Orontas Plant Based Lubricants – Preview
I first saw Orontas many months ago when I was doing some research for bike lubricants and grease, their packaging is what first caught my eye but what really stood out for me was this line in their manifesto “We hold ourselves to an ethical standard that includes using sustainable and biodegradable materials that don’t come with skulls and crossbones.”. This got my inner hippie stoked, if I can find a product that works and is good to the environment then I am usually a pretty happy camper. To top it all off they are Made in Canada, how could you not love a product like this.
So far I have used the Type A and B chain oil, the Cleaner and the Grease and the first impressions have been good, but time will tell if they will work as good or better than what I am used in the past.
I have not packed any bearings with the grease yet but I have put some on my seat post and clamp as they were getting squeaky and it is lasting longer than my trusty old Phil Wood grease. I do plan to use this grease as much as possible over the next year to give it a good test to see how it fares during the long wet Island winter.Next I used the Cleaner. I started by spraying the cleaner on my chain and it did as advertised, it got most of the surface crap off of my chain. My frame was a bit dirty so I thought “Why not use this to clean off all the mud and gunk from the last few rides?”. The cleaner worked great on my bike as well, not only did it clean but my frame seemed extra shiny too.
The Type A Chain oil did a good job during the dusty summer we had up here and now that it is wet I have switched to the Type B. I will let you know how they fared in my long term review in a few months.Overall I would say that so far I am impressed, not only do these products look good and are more sustainable than just about any other bike lubricants on the market, they are are made in Canada and that is a rare thing nowadays. I will be using only these bike lubricant products on my bikes for the next while and will let you know how they stack up against my old favourites Tri-Flow and Phil Wood later this summer.
If you are in the Victoria area and want to try some of the Orontas Type A chain oil just give me a shout, they sent some little packages out to me and I would love to see how it works for other cyclists as well.