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Stages 4 and 5 mark the shift from controlled lab insights into system-level testing, where efficiency, durability and wear are challenged under load.
Stage 4: Dyno Fixed Tension Testing
Every formulation must prove itself early. In stage 4, we establish a baseline with Fixed Tension Testing (FTT).
It’s a deliberately harsh test, designed to put new lubricants under pressure from the outset. If a formula can perform here, we know it has real potential.
Using our in-house drivetrain dynamometer, Dark Energy was run under fixed chain tension with tightly controlled cadence, load and chain set up.
This allows the team to compare formulations directly under identical conditions, track how changes in chemistry affect drivetrain losses, and build a consistent efficiency baseline.
As formulations evolve, they are brought back onto the dynamometer. If results don’t align with expectations, the process loops back into earlier stages. Only approved formulations make it to the next stage.
Stage 5: Slack Testing with Contamination
Stage 5 introduces variability, using a more conventional drivetrain set-up to bring testing closer to real-world riding conditions.
At this point, contamination is introduced. Dirt and sandy loam are applied to the chain through a custom-designed and highly controllable chute. The chute allows the application of contaminants to be measured accurately, ensuring credible data points and more importantly, repeatability in the testing.
This stage focuses on how the formula behaves as contamination builds, how stable the lubricating film remains, and how performance changes in varying environmental conditions over extended periods.
Some formulations that perform well in controlled conditions break down here - if that happens, we go back to the start.
For Dark Energy, this stage was critical in understanding durability and real-world consistency - not just short-term performance in order to create a formulation that could work effectively in both dry and damp conditions.
With performance understood under both controlled and contaminated lab conditions, the next stages focus on validating these results in real-world riding environments.
