Chain wax - yay or nay?

[uart]

I always just use a steel rule. I measure 12 24 links along the top of the chain (so that I can put it under mild tension) and typically change at 12.1 inch.

Fixed for you. Chain links are 1/2" pitch.

Oh no, my chains must all be much more worn than I thought then. ---Yawn---

[Cardy George]

I keep reading about wax. Every time I look I see that most seem to have several chains on the go and change then every 300 km or so.
Way too much stuffing around, changing chains all time, for me.
I just use a lube I get from cycling deal. When I give the bike a good wash the chain gets done as well.
Then, dry off and relube. Wipe excess off. After next ride, wipe off a bit of dripped out excess again.
Check every week or so, or if I get caught in the rain. Wipe off any gunk with a rag and apply a small top up lube.
I got 7000 km out of my last chain and still was not worn out.
I measure with a vernier, not a chain seller , oops, sorry checking tool.

Edited for some spelling typos

Not trying to change your mind, but it sounds more involved than popping the quick-link, pulling the chain, dropping it in the rice cooker, threading the next one, clipping the link, job done.

I too run 4 chains on a MTB, which I race once a month. 4 chains = 4 weeks so the rice cooker gets turned on while I'm lubing the forks and other prep/maintenance work. 5 mins after all the wax has melted the chains are hung to set and a month's worth is done.

The initial chain prep does take a little longer, but I've only done that twice in 18 months.

[warthog1]

Well the gplama video of 15k km on a gravel chain has convinced me.
Had a a go today.

[OnTrackZeD]

I gave waxing a second go, the first time it wasn't for me.

I bought a bar of something that I add some cheap candles to it when it gets low. Rotating 3 chains every 250km now for over 18000km and no measurable wear so far. I seemed to need to wax to often so I bought a couple more chains so now I only wax once a month or so.

The reason I wax is that I can touch the chain and not get unremovable grease on myself and its the quietest chains I have ever had.

[CmdrBiggles]

Dry wax lubricant — and how many are there that can be counted — Muc-Off, FinishLine (wet, dry or extra dry), Morgan Blue, etcetera, is more than sufficient for today's modern, precise shifters, the rear derailleur particularly. Hot wax and reassembly is not only old-school (from the distant days of yore of SunTour 10 speeds...).It is nothing at all to just wet the entire transmission, degrease with Muc-Off degreaser (or FinishLine's equally efficient offering), allow to settle for 5 minutes, rinse off with a fine atomiser spay. Dry down and re-apply Muc-Off Extra Dry. Compared to unhooking a chain and the fiddly and often imprecise reassembly... No thanks.

Since the derailleur relies on some flex of the chain on up and down shifts, coating the chain with solid wax not only stiffens the chain, but also impedes the derailleur's accuracy. It is an urban myth that solid wax will prevent wear on the chain. I would never dream of using any solidified wax on the SRAM chain — nor the DEORE XT chain on the faithful MTB.

It's a Naye from me.

[biker jk]

Dry wax lubricant — and how many are there that can be counted — Muc-Off, FinishLine (wet, dry or extra dry), Morgan Blue, etcetera, is more than sufficient for today's modern, precise shifters, the rear derailleur particularly. Hot wax and reassembly is not only old-school (from the distant days of yore of SunTour 10 speeds...).It is nothing at all to just wet the entire transmission, degrease with Muc-Off degreaser (or FinishLine's equally efficient offering), allow to settle for 5 minutes, rinse off with a fine atomiser spay. Dry down and re-apply Muc-Off Extra Dry. Compared to unhooking a chain and the fiddly and often imprecise reassembly... No thanks.

Since the derailleur relies on some flex of the chain on up and down shifts, coating the chain with solid wax not only stiffens the chain, but also impedes the derailleur's accuracy. It is an urban myth that solid wax will prevent wear on the chain. I would never dream of using any solidified wax on the SRAM chain — nor the DEORE XT chain on the faithful MTB.

It's a Naye from me.

Surely this was meant for April 1?

[warthog1]

Dry wax lubricant — and how many are there that can be counted — Muc-Off, FinishLine (wet, dry or extra dry), Morgan Blue, etcetera, is more than sufficient for today's modern, precise shifters, the rear derailleur particularly. Hot wax and reassembly is not only old-school (from the distant days of yore of SunTour 10 speeds...).It is nothing at all to just wet the entire transmission, degrease with Muc-Off degreaser (or FinishLine's equally efficient offering), allow to settle for 5 minutes, rinse off with a fine atomiser spay. Dry down and re-apply Muc-Off Extra Dry. Compared to unhooking a chain and the fiddly and often imprecise reassembly... No thanks.

Since the derailleur relies on some flex of the chain on up and down shifts, coating the chain with solid wax not only stiffens the chain, but also impedes the derailleur's accuracy. It is an urban myth that solid wax will prevent wear on the chain. I would never dream of using any solidified wax on the SRAM chain — nor the DEORE XT chain on the faithful MTB.

It's a Naye from me.

Perhaps educate yourself then





https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/

[blizzard]

Dry wax lubricant — and how many are there that can be counted — Muc-Off, FinishLine (wet, dry or extra dry), Morgan Blue, etcetera, is more than sufficient for today's modern, precise shifters, the rear derailleur particularly. Hot wax and reassembly is not only old-school (from the distant days of yore of SunTour 10 speeds...).It is nothing at all to just wet the entire transmission, degrease with Muc-Off degreaser (or FinishLine's equally efficient offering), allow to settle for 5 minutes, rinse off with a fine atomiser spay. Dry down and re-apply Muc-Off Extra Dry. Compared to unhooking a chain and the fiddly and often imprecise reassembly... No thanks.

Since the derailleur relies on some flex of the chain on up and down shifts, coating the chain with solid wax not only stiffens the chain, but also impedes the derailleur's accuracy. It is an urban myth that solid wax will prevent wear on the chain. I would never dream of using any solidified wax on the SRAM chain — nor the DEORE XT chain on the faithful MTB.

It's a Naye from me.

That honestly sounds like a lot more effort than removing a chain and popping in a wax pot. I have run wax for several years and the stiffness is gone within the first few minutes of riding, either way shifting hasn't been noticeably impacted.

[warthog1]

I watched this last night;



Explains just how much better waxing is. From a wear perspective, particularly on dirt, just how bad wet lube is.

[CmdrBiggles]

It's still a Naye from me.
And I never watch YouTube stuff.

[warthog1]

It's still a Naye from me.
And I never watch YouTube stuff.

Yeah it took me a long time to drag myself there too.
You are missing out not watching youtube though, those are very informative. Ignorance is not an asset imo.
There is some good informative content on there.

[Arbuckle23]

Nay from me. too much work.
I use a cheap PFTE based lube.
Unless I ride in the rain (which I try not to!) a quick wipe a relube every 500-600 km does it. That takes 5 mins.
My chain is never noisy and normally change chains around 8000 km om measure.
And my current cassette has 26000 km on it and still good.
If you keep the chain rollers rotating well, the tooth wear is minimised.
Only other relube time is if I do a full bike wash.

Only bad thing is the odd chain tattoo

[warthog1]

Nay from me. too much work.
I use a cheap PFTE based lube.
Unless I ride in the rain (which I try not to!) a quick wipe a relube every 500-600 km does it. That takes 5 mins.
My chain is never noisy and normally change chains around 8000 km om measure.
And my current cassette has 26000 km on it and still good.
If you keep the chain rollers rotating well, the tooth wear is minimised.
Only other relube time is if I do a full bike wash.

Only bad thing is the odd chain tattoo

It aint the only "bad thing" if you watch the Josh Poertner video, he also makes the point lack of noise does not equal lack of wear. However yeah I didn't bother for ages either.
Will see how it goes.
Cassettes, chains and chainrings aint cheap in this expensive passtime we have.

[CmdrBiggles]

It's still a Naye from me.
And I never watch YouTube stuff.

Yeah it took me a long time to drag myself there too.
You are missing out not watching youtube though, those are very informative. Ignorance is not an asset imo.
There is some good informative content on there.

I'm not ignorant, but well informed from experience, and I do prefer well-researched evidential proof, plus another layer or two of proof just to make sure.

YouTube videos are time wasting. You'd be lucky to see me watching television for more than 30 to 45 minutes!

I also have a PhD to my credit (no, "not in how to keep a SRAM transmission squeaky clean and shiny with minimal effort" !).

[MattyK]

It's still a Naye from me.
And I never watch YouTube stuff.

Yeah it took me a long time to drag myself there too.
You are missing out not watching youtube though, those are very informative. Ignorance is not an asset imo.
There is some good informative content on there.

I'm not ignorant, but well informed from experience, and I do prefer well-researched evidential proof, plus another layer or two of proof just to make sure.

YouTube videos are time wasting. You'd be lucky to see me watching television for more than 30 to 45 minutes!

I also have a PhD to my credit (no, "not in how to keep a SRAM transmission squeaky clean and shiny with minimal effort" !).

Assuming you’re not joking and prefer reading to watching, here you go:

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/

If you like to just look at images, see the results chart half way down that page and look at the top results (all immersive wax).

[MichaelB]

It's still a Naye from me.
And I never watch YouTube stuff.

Yeah it took me a long time to drag myself there too.
You are missing out not watching youtube though, those are very informative. Ignorance is not an asset imo.
There is some good informative content on there.

I'm not ignorant, but well informed from experience, and I do prefer well-researched evidential proof, plus another layer or two of proof just to make sure.

YouTube videos are time wasting. You'd be lucky to see me watching television for more than 30 to 45 minutes!

I also have a PhD to my credit (no, "not in how to keep a SRAM transmission squeaky clean and shiny with minimal effort" !).

PhD or not, waxing is better than sliced bread.

However, you are free to do what you wish.

For me, and having spoken to Kieren ( the ZFC guy himself) I’m only annoyed I didn’t do it earlier.

[g-boaf]

I have to say I've never bothered. I just use Morgan Blue race oil when needed, keep the chain clean and other than that I just ride.

The drivetrain (SRAM AXS E-tap) is always silent running, never skipping chains, never squeaking noises. And I've had chains go more than 12,000km.

Maybe that also speaks to me being very careful about how I maintain that bike. Taking off chains and putting them in pots, not for me.

[warthog1]

I'm not ignorant, but well informed from experience, and I do prefer well-researched evidential proof, plus another layer or two of proof just to make sure.

YouTube videos are time wasting. You'd be lucky to see me watching television for more than 30 to 45 minutes!

I also have a PhD to my credit (no, "not in how to keep a SRAM transmission squeaky clean and shiny with minimal effort" !).

Well that's the point though you are not well informed by experience. Those videos I linked are well informed evidential proof that provide wear tests and measurements that underline just how much better, from a wear perspective, waxing is.

Interested in what your PhD is in. Josh Poertner in the last video I linked, has a batchelor in Mechanical Engineering which is pertinent to the subject matter he is discussing.
With respect to youtube there is good and bad info available, it is not that difficult to filter the nonsense fairly quickly. My son is at Melb uni doing a batchelor of science majoring in mathematical physics. It is all above me but yep he uses youtube on occasion in his studies.

[warthog1]

PhD or not, waxing is better than sliced bread.

However, you are free to do what you wish.

For me, and having spoken to Kieren ( the ZFC guy himself) I’m only annoyed I didn’t do it earlier.

Ditto
It aint that hard or time consuming. I think you could argue it is actually time saving.
First ride with the waxed chain today. 130k trouble free, clean, silent running.
I am a bit embarassed it took me soooo long.

[warthog1]

Assuming you’re not joking and prefer reading to watching, here you go:

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/

If you like to just look at images, see the results chart half way down that page and look at the top results (all immersive wax).

Surprising just how bad wet lube is on that chart.

[OnTrackZeD]

PhD or not, waxing is better than sliced bread.

However, you are free to do what you wish.

For me, and having spoken to Kieren ( the ZFC guy himself) I’m only annoyed I didn’t do it earlier.

Ditto
It aint that hard or time consuming. I think you could argue it is actually time saving.
First ride with the waxed chain today. 130k trouble free, clean, silent running.
I am a bit embarassed it took me soooo long.

Everyone had to start somewhere.

[warthog1]

Everyone had to start somewhere.

True.
Thanks

[Retrobyte]

With respect to youtube there is good and bad info available, it is not that difficult to filter the nonsense fairly quickly.

100%. YouTube has saved me money and also enabled me to tackle DIY tasks that I didn't think I'd be able to do. Just yesterday I successfully repaired our Karcher pressure washer with the help of a very detailed YouTube video.

[MichaelB]

With respect to youtube there is good and bad info available, it is not that difficult to filter the nonsense fairly quickly.

100%. YouTube has saved me money and also enabled me to tackle DIY tasks that I didn't think I'd be able to do. Just yesterday I successfully repaired our Karcher pressure washer with the help of a very detailed YouTube video.

Agree - whilst there are many people that are selling their products (with or without disclosure) and then there are those that just sprout crud - OZcycle, Durainrider and Hambini (his issue is more the how he delivers his message).

[MichaelB]

With respect to youtube there is good and bad info available, it is not that difficult to filter the nonsense fairly quickly.

100%. YouTube has saved me money and also enabled me to tackle DIY tasks that I didn't think I'd be able to do. Just yesterday I successfully repaired our Karcher pressure washer with the help of a very detailed YouTube video.

Agree - whilst there are many people that are selling their products (with or without disclosure) and then there are those that just sprout crud - OZcycle, Durainrider and Hambini (his issue is more the how he delivers his message).

GPLama is one of the very few that I've subscribed to.