My adventures in chain waxing: goals, reviews, suggestions...

[Bridgeman]

If I rewaxed my chain once I started to hear rasping noises in slightly cross-chained gears, I'd be doing it every 100km. Raspy chains are a fact of life with drier mixes like pure food grade paraffin w/no additives and most of the retail options. The noise you don't want to hear is a squeak.

So with the AB wax I have to reclean and submerge the chain after every ride. At the end of my ride yesterday it really sounded like the chain was on the brink of going metal to metal, the dreaded squeak, and this is virtually a brand new chain! Also means I shouldn't be using the bike for easy in between days. If I can't figure out how to make AB work as claimed then I'm going to request a return of their products.

[Foxman50]

Can i ask how long everyone cooks their chains for. Ive moved to MSW and they suggest only 45seconds, however im not convinced the wax is working its way into the link innards.

[jlok]

Can i ask how long everyone cooks their chains for. Ive moved to MSW and they suggest only 45seconds, however im not convinced the wax is working its way into the link innards.

Didn't count time. Just drop chains in the pot, stir a bit at times between other stuffs like wiping my bike, done.

[TobinHatesYou]

Can i ask how long everyone cooks their chains for. Ive moved to MSW and they suggest only 45seconds, however im not convinced the wax is working its way into the link innards.

You need to allow the chain to reach the same temp as the wax, then swish it around...the chain is ready to be removed when no bubbles float to the top.

[Foxman50]

You need to allow the chain to reach the same temp as the wax, then swish it around...the chain is ready to be removed when no bubbles float to the top.

Ah think this may answer my issue, as a guide if you were to put a time to it what would you say. If left to cook for half an hour or more, is there any issue leaving for an hour or longer.

[Jwoodward]

So with the AB wax I have to reclean and submerge the chain after every ride. At the end of my ride yesterday it really sounded like the chain was on the brink of going metal to metal, the dreaded squeak, and this is virtually a brand new chain! Also means I shouldn't be using the bike for easy in between days. If I can't figure out how to make AB work as claimed then I'm going to request a return of their products.

I was the same, I emailed them and they've updated their instructions since the first batch. Essentially, temperature of the wax needs to be between 90-100 and then the chain needs to be in for at least 15mins before you start moving it in the pot. Seems to have helped mine go longer in between waxing, but might be something you're already doing.

[dalex]

Has anyone tried Silca secret lube to lengthen intervals in between MSW applications?

I have tried this and it works perfectly fine for me.

[tleo]

I let mine soak for maybe 30 seconds then swish it around for another 30 seconds or so, remove and let the excess wax drip back into pot, hang it up and immediately wipe down the chain with a rag to remove as much wax from the outside of the plates as I can. Repeat 3 more times so I have all 4 chains ready to go.

[London9921]

I let mine soak for maybe 30 seconds then swish it around for another 30 seconds or so, remove and let the excess wax drip back into pot, hang it up and immediately wipe down the chain with a rag to remove as much wax from the outside of the plates as I can. Repeat 3 more times so I have all 4 chains ready to go.

Would this be recommended for a completely cleaned chain, but when using Squirt? I haven't yet mounted the chain on my bike - and thought i'd perhaps dip it in Squirt (or UFO Lube, i also have a bottle of that) and wipe off?

[TobinHatesYou]

I let mine soak for maybe 30 seconds then swish it around for another 30 seconds or so, remove and let the excess wax drip back into pot, hang it up and immediately wipe down the chain with a rag to remove as much wax from the outside of the plates as I can. Repeat 3 more times so I have all 4 chains ready to go.

Would this be recommended for a completely cleaned chain, but when using Squirt? I haven't yet mounted the chain on my bike - and thought i'd perhaps dip it in Squirt (or UFO Lube, i also have a bottle of that) and wipe off?

You can, but IMO dipping a chain in a jar or bag full of wax drip lube is messy and wastes a lot of lube.

[sotonguy]

After watching the Oz Cycle videos I setup a crockpot with 1kg of plain parrafin wax. I've been rotating 3 ultegra chains and have completed 7500 miles across the 3 chains (approx 2500 miles per chain). I have measured each of the chains today at 4 different spots and they are all measuring less than 50% wear.

General riding conditions are usually dry or damp, 10% of riding has been in the pouring rain. My method is to pour a kettle of hot water over the chain to help melt and remove any crud that has accumulated, put the chain into the melted wax for approx 5-15 mins, swish around and then remove. I then wipe down the chain with a rag to remove excess wax and I'm done.

On average I rewax the chains every 200 miles each.

[sotonguy]

Wax can handle a drizzle, mist and damp conditions. Actual rainy conditions and wax really isn't a great surface protectant. Your chain will start to rust, especially cheaper chains with uncoated inner plates. Smoove may be the best drip lube for wet conditions since it stays gooey/plastic and can self-repair better than others. Hot-melt wax applications, well unless you added your own kerosene/paraffin oil to the mix, yeah you'll most likely get a rusty chain.

I use a mixture of paraffin wax and engine oil wear additive, it seems to work great - makes the wax more malleable and less likely to flake off. I don't take that great care of my chain e.g. ride it in the rain and don't do anything until the next time I reapply the wax. I'm close to 9000km on the chain and its still got some life left. Also, the parrifin wax + additive is cheap.

Are you able to let me know what oil wear additive you use please? What ratio do you add vs the weight of parrafin wax you used?

[sotonguy]

I'm seeing very little wear from waxing. Love it. However there is metal in my wax pot FWIW. I use a strong magnet to get the ferrous metal out of the liquid wax everytime after I wax. There's quite a bit of black gunk that sticks to the magnet. It's metal particles for sure. I'm sure some of that comes from the chain and the cassette. And perhaps some from the road? Who knows. My cassettes still look as good as new and the chains have no detectable wear. But just because I can't detect wear doesn't mean there's no wear at the microscopic level. In the past I've reported this here and asked others to try it. But no one has reported back so I guess nobody has bothered with this trick.

I ran a magnet in my year old wax and ditto, a good lump of something metallic has come out. I've now added it to my routine to help ensure that the re-waxing isn't adding the metal pieces onto my chains to hopefully reduce future wear.

[pdlpsher1]

Yeah. It's part of my routine as well. I wax on average five chains at a time and a good lump of ferrous materials are removed each time.

[TwiggyForest]

Wax can handle a drizzle, mist and damp conditions. Actual rainy conditions and wax really isn't a great surface protectant. Your chain will start to rust, especially cheaper chains with uncoated inner plates. Smoove may be the best drip lube for wet conditions since it stays gooey/plastic and can self-repair better than others. Hot-melt wax applications, well unless you added your own kerosene/paraffin oil to the mix, yeah you'll most likely get a rusty chain.

I use a mixture of paraffin wax and engine oil wear additive, it seems to work great - makes the wax more malleable and less likely to flake off. I don't take that great care of my chain e.g. ride it in the rain and don't do anything until the next time I reapply the wax. I'm close to 9000km on the chain and its still got some life left. Also, the parrifin wax + additive is cheap.

Are you able to let me know what oil wear additive you use please? What ratio do you add vs the weight of parrafin wax you used?

I used this Nulon addictive https://www.nulon.com.au/products/engin ... -treatment

Unfortunately, I didn't record weights for the mixture. My latest batch the wax was too flakey initially, so I added some more additive.