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

[MikeD]

Assuming that your ultrasonic cleaner has a heater that can get hot enough to melt wax, has anyone tried waxing in the ultrasonic cleaner? I've got one on order that Silca recommends and the temperature can go up to 175 deg.

Can you post a link to that cleaner?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088K14PVP?ps ... ct_details

[MikeD]

Got my new ultrasonic cleaner today and tried it. Even though it has a 300W heater, it took a while to heat room temp water up to 68 deg. C. I should have put in hot water from the tap. Cleaned one of my used chains that had MSW on it that looked like crap. Took 5, 6 minute tries with hot water and Simple Green Pro HD to get clear water. Hopefully it's clean enough. It works better than the Harbor Freight unit I have, but not sure how much better it really is even though it has 3x the power and a better heater that can go to higher temperature. I flushed the chain afterwards with fresh water, blew out the water with compressed air, waxed the chain in the Crockpot, and wiped the chain through a rag to remove the excess wax. I was thinking I might try putting MSW or straight paraffin and the chain in a plastic container with a lid (small vent hole punched in the lid) and try rewaxing via the ultrasonic cleaner next time. Seems like a lot of work for one chain.

[Andrew69]

So for those wondering what kind of lifespan they can expect when they wax, here is my N=1 data point.

SRAM Red AXS chain, waxed every 250-300km, so far covered 4364km, measured 1.5mm longer (over 1400mm chain length) compared to a brand new chain
So wear is currently at 0.1007%
So I may not quite reach 20,000km on this chain as I would expect wear rate to begin to accelerate , but I think 15,000km should be very easy to achieve.

Other chain now in rotation has a little over 1500km and I can't detect any difference in length between that chain and a brand new chain.

Other factors to consider is that I rarely ride in the rain (although happy to ride on saturated roads, so still lots of spray), but when I have got caught in downpours, chain is waxed regardless of km since previous wax
No unsealed roads so low dust environment

[uraqt]

I had the same hours to heat issue with ultrasonic cleaner, moved to insta pot... and it's great melting the wax quickly and got a 2nd pot for cleaning the chain with water...

C

[kervelo]

It may be old news for many forum members, but I just learned both the Giro 2022 and the TdF 2022 were won using Dynamic Speed Potion drip wax.
https://dynamicbikecare.com/product/speed-potion-wax/

[Mocs123]

I'd not heard of Dynamic Speed Potion drip wax, but at $40 for a 100ml bottle it's pretty pricy.

[Lakal]

ZFC is testing Dynamic Speed Potion right now. The first test block (no contamination) shows a 21.7% wear - worse than Squirt and Smoove.

[Mocs123]

I'm not sure the needs of a rider in the pro peleton always line up with an everyday rider. They always race with new chains and componants and re-apply lube daily so they probably don't care about wear rates, only friction and drivetrain losses.

[TobinHatesYou]

I'm not sure the needs of a rider in the pro peleton always line up with an everyday rider. They always race with new chains and componants and re-apply lube daily so they probably don't care about wear rates, only friction and drivetrain losses.

An efficient drivetrain is necessarily a low-wearing one. However a low-wearing drivetrain is not always efficient.

The question becomes whether the lube is appropriate for your conditions. A wax-based lube is not advisable for very wet conditions, but could be OK for "damp" rides, such as in the morning fog we have here. A wax-based lube is great for muddy conditions because it provides a physical barrier against contaminants.

I have no doubt that my molten paraffin + UFO drip top-off strategy + multiple chains in rotation will result in very low wear for my mostly dry, sometimes damp riding conditions.

[Mocs123]

Currently I've got 3 road bikes running 3 differnt lubes - one is running a drip wax lube (Silca Super Secret) and I occasionally hot wax it in MSW. The newest addition to my stable is running Rock N Roll Gold (It's what the original owner was using) and it's time for a new chain so I'm going to clean everything up and switch it over to wax too, but this time I may try the FlowerPower stuff to see if it's quieter than Silca SS. Just a few more weeks working 80+ hours per week and I'll go back to 40 hrs per week and have some free time to buy a new chain and clean everything up. That first clean does take a while.

[Lakal]

Currently I've got 3 road bikes running 3 differnt lubes - one is running a drip wax lube (Silca Super Secret) and I occasionally hot wax it in MSW. The newest addition to my stable is running Rock N Roll Gold (It's what the original owner was using) and it's time for a new chain so I'm going to clean everything up and switch it over to wax too, but this time I may try the FlowerPower stuff to see if it's quieter than Silca SS. Just a few more weeks working 80+ hours per week and I'll go back to 40 hrs per week and have some free time to buy a new chain and clean everything up. That first clean does take a while.

My experience is that it lasts longer and is more quiet than Silca SS. Flower Power wax is also easier to applicate to the chain than Silca SS. However, Ufo Drip is still the easiest one to applicate.
I can recommend to use UFO Cleaner to clean the chain. 200ml in a bottle. Let the chain soak for 10 minutes and shake the bottle 1 minute. Then rinse the chain with boiling water. You can use the same 200ml ufo cleaner for 5 chains so it is not that expensive.

[jadedaid]

I'm about to embark on the chain waxing adventure, and where I'm at I could only get hold of white spirit to degrease the chains. Are there any precautions I need to be mindful of when handling white spirit? i.e. is it safe enough to use in a small apartment or do I need a well ventilated outside space? I was planning on following the zerofriction guide which involves overnight soaking in white spirits (mineral terpentine).

[TobinHatesYou]

I'm about to embark on the chain waxing adventure, and where I'm at I could only get hold of white spirit to degrease the chains. Are there any precautions I need to be mindful of when handling white spirit? i.e. is it safe enough to use in a small apartment or do I need a well ventilated outside space? I was planning on following the zerofriction guide which involves overnight soaking in white spirits (mineral terpentine).

I don’t use white spirits. I use very dilute citrus degreaser. And yes white spirits are high VOC and you want to be somewhere well ventilated.

[C36]

I'm about to embark on the chain waxing adventure, and where I'm at I could only get hold of white spirit to degrease the chains. Are there any precautions I need to be mindful of when handling white spirit? i.e. is it safe enough to use in a small apartment or do I need a well ventilated outside space? I was planning on following the zerofriction guide which involves overnight soaking in white spirits (mineral terpentine).

White spirit has a low toxicity even after large exposure (yea counter intuitive when you smell it) where some irritations may happen (nose eyes). Working on chains won’t be an issue. the biggest problem you will have is the smell, ventilate the room and you are good.

[jadedaid]

Thank you for the advice both of you. Will keep the over night plastic container with the chains outside the flat in that case just to be sure.

Tobin, is the citrus degreaser good enough for stripping new chains? I'd prefer to use something with the lowest amount of toxicity, and citrus degreaser sounds better than white spirits in that regard.