Exclusive Scottoiler test

The battery-powered version of the popular chain-oiler has been redesigned for 2018. RIDE got an exclusive test of the new model

TOO OFTEN TAKEN for granted, your bike’s drive chain is a marvellous thing. As the most efficient way of transmitting drive from the engine to the back wheel, the chain copes with tremendous loads and pressure, using nothing but a thin film of oil as protection. Oil provides excellent lubrication, just as it does for the machined surfaces spinning inside your bike’s engine. But unlike those internal components that are constantly bathed in clean oil, your drive chain is exposed to the elements — a daily bombardment of rain, grit and muck that can dry the surfaces and quickly form a destructive grinding paste to prematurely wear your chain and sprockets.

And this is the problem with drive chains: they need constant maintenance. It’s good to give your bike’s chain a squirt of chain lube periodically — as most of us do — but it’s far from ideal. As soon as the chain is lubed and the bike ridden, the benefits of the lube start to wear off. This is where automatic oilers come in, providing a constant drip-feed of oil to protect the chain and extend its life.

Scottish company Scottoiler has been producing automatic oilers for 30 years, offering systems powered both by the engine’s vacuum and by the bike’s battery. The latest £199.95 xsystem oiler has just been launched, using a triple-axis accelerometer to detect the bike’s motion and decide precisely how much oil is needed from moment to moment, delivering it to the chain with its electronic pump. Scottoiler claims the new system is even easier to install than its other systems, so we got our hands on one before they hit the shops to put it to the test.