested products direct from the ZFC online store where practical.
2. Subscribe to the Zero Friction Cycling YouTube channel — video reviews now lead the test pipeline, and subscribing actually moves the needle.
3. Share ZFC's work with other cyclists. Few enough people understand how much chain lubricant choice matters; ZFC's plain-language explainers are the best starting point.
4. Read the source material directly at zerofrictioncycling.com.au. The site is regularly reorganised as new tests and guides are published, so navigating from the homepage is more reliable than following deep links that drift.

What this app is not

• Not a replacement for ZFC's spreadsheets or detail reviews.
• Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by ZFC.
• Not commercialising ZFC's data — no paywalls, no premium tiers, no affiliate deals on lubricants ZFC has tested, no sponsorship arrangements implying ZFC endorsement. The site does carry modest static ads to offset hosting costs (capped at break-even); they're never placed to undermine ZFC's retail arm. Built as a personal decision aid by one cyclist who wanted scenario-aware recommendations over the top of ZFC's open data.
• Not a static snapshot — ZFC publishes new tests every month or two; the site is refreshed periodically to keep pace.

Knowledge corpus & sources

Beyond ZFC's test data, the app also indexes manufacturer commentary (Silca, CeramicSpeed) so the Compare tab and Advisor result cards can show what each source says about a given lube. Independent test data carries the most weight; manufacturer self-test claims are visibly flagged so you can weight them appropriately. Currently indexed: 223 items across 3 sources.

Source authority is rendered everywhere a claim is shown. Green chip = independent test data (ZFC, Friction Facts). Amber/orange chips = manufacturer commentary or self-test data — useful context, but weight accordingly.