Pete has been testing a rather innovative solution to chain wear/friction and its associated power loss at the wheel in the form of the Flaer Revo Terra.
A superbly simplistic system that adds a minute amount of water-based chain lube during the duration of your ride. A unique system indeed, and Pete has been putting it through its paces since his factory visit earlier in the year.
Simplicity. The three components that make up the Revo system. The reservoir and ‘brain’, the jockey wheel-mounted applicator and a hose.
We’ve all been there. You’re out on your favourite ride and at some point, you have to smash through a big old bog or puddle, and you can hear your drivetrain complaining. Brake rotors do a good job of clearing the cack, but you can feel the dirt stopping your chain from running as smoothly as you’d like.
All you have to hope is that you hit another clear puddle or stream to wash the cack off, or you’ll be grinding your chain to smithereens over the remainder of the ride.
This is where Flaer’s Revo Terra system comes in. Unlike your usual apply before and after a ride chain lubes that quickly disappear in the filth, the Revo Terra system constantly applies a water-based lubricant to the bottom jockey wheel of your rear mech at intervals set by you on the main unit/lube reservoir.
Once you’ve the system primed and attached to the bike, fire it up before you start pedalling and unless you run out of the Terra Fluid, which is unlikely, you can feel and hear your drivetrain returning to its clean self after every muddy excursion. How long this takes depends on how often you’ve set the system to feed the lube out, and how horrendous the conditions, but the difference is tangible.
While the road system (Revo Via) claims to save you 12 watts, those kind of numbers certainly aren’t so tangible off-road, with a claimed 5% more power to the wheel. What makes the real difference is that you can hear the chain making less noise after soaking the bike in mud and other trail debris.
Reliability-wise, after 2/3 of a year with the system bolted to my downtube just aft of the cranks, I haven’t even cracked it off a rock. The lube hose pulled out as it was intended to avoid ripping the system off the bike, and I have only had to refill the reservoir a handful of times in that period.
What We Thought.
At £250, it’s certainly not cheap, the equivalent of a fair few brand new chains, but then you’ll likely be wearing your chain ring and cassette out in similar order without it.
The Revo Terra is an investment in the longevity of your drivetrain and your bank balance.
Anyone with a top of the range Shimano XTR or SRAM XX1 drivetrain may well wince at the cost of replacing cassettes certainly, and the Revo Terra will certainly extend their lifespan.
You can place an order and read full details on the Flaer Revo Terra system, including installation instructions, can be found over on Flaer’s website, here.
Check out our review of Flaer’s Guard and Revive sprays here.
Take a look inside Flaer HQ here.
