Was Chain Waxing Worth the Hassle?
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2022
- Video on my experience waxing my bike chain. Worth the hassle?
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Another tip if you are only riding one bike. Have 3 chains on the go, swap them out as the wax wears off then wax them all at once.
Waxing 3 is hardly more work than waxing 1 and you get freshly waxed chains that you only need to rewax every couple of months.
That's a really good idea. Thanks for that!
This is absolutely the best way to go. When the wax wears thin around 700km, a 10-minute pit stop is all it takes to swap on a fresh chain. There is no hassle, no mess. Maintaining a bike with waxed chains is a lot easier than using petroleum lubricants. Chains, cassettes and chainrings last much longer, too.
That’s brilliant
How often does the wax wear off?
Why 3? Maybe one spare is enough. Chains ain’t cheap and by the time they would need replacement maybe some new fangled drivetrain design comes out that you wanna buy 😂
Apart from having a silent setup I really like the cleanliness when touching any of the drivetrain parts. Now when touching anything when loading the bike in the back of the car, I just wipe my fingers and the (maybe darker) wax just falls off compared to having completely sticky, greasy, dirty fingers that do not allow you to touch anything without leaving mark.
After replacing my Bottom Bracket and front big chain ring (after > 16000 km) and replacing my chain with a new one with all factory grease taken off and then waxed, it is so silent, I just hear my tires on the tarmac... I often cruise the paths through our dunes near the sea: no sand sticks!
It is hands down my favourite. Clean drive train is lovely. Once you get the knack of it it is quick and easy. I do a couple of chains at a time.
Hi @canyonWanderer, The part is very interesting to hear. I am currently trying out chainwaxing and have done it twice now using both a thin layer method (taking the chain out of the tub while its still very liquid) as well es the OZ Cycling variant, leaving a thick layer of wax on the chain. In dry riding conditions, the waxed chain was silent for only about 50km at most. I agree that there is no more grinding noises but I seem to be getting rattling from the chain, no matter what gear. I have checked my deraileurs for false adjustment but its perfect and shifts perfectly, no chain rub either. I have a factory Shimano Ultegra 6700 10 speed chain, which I have tediously made sure to clean every little remainder of oil out.
Do you have any idea as to what I may be doing wrong? Is it some low friction coating that disallows the wax to adhere inside of my rollers? May I still have oil in there? I want this to work, living near the beach, with sand on my oiled chain after ten minutes of riding.
Suggestions greatly appreciated,
Yannic
@@yannicnoack5389 Initial cleaning of the chain is very important. I use a 3 step process, firstly wash the chain in a de-greaser (take care if you use an acid based de-greaser as it may tarnish your chain), rinse with hot water, i then soak the chain in white spirit and agitate it a few times, the final step is to soak it in Isopropyl alcohol and again agitate it.
The chain should be spotlessly clean after this.
Make sure you do this in a well ventilated area.
I use food grade paraffin wax (with no additives) in a cheap slow cooker to wax the chains.
I've always found that the waxed chains are slightly noisier than oiled chains and have read that many people find this too .
I have Ultegra 6700 10 speed chain on my road bike and have no issues waxing it.
I used to use a wet lube on my chains and was lucky to get 1000km out of them before i had to change them (sand and fine grit acting like a grinding paste), the waxed chain on my commuting bike has approximately 5800km on it and still has probably over 1000km of life left in it before it needs changing, i'd never go back to oil based chain lubes.
Does it get washed off in the rain?
@@yannicnoack5389 Hi Yannic, sorry for the late reply, I have missed the notification. Rattling might indicate maybe the layer is too thin? If you would still have oil in it, I think it would show as darker residue and the chain would feel sticky again after a while (as the oil moves out to the surface)
I just fear, Russ, that all the extra watts you get from chain waxing may cause you to exceed party pace. :)
bravo incredible comment lololol😂😂
Party Pace isn’t a pace, it’s an attitude 😃
@@simonkneebone8740 O that's my fear, the attitude, the vibe, the whole scene, it could all be lost because his waxed chain is making him go so fast. :)
Or you could argue that party pace will be easier to maintain with less friction. So even partier pace :)
@@simonkneebone8740 You make a good point, but let's not forget that speed is a slippery slope and too often riders get used to their waxed chains making them go fast and making party pace a thing of the past. :)
I started waxing chains at the start of the pandemic and based on the results, I'll never go back to wet lubes. One downside is that debris builds up in the wax, which I leave in the aluminum pot to cool. Here's a tip for keeping the wax a bit cleaner and prolonging its use. Drape a cloth (like an old t-shirt) over a bucket or some other container. Pour hot wax onto the t-shirt slowly enough that it pools and soaks through the cloth. You'll find that most of the black gunk stays behind in the wax pot and the t-shirt. Clean up the pot with an old sock, or the like, and then pour the still hot wax back into your main container. I suppose that with time wax degrades, so it's not a forever fix. This method gets up to 90 percent of the gunk out of your wax.
Lowest effort method I've heard of is getting a little wire mesh stand/basket so the gunk can fall through while the chain stays in the clean wax above.
Eh. I prefer using paper coffee filters. Being thinner, they have higher flow rates will still filtering very well.
curious, isn't part of the black stuff the additive the various companies add to the wax?
What I do before rewaxing is to put the used chain in a bucket and pour boiling water over it to remove the old wax, then wipe off with a micro fibre cloth and drop into a pot of Isopropyl alcohol to get rid of any water and then drop in the hot wax as normal, the wax stays clean then.
If you really want to keep the wax clean but the chain in some boiling water and clean it before rewaxing. That plus your method would probably keep it really clean.
A refreshingly sensible take Russ! Wax and lubricants are such a hard thing to talk about because, as you've found, there's STRONG opinions on the topic.
Great breakdown. I look forward to more use and future discussion you provide on it.
As I'm commuting to work, on my bike and texting, and thinking about picking at technical details in Russ's videos, which I really appreciate, I just want to give a huge thanks to Russ for a fantastic and continued contribution to our cycling community! Your perspective are highly valued.
great timing for this video. I have just purchased Silca's wax and was wondering if I was going to go through with this or not. After watching your video I have better idea as to what to expect and how to maintain. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Clean it with alcohol and a brush before adding the cold drip wax. On multiday rides i've brought a smaller bottle of drip wax, a little spray bottle of alcohol, and a toothbrush. This kit served me well for trail-side chain maintenance on a dirty 500 mile route.
an e- muntain bike chain does not even last that long!
@@yetti423 i highly doubt that an emountain bike chain lasts less than 500 miles. Any chain should give you thousands of miles. Dylon Morton the wax master, claims ppl can get like 20k miles from a quality hot wax chain.
I've also started waxing this season. Initially just with Silica hot wax but I've also included Weldtite drip wax, as an on the trail top up and White Lightning as a flush clean / rewax for shorter rides when I know I need new lube butt don't have time to do a melt pot the day before. Bearing in mind I usually take about an hour to do a molten rewax and then another hour flexing the chain and getting most of the hardened excess from out the links.... So, not the purist approach but it seems to work very well for me. Always clean, quiet, easy shifting, hopefully low friction and pretty low maintance. I like it!
I started waxing my chain after your last video. I use the two chain method, waxing both chains and then swapping them out at around 300km which for me is about once a week. I have done 3,000km so far on the two chains, with my measure tool showing no sign of stretch. Previously I was getting 1,000km a chain and having to replace the cassette as well. I ride a 90's Shogun trailbreaker mountain bike with a Bafang 750w 36v motor. I am frequently dragging a Bob trailer with 10kg+ of load up a long steep hill to my home, so my drive train gets a serious workout. I don't add any lubrication to the chain between swaps, its wax only. They are KMC chains.
I am now at 5,000km with the chain stretch tool showing no measurable stretch
What kind or brand of wax do you use? 3k km is a lot!
@@LLF1234 I am using a PTFE+Paraffin combo I got on eBay, nothing fancy. I am now at 9,000km. There is some chain stretch but within limits.
THAT IS CRAZY, 9k km on a chain??? (Or even if it's half of that, 4500km on each chain!). Welp, I'm sold! I'll wax my chains now!
Shogun? Ha, nice to hear there's another one out on the road still. My wife is still riding her '89, and my parents' bikes are still working just fine.
I cracked my Prestige Shogun Prarie Breaker. Shame to see it fail. But I got that XT bike at a ridiculous close-out price so it was still totally worth it.
PS I'm finally on the wax bandwagon as well. Only took 51 years riding to switch!!!!
Thanks Russ. As always your videos are honest and detailed. Thanks
I like to work on my bikes, so for me it actually was fun to go wax.
Gotta love a clean drivetrain!
+1
No need for gloves anymore 🙂
I think it is quicker in the long run.
I'm on my first waxing.
And I'm not going back.
Worked out a little system and I'm loving the result.
After learning about waxing chains, from a different site, i have found the initial clean out of the factory grease is time consuming yet, once completed it is the best way to go. After each 150-200 miles i remove the chain run some hot water over it and wipe it down, then a quick plung into hot wax, a quick wipe with a rag and back on the bike ready to go. . Chains of mine have lasted 10,000 miles using this method and redued wear on chain rings and cassets which got me through the supply issues ovr the past 2 years. You need to commit to this method for it to be cost effective, as Russ has pointed out, but the benefits are real but to get the full benefit of wax the chain needs to be properly completely cleaned with the removal of the factory grease so wax can adhear to the metal.
Even that is not hard. The pros far outweigh the cons.
10k miles? Damn now that's a lot! No chain stretch either?
@@RealMTBAddict i had a shade more than 0,5% stretch over the time span
@@davidhall5015 Nice! Been using Squirt for a while but noticing lots of chain wear. About .5% after 400 miles, unacceptable. So now I have 2 new chains freshly waxed with Speedmaster wax. Hopefully it makes the chain last longer.
@@RealMTBAddict The key to chain waxing is the cleaning step. It can't be stated more importantly. The better the removal of oil/grease before waxing , the longer the wax will stick. If after waxing you can remove the wax from the chain in solid pieces by rubbing your finger over the chain, it was not cleaned properly. The wax should more or less melt from your finger rubbing over it and leave a film-like appearance. I use parafin wax bought from the grocery sore and add nothing else. I brand that i use is Gulf Wax, just a few $ for a 1 lbs box.
Super clean and super quiet drive train. Works really well on e-bikes too. Glad I changed. I live in N Florida and extreme sandy environment and no more oil-based sludge.
Accurate assessment of the experience IMO. I wax the chain mostly because I don't get that black grease mark on my calf. The only hassle is the initial degrease per chain.
Lots of things to like about chain wax, but the cleanliness is definitely the thing I notice most day to day.
It seems you can buy pre-waxed chains so you can skip the initial degrease
"ROOKIE MARK!"
Oh the humanity!!
I believe it’s worth it. Wippermann links make it especially great
I don't know what this says about me but I would 100% watch an ASMR video of the chain waxing process
Ha. That's a good idea for a video.
lol
@@PathLessPedaledTV You need a soothing voice, speaking slow for ASMR, no offense ✌😁
Tip: When you take the chain off the bike, join the the ends up again with the quick-link before putting it into the wax. If you don't, getting the link hooked up again afterwards can be a royal pain.
This might be the best comment I've seen this year. I have been wasting my life struggling to re-link waxed chains! 😂
@@woutervanderdoes5163 you can also try just heating the quick link with a hair dryer just before you want to reconnect. It’ll re-melt the wax around those parts and let them come together much more easily.
@@woutervanderdoes5163 Thanks!
@@Plastonick I tried the heat method but you have to be deft and/or risk burnt fingers. Maybe I shouldn't have used a heat gun...
Hey Russ,
Something I figured out after waxing the past few years. When you take the hot chain out of the wax, don't hang it up to cool. Just reinstall HOT! and then just go through the gears a few times as it cools off and give the exterior of the chain a quick wipe. No need to try and break the wax free as is necessary when you just hang the chain to cool.
Welcome to the Waxers! I have two chains one on the bike and one ready to go.
Waxing suits me fine. I would be lucky to get 2K miles when I used conventional lubes. I switched to wax and have over 7.5K miles on my chain and it's only now showing wear. 2 things, prior to rewaxing I clean my chain with boiling water. Then blow dry and "bake" the chain at 200 deg for 20 minutes before rewax dip.
I don't even bother drying it as I think the wax will displace the water.
@@paulb9769 doesnt work like that. water displaces liquid wax
@@vittocrazi Well if it is in the pot for a few hours it seems to work perfectly fine. The water will float. My chains have been better than ever.
Check zero friction cycling for indisputable evidence that immersive waxing is the clear winner for chain lubrication. I find significantly less than 0.5% wear on my ebike chain after 6000 km and that is using food grade paraffin without additives, very cheap. About 20 minutes to re wax.
David, how many km do you ride before rewaxing? Do you clean with boiling water before rewaxing?
@@paulc2953 G'day Paul, I re wax about every 200km, usually less because I have the interest and the time and the results are not in dispute. There is no doubt that if chain cleaning is done properly, waxing is easier, cheaper and faster than ploughing through all the muck associated with oil based lubricants. I do drop the chain in boiling water before immersion. I will ride today and will turn on the slow cooker before I leave. Adam Kerin(Zero Friction cycling) makes the point that you can't over wax i.e apply too often. I am going to stick with using food grade paraffin and apply more often, stay away from alternatives like candle wax, bees wax as Adam's testing has showed poorer results with those materials.
I first waxed because my toddler likes to touch the bike, and therefore the chain. I used beeswax because I had a bunch lying around. I love it. No need for PTFE, I put enough forever chemicals as it is, no need to add more for super marginal gains. The OZ cycle tip to wax two chains is great for saving time.
Is beeswax really that good I‘m curious
@@walum3411 Nothing to compare it to personally, it's the only wax I've tried.
Did you watch the whole video ? @ 3:35
We are MTB riders, and my housemate started waxing his chain a few years ago, then got me started. Best tips: use an ultrasonic cleaner before waxing every time, buy one or more chains, so you always have a fresh one ready to throw on your bike. Yes, wet conditions (esp immersion in water) does remove wax and shorten lubed life, so change aftermgetting wet. The interim use liquid waxes can be good to add some wax back onto the chain, but having extra chains ready to go is even faster. Fortunately both my bike chains are only a couple links different in length, so I just made all 4 chains the same length so I always have a fresh chain ready to go.
Hey Russ! I have been using Silca Super Secret for about 3k miles now with almost no measurable chain wear. Like you, I switched for the cleanliness and low drivetrain wear and not the marginal gains. I have one tip though: consider using Silca’s chain wipes. They are expensive (35 cents or so per wipe), but between applications I use the rough side to clean off my chain and then the soft side to wipe off any remaining dust on my bike every time I re-lube. One is enough. My hope is that this regular wiping of dust helps new applications (every 100 miles or so) adhere better to the metal. So far, especially in dry and dusty LA, this has been overwhelmingly less messy and time consuming than using a wet lube, aside from the initial degreasing process :)
Any feedback on noise level vs wet lube?
Try "baby wet wipes". Much cheaper. You can take a bunch out of the packaging and let them dry, that's even better for cleaning chains...
@@Dragos02almost zero noise.
Im on super secret as well. 2yrs, 15k...road bike.. flat terrain... and using the Pack Tools cc4 chain wear indicator, its still less than 0.5% wear... probably 0.2 to 0.3% now... crazy.. Im starting to doubt the wear indicator tool 😂 But I do have a problem with the wax gunk on pulley wheels and chainring...
3 MILES TO WORK AND BACK 25 MILES ON WEEKENDS AND WAXED WITH JUST BEEZ WAX WITH NEW CHAIN 6 YEARS AGO. NEW CHAIN IS GOING ON NEXT MONTH. i DIG IT.. LOVE THE CHANNEL AND IM PIKIN UP WHAT UR PUTTIN DOWN.
Huge yes on wax. Perfect for dusty old Tucsonistan. Initial degreasing with iso alcohol and regular application of the "squirt" brand drip wax after cleaning with a dry rag. Even had someone comment/ask how my cassette was so shiny. Rag for the chain and pipe cleaners for the cogs was my reply. Easy and very effective. Highly recommended
Hi great video. I've not gone for the full wax but prefer to deep clean the chain and give it a ton of dry lube on the first re-lube, although I top up the dry lube for each ride I also take a little pot just in case the drive starts crying for attention I only do this in the dry season and it certainly keeps the grime down.
I love the Elmers glue reference and can totally relate!!
Thank you, as usual, for the balanced perspective!
Also..."transitively." 👍
I did the slow hybrid wet -> dry-ish. After I did a normal chain wash I used a wax lube (starts as liquid dries hard). Eventually the only lube on it is the wax and it has that keeps cleaner. I did find I need to apply the wet wax more often though to keep the performance smooth and clean.
Way back when all the stuff that you ( and me ) like was new, i waxed my chain and kept everything clean. I was definetly not the fastest racer, but i never had a technical problem with my bike(s). I still have a UCI licence.....but as a mechanic.🤭
Awesome video Russ!!!Here's some things that I've learnt from my waxing journey with an emtb,11 and 12 speeds change at .50 wear 10 speeds and lower change at .75,I used the same chain checker as you cc-2 from park tool then I meet a canadian youtuber "lovemtb"who told me the cc-2 readings are very conservative and to get the cc-4 park tool so I did and wow the cc-2 on my old chains read .50 the cc-4 showed still brand new readings no wonder I've never wore out a cassette lol...Mid drive ebikes eat chains fast I used to use muk off wet and dry lubes and would get about 800 kms to a chain and would spend half an hour cleaning drive train every 60 kms now using silca hot wax on new chain and a top up every 100kms with silca ss drip and rewax every 1000 kms with only 15 min cleaning sessions I save hours of cleaning time on the life of a chain!!! and i'm getting over 1400kms on a chains life which is way better then 800kms...I recently started watching Adam at zero friction cycles(the guro of bike drive trains)and found his recommendations on chain life and switched from 12 speed ebike kmc chains to shimano xtr chains(I am running shimano drive train)and went from 1400kms on kmc to 2100kms on xtr wow another huge leap!!!Another tip I got from Josh at silca videos is when you top up with the ss drip while its still wet cycle through all your gears and coat the cassette too...Sorry for the long winded reply Russ lol
If the live time of your chain is only 2100 km, I stay with Lub oil for my wife's ebike (10 speed deore). She has 14000 km still on the first chain. If I need to buy 7 new chains with WAX (which is more expensive) to get 14000 km, no need complicate things.
@@TheVorst I would bet that your wifes e-bike is a hub drive motor with a throttle?Mid drive motors have the pedal cranks coming out of the motor, and all your power plus the motors power go through the chain.
I think Russ's new chain wax system would be very satisfying to use, actually seeing how clean your chain and drive train can become and remain after multiple rides. I'm a bit on the lazy side, however, and have found that using Muc-Off Bio Dry Lube works very well for me, keeps my chain pretty darn clean, and requires me to clean my chain with my Finish Line chain cleaner every 3 road rides (150 miles) and reapply after each ride (50 miles). I may, however, switch over to Russ's new chain waxing system to see how well it works for me. Thanks, Russ.
New? I've been waxing my chains for almost 50 years, and I learned the method from a senior rider. I'm most surprised that this has appeared as somthing new.
I just use paraffin wax and add nothing else, it works very well. I've been waxing dozens of chains for the past years for all kinds of bikes (and several friends), usually in batches of around 6-10, which takes less than two hours (assuming you already stripped the chains, which takes quite a bit longer). The increased lifetime of the entire drive train is worth it alone, but the cleanliness when touching the chain etc is a nice benefit.
same!
I did but have moved to mixing 50g of PTFE to 500g of food grade paraffin wax.
@@paulb9769 PTFE is not good for the environment though if you care about that.
@@johnlesoudeur3653 Neither is the Lithium and other toxic materials in your smart phone and the many other harmful thins you own and the harmful effects of their mining or manufacture. Don't be pedantic.
@@paulb9769 You are right, but it was not pedantic, a lot of people are not aware that it is not biodegradable and eventually enters the food chain. A few bike chain lubricant manufacturers have recognised this and are not including it in their products e.g. Green Oil.
Man Russ, I really like your content and even bought my Marin Larkspur 2 partly based on your review about it, but the cuts in between almost every sentence are driving my OCD crazy!
A comment worthy of your username XD
I live in Lincoln Nebraska and wax my chains for my most frequently ridden bikes and it's fantastic. I made my own wax blend, and generally rewax every 150-170 miles and have been tracking my mileage so I can see how many miles I get. I have 3 chains in rotation to spread the wear out, I'm hoping to have gotten a really long lifespan from my cassette once it's finally worn out.
You're right about water being the biggest hazard. My solution is, buy chains with a plating that minimizes the area that can rust. My gravel bike uses a KMC SL chain in their silver plating. I get some spots here and there, but even after days of riding the Cowboy Trail and leaving the bike outside through some rain in addition to the day and a half we rode through it, the chains were just fine despite pushing the 2 I rode to about 200 miles each.
If you can tolerate the process it's pretty fantastic in my experience so far. My buddy on the trail was jealous of how clean my drivetrain stayed the whole way. All I had to do was pull out the weeds and grass that got sucked up when we were riding off the beaten path. Or should I say path less pedaled.
If you really want good rust resistance go with the KMC Ecoproteq (EPT) series. I have been seriously impressed with those on our daily winter commuters (Duluth MN, so roads are heavily salted 6 months of the year).
Literally was looking into this after watching oz's videos.
Great description of the process. I was a definite 'no' before watching and I still am but at least I know whats invovled. BTW, all four of my bikes are sporting your stickers, love them.
Great and thoughtful video. I tried using squirt lube and find that it definitely gets and appears dirty but it can easily be washed off your hands with water. I'm not convinced the juice is worth the squeeze when it comes to removing the factory grease from the chain fully to get the wax to initially stick. It's such a tedious process that involves some pretty powerful chemicals (mineral spirits for me). I wore out a chain with drip squirt lube in similar conditions as usual in about the same amount of time It normally takes me to wear out a chain when using wd 40 dry lube
I have already bought the Silca wax and their wax lube. I’ve used the wax lube so far and I have to say it’s a noticeable difference. I’m procrastinating doing the full immersion wax process with my crock pot but I honestly think it will be worth the effort. I already bought a new chain for this endeavor. As for Silca, I completely agree that they have the best products that have been developed by experienced staff with applied cycling mechanical knowledge.
Thanks for posting your updates and hopefully motivate me to hang out in my garage and get this done. I think it will make a difference for my upcoming return to the Philippines and cycling in those conditions.
It's wet season here in the Philippines now. Very sunny hot in the morning, then suddenly thunderstorms growl at midday or afternoon, then the hard rain pours!
@@yengsabio5315 yep, I’ve been caught in those sudden showers that you have to just seek shelter
@@stiffjalopy4189 great advice.
I use an 8-to-1 mixture of pure paraffin to pure beeswax. I buy 4 lb. blocks of paraffin and cut them into 4 pieces (16 oz. each), and I buy 1 lb. blocks of pure, unscented beeswax and cut them into 8 chunks (2 oz. each). Drop one chunk of each into the slow cooker and you’re good to go. I get 3-4 applications per batch before throwing out the cooled block of wax and starting fresh. I’ve been doing this for 20+ years and get excellent life from my squeaky clean drivetrains.
My recipe is canning paraffin plus ZDDP oil additive (“STP” in the auto parts store). ZDDP is an old-school anti-wear additive that goes in engine oils for timing chain wear. I vary the amount of oil additive to suit how tacky I want the wax. It works great and is cheap.
I found the same thing with the silca wet lube, using it alone would still attract lots of dirt, which especially was problematic for my bike that is kept in an active apartment garage. Full wax treatment has been significantly cleaner. I still generally clean my chain in between deep waxing sessions, but I can't really say it'd be a problem if I didn't.
worth noting that the Park Tool CC-2 chain checker can be very inaccurate! Working in shops, I've seen them measure brand new chains as worn out. With the moving parts on it, there is a lot of inaccuracy. A much more precise and accurate tool is Park Tool's CC-4 chain checker- it is a solid piece of metal and checks a larger section of chain, so it is more sensitive, accurate, and precise :) Happy riding
The rohloff chain checker has no moving parts.
Waxing chains is the best. I like how if I have a chain issue my hands don’t get greasy dirty. It’s amazing how clean the chain stays for so long. I wax just pelleted paraffin on a hot plate after cleaning the chain using citrus degreaser then alcohol to get the citrus residue off. I have 2 chains in a rotation cleaning waxing both at once. Tungsten Disulfide and PTFE powders aren’t that expensive if you make a bunch of wax. It’s like 5x cheaper than those products.
I'm using my home brew with PTFE. I'm getting 700 miles between lube on one bike. I attribute the long mileage to starting with a new squeaky clean chain. Other bikes not so high mileage but longer than wet oil lubes. The extended lube intervals and clean drive train are worth the initial extra work.
I love waxing mine. I keep a spare chain when touring. I also make my own alcohol, PFE, and candle wax portable drip bottle.
Waxing is the way forward I live in the UK and have been waxing for 2 years the bike is soo much cleaner and equipment lasts much some surface rust in the winter but only superficial run 2 or 3 chains at a time
I tried out waxing recently and have come to similar conclusions. For dry rides it's way cleaner than any other lubricants, and for wet rides it works fairly well too. The only time I had issues with some surface rusting was when doing a multi-day trip that ended up being wet for most of the time The rust easily wiped off with a rag and the chain was sparkly underneath, making it seem like it was rust from road debris and not necessarily the chain itself.
Are you using a nickel plated chain or the grey?
I bought both products in the Black Friday sale - but now need to buy some degreaser & alcohol/drying agent as well as a new chain. More insight into the latter would have been helpful.... but there is always Silca's own RUclips video on that I guess. Nice video. I like this Chanel so much, I subscribed.
There a ton of videos on that terrible boring part of the process and I honestly didn’t want to film it because it takes so long.
"Breaking all the links" sounds a lot like the pleasure of popping packing bubbles :D
1) Agreed! 2) It is!
Doesn't make any sound really.
Timely. We are on the same page with the reduced chain / DT wear. Pedantic note: check your chaisn in multiple places, they don't wear uniformly.
I'm using the Molten Speed Wax. I can get around 400 miles before I hear a squeak. Drive train always stays clean.
I'm a believer
400 road or off road miles?
I'm assuming road.
I got about 50 very dusty off road miles before I decided to rewax. Using my own mix, so it's probably lower performing than the top ones, but not by much.
The key is to rotate 3 chains. So you can bulk wax them to reduce the admin
I use two chains but I can see 3 chains would be even better. I could fit 3 chains in my slow cooker and the wax would cover them.
3 chains is the way to go.
I did the hotwax thing for a while but went back to using squirt. It seems to lube just as well in our dusty conditions, pretty much the same cleanliness level, and it also seems to go slightly longer intervals before the squeakiness starts, like it can remelt and redistribute itself in the ambient heat. Plus it's way easier/faster than removing the chain and doesn't wear out the quick links.
It’s not mutually exclusive. The liquid Silca applies just like Squirt but mates well with their full immersion wax.
Squirt has penetration issues. So it "feels" good but the reality is that it isn't. Zero Friction Cycling has showcased this. If you heat squirt and then apply it you can negate MOST of the penetration issues. But the fact is it still isn't as good as wax. Silca Secret was wore through 0.3% of its wear tolerance in a 1000km test vs well over 20% for squirt.
When O-ring chains weren't available there was a recommendation from an article in Cycle World to wax your Moto's chain but with a slight twist of mixing 1/5th the volume of the wax in axle grease. This was about 1970-ish.
Instead of a crockpot, I have two pots one filled with water, inside of that is the pot with the wax, the water gives me a stable temperature. It´s like a diy candle setup.
I rate it!
However, in wet, dirty conditions it does need to be reapplied quite often.
Living in Australia, I don't have too much trouble with high moisture levels, so it works for me!
I was doing it for a while.. went deep in the rabbit hole with Teflon powder... But after a few months got really bored of doing it over n over.... Now I have the belt driven bike with 650b tyres and hydraulic disc.. best decision in my case... Haven't even pumped tyres since April....
I give the chain a quick soak in boiling water before I do a wax reapplication. Removes some of the contaminants and keeps the wax in the pot cleaner for longer. Also I just use straight candle wax. Been doing it for 5 years now. Much cleaner and lower wear overall.
I used to use paraffin with slick 50 oil additive mixed in back in the '80s. My drivetrain would stay pretty dirt free, nice and quiet, but it left this blackish waxy residue all over my sexy silver Dura Ace drivetrain.
As an off-roader now, I use wet weather lube all year because I ride into lots of deep creeks. Nearly every ride I clean and oil my chain and everything stays nice and clean. It's a less than 3 minute process to clean the chain, but also part of my preside inspection.
People struggle with dirty drivetrains because they generally use far too much oil. I'm a shop mechanic who tries to conserve resources, but over oiled chains are often my job security. Often enough bikes are so filthy, I refuse service if the customer won't pay for a $100 drivetrain clean along with other services. I get dirty and greasy simply putting such bikes in my freakin work stand!
@@rollinrat4850 I can understand your logic, but it bothers me that we freely submerge bikes coated with who knows what PFAS and/or "forever chemicals" in rivers and water sources without second thought. I was very discouraged that water quality folks are seeing these compounds show up in our "pristine" watersheds. Skiers recreating in wilderness areas with ski wax filled with complex, long-chain hydrocarbon compounds.
Sickens me to know ski wax makers added these knowing they'd be shed in wilderness areas.
So this makes wax with inert compounds like tungsten and molybdenum disulfide far better choices in today's chain waxes.
And according to ZFC, wax performs better than any wet lube in watery environments. I'm sure hoping this is the case so we can kiss the chemical soup chain lubes goodbye and good riddance!
@@dudeonbike800 My coworker is a former Euro Pro Tour mechanic. He doesnt like waxing, but I'd bet its most likely he'd hate waxing several dozen chains.
Maybe Ill give some modern wax a try again if I get a sample. BUT, most folks wont ever bother with all the hassle. Thats the unfortunate reality. And, Id need to charge people lots to do it for them.
But hey,
'theres a sucker born every minute' Haha! 🤑 See if chain waxing is more profitable than all that drivetrain cleaning......
'Ignorant consumers' are my job security. Lots cant bother with even oiling their chains at all, much less pumping up their freakin tires, so maybe thats a good thing! 🤣
Ignorant, marketing BS impressed consumers also buy all sorts of unnecessary, overpriced junk they often dont even 'need' which depletes natural resources and adds to landfill. I recycle all sorts of not even 1/2 used take off parts. It blows me away what people just throw away.
You know, theres always that upgrade!! Its literally like taking candy from babies! Marketing BS is quite effective, and I rarely need to employ sales tactics.
Heres my beef regarding the bike industry and its wastefulness. The larger bike industry produces things which are more practically replaced, rather than repaired. Many so called 'high end' overpriced products are such poor quality or so complex, not designed or intended to be repaired, theres no point. There are far too many proprietary parts and most is designed with guaranteed obsolescence in mind. Not only that, they rarely employ competent engineers, product testing and QC is a literal bad joke. Lip service at best. Consumers are often used..... literally as guinea pigs.
Its a materialistic consumer driven industry.
So, 'Eco-friendly' is merely marketing bullshit just like woke ideologies in business.
If you really want to get sickened, research carbon manufacturing and carbon waste in Asia, where they produce the vast majority of carbon junk.
I refuse to ride plastic bikes for quite a few reasons. I used to help machine, build and inspect carbon aerospace components being my number one. Im pretty jaded, Ive built 'highest quality on earth' type hardware. That was most of my career, so I dig custom metal bikes that last indefinitely. Bikes are just my 'fun job' believe it or not. I like solving problems. Plenty of job security in a high end bike shop!
Carbon fiber can be an excellent material, but the larger bike industry, as well as most consumer industries are simply too greedy. Another reality.
If youve made it all through my rant, I salute you!
Gee whiz, Never thought of the ski wax before. I used to ski at least 40 days a year!
@@dudeonbike800 Youve got some good points there. I used to ski at least 40 days a year. Never thought about ski wax much except when I raced.
My point is minimalism. Not just with chain lubes or bike junk, but EVERYTHING. Thats a practical means for anyone and everyone to save our planet. I believe far too many consumers of EVERYTHING are vastly wasteful. I despise this 'use it and throw it away' attitude.
Once you work in this materialistic, consumer driven, marketing BS impressed industry you'd realize 'saving the planet' is merely marketing BS and brainwashing to make a freakin sale, much like woke business practices.
I teach a free bike maintenance
class every week. Im always stressing using tiny little drops of oil out of a needle tip. If I tried to teach chain waxing in a class, Id be talking to myself.
@@rollinrat4850 I appreciate your thoughts. And I couldn't agree more. We are an entrenched consumer product economy. I find so much hypocrisy within the supposed "progressive, liberal, environmentally-conscious" Bay Area crowd, that I think we're toast. How many liberals own second homes that are luxury Tahoe cabins? So they live in a $3M BA home and own a $1M cabin, but complain about homeless? A LOT! And they drive a $120k Tesla or Range Rover with the obligatory "Keep Tahoe Blue" sticker on the bumper. (You can't keep Tahoe blue while building more and more cabins in the basin. I actually saw this sticker on a construction worker's truck in Tahoe. I LMAO'd and then cried.) And when they renovate their 10-year old kitchen AGAIN, they hire a "green" contractor, so they're "saving the planet!" Nothing's greener than my 1942-era kitchen (that the wife hates)!
But back to chain waxing, yeah, I get your point. Not for the newb. I, too, taught bike maintenance at UC Berkeley. Despite a LOT of really smart students, staff and academics, you realize bandwidth is only so wide.
The REAL thing would be getting the IBD on board with waxing. Problem is, it's anathema to their business model. Why provide waxing service if it means FAR lower chain, cassette and chain ring sales numbers? Because as it appears to me now, today's waxes will prolong drive train life a LONG TIME! Not good when "moving units" is your mantra.
I'm offering chain prep & waxing for my clients. It's simply revolutionary IMO. I cannot believe I didn't give it a try 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago.
Super secret comes in larger tubs too. I immerse the chain in that then let it hang and dry. It hardens similar to the full wax treatment.
Great info, subscribed.!!
Well done,straight forward video.........
An excellent video as always Russ, talking of chain wear do you think x2 wears a chain faster then 1x?
I suspect there's more wear on 1x because the increased chain angle but that's a guess
Are you selling stickers or patches to Australia yet? Love your stuff 😎. Tried waxing - louder, more fuss. Happy to pay a bit more for quiet fuss free 👍🏻
I have been waxing all my chains for several years now. I use paraffin wax with ptfe powder and do a full clean and rewax every 500 to 700 miles. I love how I no longer get chainring tattoos on my legs or greasy mess on my hands or cloths.
Same and it is quick and easy.
The solution to the tattoos is to get a real one in the same shape. Then you practically don't notice grease being there and it just ends up in your bed or pants. No problems, no worries.
skip the PTFE brotha, we already put out a ton of forever chemicals.
Thank you for poisoning our environment with toxic chemicals.
I've enjoyed your channel and picked up some great info which I appreciate so thank you for your videos. I'm cycling across Canada in June and looking for the best way to keep my chain lubricated and clean. It's simply to much to carry my chain scrubber and degreaser let alone lots of rags to clean off all the grime. I'm considering using squirt dry lube and just cleaning will water, but would you recommend doing a hot wax application as you've demonstrated initially?
Scott - I've done a fair amount of distance touring and have good luck using Boeshield T-9. I've WD-40'd a cloth to wipe the chain down and then applied the T-9 to each roller/pin. Good luck on your trip!
I've been waxing my chains for three years now and find it quicker, cleaner and easier than messing with dirty lubed chains. They last longer and save money in the long run. I love the Silca hot wax, just bought a cheap food storage container from Safeway, dropped it in a slightly larger saucepan to melt it.
Cleaning the factory grease off a new chain can take a while but adding a Silca Strip Chip to the melted wax solves that. Monthly requiring takes about `0 minutes of work. Open the quick link, run under hot water, one minute light tugging and drop in the wax. Manipulate the chain links and remount.
I do it while prepping my evening meal so no extra time is needed to melt the wax of for it to immerse. Longer drivetrain life offsets the cost of set up and clean, quiet chains are the norm.
Hey Russ, do you have any tips when riding in hot and humid climates? Thanks!
have 500 mi on mt MTB with waxed chain, don't add anything. Will give it a wax bath this winter when not in use.
I found that starting off with a new chain is best, my fat bikes that I ride on the beach didn't take well to the wax after cleaning, just to pitted from salt water. Installed new drivetrain and chain on my other fat bike and will see how it handles the salt water, I don't drive in it but sand does kick up on the chain.
Waxing is so good once you commit to it! The wax eventually turns grey in the pot, but works fine! I add PTFE to my wax.
I run three bikes, and all of them had just over 0.5% wear after 4,500km….
One thing to try is put your drip wax lube in a park chain cleaner then run the chain thru it to coat it then wipe it down...pour the drip lube into a separate bottle to reuse.
Thanks for your thoughts Russ
If you're looking for longer chain life, the chain itself can be a big factor. The SRAM X01 and XX1 (if you like the fancy colors) 12-speed Eagle chains last a shockingly long time and should work on most drivetrains (not HG+ and technically works on AXS road but the flat-top chains with the larger rollers last just as long and are the matching chains for those drivetrains).
0 hi hi
+1 for this, I now use an XX1 Eagle chain on my 1x10 everything bike, it's outlasting Wipperman and is wonderfully quiet and easy shifting
messenger here, spending more on a chain gets about 1 to 2 months longer life. about 1000 to 2000km extra. most chains last me 5 to 6 months at about 1000km per month.
i run a wet lube 9spd set up.,with an "if it aint broke dont fix it" maintenance routine. the one day you ride it dry it will do more harm then a month of lubed riding. i also never wipe my chain, it just pushed the dirt back INTO the chain, i just add more thick oil (finish green if you are not sure what to use) and let it fall off, it get dirty but only up to a point after the first few days and after that it just stays the same. (if and only if you ride in the rain)
despite what they say, more lube is good lube. dont worry about the grinding paste argument too much, the oil dry and pushes off to the sides leaving the bearing surfaces clean. but dry metal on metal it worse then a bit of greasy dirt. dont forget the idea of grinding past is using a super hard fine structure, gavel and dust is not suuuuuper hard, and wont really mess stuff up too bad, because it gets pushed out of the way.
Yes. I recently tried SRAM on my Shimano drivetrain and, 3000k in, it shows hardly any wear. I also swapped because Shimano uses PFTE as a coating...
Wax lube is the best. I used to wax my chain and make my own wax-based chain lube. Very inexpensive to do and keeps your chain dirt free and lasts three times longer than any oil you got. Definitely worth doing.
But all that changed for me a few years ago when I found: Super Slick Slick Stuff. The wax lube is actually a little better than SSSS--but--SSSS is darn good stuff just the same! PLUS SSSS can be used for ALL other cleaning and/or lube jobs on the bicycle. Thus, where I used to require wax for my chains AND a petrol-based lubricant to care for my bikes, I now need only one product for EVERYTHING.
Super Slick Slick Stuff is not a petroleum product.
I didn’t know about the “top up” product. Thanks
I've been waxing my road bike and single speed chains for a few years now - nothing fancy, just plain, cheapest tea lights melted down - when I was riding it daily (something I hope to be doing again very soon), I'd re-wax it every 4-6 weeks or so depending on how soon it started squeaking 😊
The reason I want to try waxing is because when I ride it’s usually very dry. There is usually always a stream crossing, 8in to 24in deep. All other dry lubes tend to wash away when I cross the stream. Do you recommend this for my riding?
Russ, after seen firsthand how difficult it is to get the factory grease off, I wonder how much stays on it if the person doesn't wax and uses a regular lube. Does it even get into the rollers because the factory grease? I wonder what interaction those two items have.
I use plain old degreaser (Purple Power) to clean the chain (I have an ultrasonic I run it through now, but started with just shaking an old milk jug). Then plain old cheap paraffin wax in one of my wife's old crockpots (set to low, just enough to melt the wax). I soak the chain in it for about a 1/2 hour, moving it around a couple times to get it soaked in super good. Then hang the chain overnight to drip then dry. Been doing this for several years now, have not had one single issue/complaint. I don't want to go back; it's just as easy to set up (roughly the same amount of time if you're doing the traditional lube route right), less maintenance, and WAAAAAYYY cleaner to the touch, storage, hauling, less dust/gravel pickup, etc.
Thanks for the info! What hat is that? Looks sweet
An ultrasonic cleaner makes the cleaning side fast and easy. I love not having sand and dirt sticking to my chain.
how about dirt? does it ever get dirty? and do you have to clean your drivetrain or just apply the lube? can you rinse it under water to remove dust?
I would consider this on my all weather commuter bike just to keep the mess down. My current strategy is just to use the cheapest chains and cassettes and throw them away when they get too gross and /or worn. This may be an option
I use it to prevent wear. PTFE and paraffine wax for me! On my MTB I can ride my chain for 80km in dry condition before re waxing and every time if I ride it in the wet. I do it everytime anyway... After 3 years, I would say I am pretty good at it. I dont think it take more time than degreasing every single ride, dry the chain and adding lube. It's more than good enough for training and race but I may use dry lube for a raid (Wet lube is just stupid, that's all I'll say after 23 years of competitive cycling... I've literally made a shitload of completely worn drivetrain parts over the years with it).
Started waxing about 1995. Nice to see people catching up! Back then, waxed 5 chains at a time. More efficient.
So how's your chain life experience?
What mileage do you get and under what riding conditions? Wet, dry, road, mountain?
Sure wish I had made the change back then too! Oh well, some of us are slow learners!!!
I started to get ready for hot wax by purchasing slow cooker, but then CBF kicked in, and I just went with Squirt. Currently on just over 2000km on current chain in similar climate to California, no issues yet.
You gotta start doing it you will never go back. I mix 50g of PTFE powder into 500g of food grade paraffin wax. It is surprisingly simple.
Just changed my chain after 11,000km , part of that was with squirt lube, then full wax. In the wet conditions in london, uk, over winter i've also gone back to the squirt lube - the rain removes the wax too quikley, but definately think it is the best solution.
Because of your previous video about waxing, I decided to give it a try. I just mountain bike, and it worked really well at keeping everything way cleaner, especially when conditions were dry. But as soon as things got wet and muddy, I found the chain was basically left with no lube/protection by halfway through most rides.
I used to live in a very cold location and they would put lots of salt and sand on the road. I used just regular household paraffin for lube and had no rust issue.
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions about what the best replacement link would be. I use the Connex QuickLink and would like to know if there are other options that allow you to reuse the link between removals in cleanings.
Russ, would you use a waxed chain for the great divide? Or is that too long, dirty and wet for a waxed chain?
After two years of using wax chain lubricant, I'm an advocate of it! I use a $15 crock pot and do full-immersion wax treatment every 150 miles. Oddly I don't mind the process. It's clean, and I can remove and install chains inside (air conditioning). My first chain got 5,000 miles before it hit 0.5% wear.
Every 150 miles! Good lord. That’s every 5 or 6 days for me.
@@Timmeh2Buck me too. Oddly I don't mind. I guess that's how much I hated cleaning chains outside in the heat with degreaser and always getting chain grease all over my hands when changing a flat.
Were the 5,000 miles road, off road or a combination?
Either way, that's impressive. However, full immersion every 150 miles is much more frequent than the average immersion wax application.
@@dudeonbike800 my 5000 miles were all on road in dry conditions. If I got caught in rain I'd let the chain dry then wax it again.
I got my crock-pot of facebook for free. I will not use anything else.
Thank you for the video... In May2022 i did tried waxing. the process was somewhat "more work" but great in effect.
Just that the wax doesnt last long in Malaysia's wet & humid weather... If your place doesnt rain as much as mine does, i'd say go for it!
Note: agreed to the contents & reasons mentioned by Russ... keep it up!
Thanks for the video! So... not sure if I missed anything here but there didn't seem to be any specific cleaning required for maintenance. You mention giving a wipe down after a wet or muddy ride, but that seemed to be it. Are you saying there is no need to do a clean before immersing in the wax again? I haven't moved to waxing because I, perhaps wrongly, thought it was adding another step every time I cleaned my chain. Obviously degreasers and solvents to remove dirty lube wouldn't be as necessary, but I thought there was still a need to give it a more intense clean than a wipe down before applying new wax. Please confirm, Potentially i've made significant errors in my Costs V benefits equation. 😂
You can just throw it in the wax, but you can also clean it (no more nasty degreasers required after the initial deep clean). I've done it for years... savings doesn't play a role in my decision. It's mostly cleanliness and extended drivetrain life what steers my choice. Ideal for dusty and sandy rides, not the best for very wet or humid environments.
I use 80/90w gearbox oil and apply a little after using the bike and wipe off the excess , works fine and is cheap
What about in mountain biking where you’re washing the bike every ride and flushing the group set of mud. Won’t that negate using a wax coz I have to Re lubricated my chain after every ride as a result of just washing the bike.
So,if I live in a humid country as Japan, specially in summer,chain wax isn't recommend (rust problems?)