Why does nobody talk about how bad the chain lube situation is at that big bike shop in Denver

I was at the REI on Broadway in Denver last Saturday and walked through their bike section. Almost every single chain lube on the shelf was either completely dried out or had that weird separated oil look. Picked up a bottle of Rock N Roll Gold and it was straight up gritty. I told the guy at the counter and he said yeah they don't rotate stock often. Has anyone else noticed this at other big chain stores or am I just unlucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul_mason1210d ago

Wait wait wait, they told you straight up they don't order til the old stock sells out? That's wild. I mean I've seen some crusty bottles at places before but that's a whole other level of not caring. I had a similar thing happen at a different REI a while back with a bottle of Muc-Off, it had this weird crusty residue around the cap and the liquid inside was cloudy. The kid at the counter just shrugged and said "yeah that happens sometimes." For a place that big you'd think they'd have someone walking the aisles once a month checking for that stuff. It's not like it's hard to spot either.

jade_butler10d ago

Straight up gritty" is exactly how I'd describe it. I stopped into that same REI back in February and grabbed a bottle of Finish Line that felt like it had sand mixed in. The guy at the service desk told me they only order new stock when the old stuff sells out, and that could be months. It's a shame because I used to like buying lube there when I needed it same day. Now I just order online from a smaller shop in Golden and get it in two days. You're not unlucky, the place just doesn't care about bike maintenance products.