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

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PaulH
Posts: 77
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:50 pm

by PaulH

Would an ultrasonic cleaner be as good as the chemical solvents before waxing ?


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C36
Posts: 2471
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:24 am

by C36

Nezz0r wrote:Folks, I made the transition from Squirt to immersion waxing. I have a 600km old chain - on the fence whether I will strip and wax this one. What do you think; does this still make sense? If I were to strip would boiling water do or do I need to use mineral spirits again?

2nd topic; my chain is flaking quite some (next time I will run it outdoors iso on the trainer) - any practical tips to remove these? Brush, vacuum or can I use something else?
I would use hot water first (if that removes the Squirt) then a jar with solvent, depending on the solvent colour, you will know if you had contaminent inside the chain, if you need to use another bath or if the chain is good to go for the wax.

by Weenie


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Mocs123
Posts: 826
Joined: Tue May 11, 2021 9:19 pm

by Mocs123

PaulH wrote:
Wed May 25, 2022 5:15 pm
Would an ultrasonic cleaner be as good as the chemical solvents before waxing ?


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Not in my experiance. An Ultrasonic cleaner is a great additional step, but not a replacement for solvents.
2015 Wilier Zero.7 Rim - 6.37kg
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2023 Specialized SL7 - 7.18kg

Mortecouille
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2020 8:16 pm
Location: France

by Mortecouille

kervelo wrote:
Wed May 25, 2022 6:31 am
takolino wrote:
Tue May 24, 2022 10:20 pm
@Kervelo, can you wax the chain without further cleaning after using dynamic chain cleaner? ...
Yes, I have waxed the chain without further cleaning. The Dynamic Cleaner may leave a protective film, but the chain does not feel oily or anything like that. Disclaimer: I use the Dynamic Speed Potion Wax (https://dynamicbikecare.com/product/speed-potion-wax/), so perhaps the cleaner and wax are made to match. I have not tried any other wax, so I cannot tell if they are any different.
What is your opinion on Dynamic Speed Potion Wax? How many kilometres between applications? Have you tested the other competitors?
Sorry for my english

mikemelbrooks
Posts: 345
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:58 pm

by mikemelbrooks

C36 wrote:
Wed May 25, 2022 6:03 pm
Nezz0r wrote:Folks, I made the transition from Squirt to immersion waxing. I have a 600km old chain - on the fence whether I will strip and wax this one. What do you think; does this still make sense? If I were to strip would boiling water do or do I need to use mineral spirits again?

2nd topic; my chain is flaking quite some (next time I will run it outdoors iso on the trainer) - any practical tips to remove these? Brush, vacuum or can I use something else?
I would use hot water first (if that removes the Squirt) then a jar with solvent, depending on the solvent colour, you will know if you had contaminent inside the chain, if you need to use another bath or if the chain is good to go for the wax.
1 It really depends on the life left in the chain. It's always handy to have a spare chain and treating two or more chains doesn't take much longer or cost more in materials.
2 I generally run my chains outside for 20 or so miles before using them on my trainer.

kervelo
Posts: 866
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:58 am
Location: Finland

by kervelo

Mortecouille wrote:
Thu May 26, 2022 7:06 am
What is your opinion on Dynamic Speed Potion Wax? How many kilometres between applications? Have you tested the other competitors?
I am a quite recent wax convert and do not have much experience of it yet. So far I have used it only with my road bike and it seems to be working fine. I have not used any other products.

manystyles
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:23 pm

by manystyles

I really like the instructions that ZeroFriction instructions. As much as I love discussing techniques, I’d rather just do it and get out and ride.

ZF has updated the procedure to also include UFO Clean which is less toxic than other solvents.


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ricerocket
Posts: 596
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:38 am

by ricerocket

Mocs123 wrote:
Wed May 25, 2022 6:55 pm
PaulH wrote:
Wed May 25, 2022 5:15 pm
Would an ultrasonic cleaner be as good as the chemical solvents before waxing ?


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Not in my experiance. An Ultrasonic cleaner is a great additional step, but not a replacement for solvents.
You're allowed to use solvents in your ultrasonic cleaner... :)

Nezz0r
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2020 2:26 pm

by Nezz0r

Thanks all for the tips - the current Squirted chain has about 950km on it. Your collective thoughts line up with my own - I will do both a hot water and solvent bath to a) be sure it is clean and b) to learn whether it needed it and fullfil the curiosity.

Re. flaking and trainer use; I wiped the chain slightly after waxing with paper towel. In hindsight I must have only wiped the outside links (L+R side of chain) bit not the top/bottom leaving quite some wax in the sprocket gaps.

I will use cloth in the next iteration and do both outer plates sides and the top/bottom side.

kervelo
Posts: 866
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:58 am
Location: Finland

by kervelo

I have a dedicated trainer bike that is not ridden outside at all. I will test this special indoor wax next winter:
https://dynamicbikecare.com/product/wat ... ndoor-wax/

Andrew69
Posts: 593
Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:52 am
Location: ɹǝpunuʍop

by Andrew69

I just use speedwax on all my chains, including my bike that sits on a trainer permanently.
One wax pot does everything.

MarkoP
Posts: 218
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 7:48 pm

by MarkoP

I've been using Silca SS drip wax for last couple of months but this thread pushed me over the edge finally...got my instant crockpot, Silca bag of wax and UFO cleaner to go all in :)
Current: 2021 Bianchi Specialissima I 2021 Tarmac SL6 S-Works (Sagan Edition) l 2023 Aethos S-Works

Lakal
Posts: 192
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 12:20 pm

by Lakal

I just stripped an YBN chain with the UFO Cleaner.
100ml, 5 minutes soaking, shake the bottle for a minute and then rinse with water.
Used a hair dryer for 5 minutes.
The chain seems to be perfectly clean.

I gave 22 dollars (150DKK) for the bottle.

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kdawg
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2013 9:10 pm

by kdawg

Just changed my wax because it was beginning to look grubby and I had a brand new chain to do.

I was looking on Amazon for PTFE and instead got this Wolfblood Racing additive - got some extra stuff mixed in. http://wolfbloodracing.com/wolfblood-ra ... are-riding

Not sure I can tell any difference yet - and the only problem is that the wax is grey - so it doesn't look as clean and I'm not sure I'll be able to tell if it's contaminated like I could with the previous one.
I'm left handed, if that matters.

usr
Posts: 889
Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:58 pm

by usr

So what's up with the rebranding from supersecret lube to coating? Running out of batch numbers? Gracefully leaving the "bottled by" behind as production scales to follow rising demand? Focusing on the immersion/drip combined application use case?

Careful with the "precision applicator tip" btw, it's prone to seal itself with a weak skin of dried wax and if you forget to check and just apply pressure to the bottle until you see a drop forming you might instead get a load shooting out when that skin breaks. I have supersecret on the wall and will soon know more about the braking quality of Boras with tungsten disulfide.

by Weenie


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