NZero – Lube Your Bike The Only Right Way!

NZERO is a brand that develops and markets 100% organic and sustainable waxes and lubricants for outdoor sports. You might know their popular ski waxes. I am delighted to see them expand into the cycling sector, as they are one of the few companies committed to only using sustainable ingredients, avoiding those harmful to the environment.

EU Ecolabel-certified wet lube

I met NZero at this year’s Eurobike, where they introduced their Ecolabel-certified wet lube. This is a reasonably big deal, given that this is now the first Ecolabel-certified bike lube on the market (more on that at the bottom of this post). What does this certification mean for the environment? Firstly, it is essential to understand the role of certifications such as Ecolabel: They assure that a product claim holds up to its sustainability claims. Claiming “bio-based,” “bio-degradable,” “non-toxic,” or simply “sustainable” does not mean anything without having that claim verified. In addition, even if a single claim such as “bio-based” or “biodegradable” is true, that still does not mean the product is not harmful to the environment in other ways. Look, on the other hand, at the requirements of the Ecolabel for lubricants:

You can see that the requirements go beyond just one product characteristic to be certified. The 3rd requirement on the list is, by the way, the reason why the 500ml bottle of the NZero wet lube is Ecolabel certified and not the 100ml bottle: NZero did not have the quantities needed to get 100ml bottles from their supplier with the required recycled material content. Hopefully, they will have enough success soon to be able to switch to 100ml recycled PET bottles! Secondly, global consumption matters: NZero states that the worldwide consumption of bicycle lubricants is around 10 million kg, equalling 18.000 Tones of atmospheric CO2 emissions during production, but also the release of 10 million of hazardous chemicals into the soil and waterways, as typically none of the used up chain lube is ever recaptured.

No excuses

Most chain lubes are formulated with performance and profits in mind; their environmental impact is an afterthought. NZero shows that chain lubes can perform well in their role to reduce friction and, at the same time, be formulated so that their environmental impact is minimized. With the eco-system upon which we and future generations depend being under multiple threats, there is no excuse for brands to put products on the market that harm the environment more than necessary. And for consumers, there is no excuse not to buy best-in-class sustainable products.

Reward NZero for their efforts

NZero not only invested the time to develop an eco-friendly product, but they also went through the process of getting it certified. While their wet lube surpasses EU Ecolabel requirements in many areas, proving it is another matter. They needed to obtain evidence of the composition of their ingredients, uncover lots of paperwork and certificates and provide this to the authorities. Especially the testing for biodegradability is complex. This work consumes time that they could have dedicated to other tasks. Then there are delays between steps in the process that extend the time until the certification is received; this is also a hurdle for a smaller company, as once you invest in the product, you want to bring it to the market as soon as possible.

One last word

A couple of other products claim ECOLABEL certification, but they do not appear to have it. All Ecolabel-certified products and registered in a public database. If you go to the EU Ecolabel Product Groups and Criteria (europa.eu) website, select EU Ecolabel Products Catalogue, search for the product, or filter by product category to find certified products. NZero’s certification code is ES-CAT/027/002, and they display this next to the Ecolabel logo.

Product	FORM wedges and shims
Price	from GBP 9.00
Brand	FORM
International Shipping available	yes
Company location	U.K.
Manufacturing Country	U.K / Far East
Sustainability Info	n/a
Product / Company link	https://www.form-bikefitting.com

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