Lubricating your bike's chain can be a messy and wasteful business, as excess oil drips off the chain and onto the ground. German startup The Outsider Team is out to do something about it, though, with its Flectr Lubri Disc.
Although the device first appeared at the Eurobike show back in 2017, it has just now become the subject of a Kickstarter campaign.
It consists of a fluid-conducting spongey lubricator wheel, soaked in oil and sandwiched between two magnetically-joined plastic discs. To use it, you lightly press that wheel down against the chain as you turn the cranks backwards. This is done on both sides of the chain, causing the lube wheel to spin with the passing chain, releasing oil into it as it does so.
According to the product's designers, two to three turns of the cranks is all that's required to get the oil thoroughly into the chain's plates and rollers. That oil is initially applied to the Lubri Disc by pulling its discs apart from one another, then squirting up to 30 ml (1 oz) of the oil onto the lube wheel.
Any low- to medium-viscosity oil can be used (although wax-based lubricants aren't recommended), with one full application reportedly being good for 10 lube jobs. That said, buyers can opt for the product-specific biodegradable Flectr Bio Chain Lube. Regardless of what lube is utilized, though, users are claimed to go through up to 90 percent less of the stuff when using the Lubri Disc.
The lube wheel is also biodegradable, by the way, and can be replaced when it wears out. And as an added bonus, the magnets in the Disc allow it to be stuck to any metallic surface in a workshop. It can also be taken on rides, packed away in an included aluminum case.
If you'd like a Flectr Lubri Disc of your own, a pledge of €17 (about US$19) is required – the planned retail price is €19 ($21). If all goes according to plan, it should ship in July.
Sources: Kickstarter, Flectr