It was a little over a year ago when UK’s Muc-Off released what they claimed to be the world’s fastest chain, the Nanotube Optimised Chain.
It’s a chain of your choice impeccably cleaned, broken-in and hand-treated in their own secret nanotube-infused lube. It retailed for $162 in Shimano Dura-Ace/XTR instead of the normal $35, give or take.
Wiggins used it for his hour record, Froome used it in the 2017 Tour and Vuelta, and Team Great Britain used it with great results in the 2016 Rio games.
And now Muc-Off is back with another chain, the NTC Nanotube.
On paper, the NTC is essentially the same as version 1.0. The major difference here is the NTC forgoes the broken-in treatment, thus shortening production time and lowering the cost. The NTC chain is said to be 10 watts faster than the wax-based CeramicSpeed UFO Racing Chain over racing distance after four hours with no drop-off in performance.
The NTC chain will have identical performance as the original pre broken-in Nanotube Chain after four hours of riding at 250+ watts. That means a light to moderate spin for four hours. But you already knew that.
There’s even a top-up lube that is said to generate savings within 1-2 watts of the original chain. The Nanotube Lube will retail for $64.99
At $150, the NTC Nanotube chain is still by no means cheap for a few watts of saving but if you want a proven high-performance all-weather chain to further optimize your steed, then look no further.
