Nobody has mentioned the lube goes inside the bearings. The stuff on the outside does nothing. Should be completely wiped off. It shouldn't pick up dirt or anything.
this is what i came in here to say.
I use prolink gold (extreme) and have had good experience with it, my only complaint is that it flushes all the dirt out of the rollers and leaves the chain all black and gross if you dont relube frequently . . . (i hit my road bike once a week in the summer, and my mountain bikes whenever the chain gets wet, which this year was an excessive EVERY SINGLE RIDE)