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

[Omiar]

So I had my first ride today after waxing my chain with Molten Speed Wax.
The last couple of weeks, I have tried Absolute Black Hot Melt wax but after just 30-40km the chain became noisy and after 120km the chain squeaked. I tried several times to rewax the chains and followed their guide but no luck.
The feeling with Molten Speed Wax is so much better. Now I know why people call it a "silky feeling" to ride a properly waxed chain.
My ride was only 60km but so far so good.

I don't know what I am doing wrong with the Absolute Black wax, but I have a feeling that the wax might have some troubles penetrating the links.

I have the same problem with Absolute Black Hot Melt wax. Using a temperature probe to keep the wax between 95-100 degree. No matter how much I swirl the chain around and how long, after 1h of riding, being on the big ring and accelerating past 200W, I can hear the chain being already semi dry.

[Lakal]

I don't know what I am doing wrong with the Absolute Black wax, but I have a feeling that the wax might have some troubles penetrating the links.

All of these products are overwhelmingly paraffin wax by weight/volume. If you are having problems with one and not the other, it's probably due to residual factory grease or some previous application of lube that wasn't completely removed. Now that you've rewaxed the chain a few times, it's finally "clean" enough to where the wax has adhered properly to the inner surfaces of the rollers/pins.

Are you using a thermometer to make sure your wax hits 95C or 200F? Temperature matters when getting proper penetration. I also wait until the wax cools to the point where it starts getting cloudy and a solid film starts to form on the surface before removing the chain.

Hm.. I just followed ZFC's recommendation. Lots of turp and white spirit afterwards.
And yes, i did use a thermometer.
However, i I did not swish the chain the same way as I did with MSW. AB recommends to agitate the chain gently for 3-5 minutes. Maybe i did not do this right?

[aosjimzaw]

I'm the OP and I don't get the sense of AB new melt wax at all, even less so if as you say it's giving you problems. I still think I found nirvana with AB first-version drip. I'm now 5-6000 km in and I don't even bother anymore checking on the mileage. I just drip it on the chain after a gentle superficial cleansing with a rag every first of the month. I do about 1200-1400km / month and everytime I refresh the drip I know I could have squeezed a couple hundred kms more. The only time I felt the wax was done was due to the fact that on that month I biked through heavy rains two times. Chain wear still below .5 (Sram AXS, checked with Pedro's Sram recommended tool)

[gSporco]

Well I'll update my experience.

Still on homemade Paraffin/ Teflon powder mix and so far flawless across all my bikes.

I just bought some 90% Alcohol and mixed 3:1 Alcohol and my Wax mixture in a squeeze bottle; places it in a warm water bath and shook it till it was mixed. I know top off my waxed chains with this mixture after a cleaning. I am so impressed how the alcohol evaporates and leaves a sickly smooth wax coating on the chain.

So now my chain routine is as follows:
1. All new chains get a thorough cleaning and then a Wax bath
2. All chains in the lineup get a full bath refresh twice a year or after a really deep clean
3. Throughout the year regular bike cleaning equals a quick squirt with the liquid wax mixture

Super quiet, super clean and no shifting issues. My oil based lube days are done!!!

[ToileySiphon]

I don't know what I am doing wrong with the Absolute Black wax, but I have a feeling that the wax might have some troubles penetrating the links.

All of these products are overwhelmingly paraffin wax by weight/volume. If you are having problems with one and not the other, it's probably due to residual factory grease or some previous application of lube that wasn't completely removed. Now that you've rewaxed the chain a few times, it's finally "clean" enough to where the wax has adhered properly to the inner surfaces of the rollers/pins.

Are you using a thermometer to make sure your wax hits 95C or 200F? Temperature matters when getting proper penetration. I also wait until the wax cools to the point where it starts getting cloudy and a solid film starts to form on the surface before removing the chain.

You wait for the wax to cool down before removing the chain from the pot? Does anyone else do that?

As per MSW instructions, I reach 200F, agitate a few minutes then hang it to dry. Letting it cool down just turns into a flaky mess.

Envoyé de mon SM-G973W en utilisant Tapatalk

[synchronicity]

Whatever you do don't get low odour "water based" turps. It doesn't work!

[gurk700]

I’m also on the homemade wax+teflon mix. I’ve used many wax based solutions and up until my current homemade approach I was on molten and happy with it. Homemade is just as good if not better and cheaper than molten IMO. Molten chains after 2nd wax treatment always had some dirty look to them. I’m not sure if it’s something in the mix but those chains definitely got a little dirtier than homemade ones.

[tleo]

You wait for the wax to cool down before removing the chain from the pot? Does anyone else do that?

As per MSW instructions, I reach 200F, agitate a few minutes then hang it to dry. Letting it cool down just turns into a flaky mess.

I take mine out hot and immediately wipe it down with a rag while wearing rubber faced gloves. This greatly reduces the flaking that occurs during the first few rides with a freshly waxed chain.

[BdaGhisallo]

You wait for the wax to cool down before removing the chain from the pot? Does anyone else do that?

As per MSW instructions, I reach 200F, agitate a few minutes then hang it to dry. Letting it cool down just turns into a flaky mess.

I take mine out hot and immediately wipe it down with a rag while wearing rubber faced gloves. This greatly reduces that flaking that occurs during the first few rides with a freshly waxed chain.

That's what I do too. When I first started waxing I didn't wipe the chain when it came out. Since I started I get far less wax flaking off.

[pdlpsher1]

Yeah I also wipe down the chain after taking the chain out of the pot. I also break the links while the chain is still warm and the wax is still soft.

[TobinHatesYou]

I used to wipe the chain down with an old rag, not anymore. It gets sluffed off on the first ride anyway.

Removing the chain as the wax cools to 135F ensures that there's as much wax as possible in between the pins/rollers.

[customtune]

Yeah I also wipe down the chain after taking the chain out of the pot. I also break the links while the chain is still warm and the wax is still soft.

Do you think it makes a difference for wax retention between the rollers and pins breaking links with warm wax as opposed to cool?
I've always resisted the urge to wobble the chain to fling of melted wax into the pot so I can hang it to dry. Thinking I'm shaking off what I'm trying to keep in there. So I hold it still away from the heat trying to let it cool with a little fanning.

[customtune]

Yeah I also wipe down the chain after taking the chain out of the pot. I also break the links while the chain is still warm and the wax is still soft.

Once cooled and on the bike I polish the wax off the outer links if I'm trying to keep the finish on the red22 chain bright silver. Just for appearances. I suppose on a wet ride grit being flung into the outer plates wont stick as well to polished metal as it would a thin wax film. If that were the case the boiling water melt off wound be needed. Otherwise the 2 pot trick works well - 1 for rinsing out grit, one for fresh wax. I put 2 smaller ceramic dishes inside a larger slow cooker. After a while I swap the fresh wax for the rinse wax, discard the rinse wax and shart a new final wax dish.

[pdlpsher1]

Do you think it makes a difference for wax retention between the rollers and pins breaking links with warm wax as opposed to cool?

No, I don't think there's any difference. But I'm sure someone will try to prove me wrong on this. Do what you feel it's the best bang for your time.

[Lakal]

So I had my first ride today after waxing my chain with Molten Speed Wax.
The last couple of weeks, I have tried Absolute Black Hot Melt wax but after just 30-40km the chain became noisy and after 120km the chain squeaked. I tried several times to rewax the chains and followed their guide but no luck.
The feeling with Molten Speed Wax is so much better. Now I know why people call it a "silky feeling" to ride a properly waxed chain.
My ride was only 60km but so far so good.

I don't know what I am doing wrong with the Absolute Black wax, but I have a feeling that the wax might have some troubles penetrating the links.

I have the same problem with Absolute Black Hot Melt wax. Using a temperature probe to keep the wax between 95-100 degree. No matter how much I swirl the chain around and how long, after 1h of riding, being on the big ring and accelerating past 200W, I can hear the chain being already semi dry.

Well, ZFC just updated his testing file and his result confirms our experience: https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/wp-c ... April.xlsx
The single application longevity is only 100km to what he calls "jump point" and 140km for wear allowance.