I’m about to wax a chain for the first time this weekend. I’m going the UFO Drip route with a brand new Izumi chain (I’m a fixed rider, so these are the only chains/links I trust).
My question is stripping the factory lube off of the chain. I literally will be taking a new in package Izumi Eco chain and running it through the mineral spirit bath until the spirits run clear. Having not worked with mineral spirts in, well forever, what type of drying time am I looking at? Or rather how do I clear all of the mineral spirts from the chain before I lube. The tutorial says run it under water, but won’t water and the dry time required open the raw chain to some level of corrosion in the hour or two needed to dry it fully. Applying UFO Drip to a chain that still has residual mineral spirts (un rinsed with water) or a semi-wet chain (rinsed with water) seems counter productive.
I realize Ufo Drip is more of a hybrid wax product and a bit different than the hot waxing discussed here… are there additional considerations I should be addressing?
I followed the Zen Master’s guide that @DaveQB linked from zero friction cycling. Between long soaks in mineral spirits, I simply towel dried the chains. I did the third soak for a couple of hours, and when I came back the spirits were totally clear. I once again towel dried the chains, then I conducted the two two-minute agitated rinses in denatured alcohol (methylated spirits). After that, I toweled the chains off and ran the blow dryer over them for five minutes, then waxed. Again, I found that zero friction cycling guide very helpful, especially when coupled with Jonathon’s tips.
My lessons learned:
I would size the chain prior to waxing. Once the wax is on there, it is a little more difficult to handle things and my chain tool would slip off the pin. I actually broke the pin on my chain tool once when the chain slipped, also probably because I was doing something wrong.
I would NOT wax the master link. It indeed makes it harder to join the pins properly.
Recycle your mineral spirits. I dug around for what to do with used mineral spirits. Turns out, they don’t “go bad” and evaporate extremely slowly. So I put the used spirits back in an empty metal can, and closed it. In a couple of months (hopefully around when I need to wax the chains again), when the crud has settled to the bottom, I plan to run it through a coffee filter and, voila, fresh mineral spirits “for free”.
Good tip of the quick link. Izumi uses a two piece master link on their 1/8" track chains, which is the main reason I am so loyal to their chains. I was wondering how to deal with it. Though, since UFO drip is applied on the chain, while on the bike, the quick link will be installed. UFO Drip won’t be as thick as the hot waxing anyway. Still a good tip.
Also recycling the mineral spirits, really good tip there. Thank you!
I tried UFO drip. I found it hard to apply (in winter it wouldn’t
flow and be all lumpy, requiring a heat gun which was difficult as I
didn’t want to cook my bike frame and wheels. It was quite an
ordeal). Then I found it only lasted 50-100km before getting
horribly squeaky.
Having used UFO drip and now molten speed wax, the latter is so much
easier and cheaper. A win win.
I would wax the master link. I understand the wax build up makes it hard to re-join, but you can clean that up a bit with a tyre lever. The reason I think it would be good to wax the link is, waxed chains last a long time and you don’t want the master link wearing out a lot faster than the chain and then…snap! A broken chain while riding can be very bad.
Just my thoughts, I am no expert; I’ve just started waxing Nov 2018.
I think it’s probably prudent to replace master links periodically well before end life of a chain anyway. The YBN chains say five uses. I think that probably is a good rule of thumb across the board, though Jonathon never reuses them.
The Connex quick link is reusable for the life of the chain. That’s what I use and thus I make sure I always wax it. Even if I forget to include it, I will wax it on it’s own if I have to.
But for non-reusable or limited reuse links, you’re right.
The first hard interval session after waxing the chain on my direct-drive trainer mounted bike, I set some new power PRs (+5% or so) at the same HR. I attribute it entirely to the improved efficiency of the drivetrain. These days, I have a crank mounted power meter, so having a more efficient waxed chain doesn’t really make a difference, other than less frequent need for lube.
I’ve just waxed my chain but I’ve also got access to an older bike with a normal lubed chain. The waxed chain bike feels harder and to test more I’ve done the same 30 mins workout (tunnabora-5) back to back on each, and my HR is higher for same watts. (I’ve also done 30 x2) on lube bike.
Cranks/gearing/position/pedals are the same on each. I’m now starting to wonder if the Bottom Bracket on the waxed chain bike is more worn.
Has anyone ever had a waxed chain make it harder with more friction rather than less?
I waxed a new chain, with MSW as per cleaning protocol.
Just out of interest I de- waxed one of my chains this even, waxed from from a couple of weeks ago. It’s been in a bag in my garage. It was new and cleaned well before MSW waxing. It seems to have rust! Does this mean it wasn’t totally dry before waxing? They were left overnight in garage after final clean with meths, but I now wonder if I should have used a hairdryer/brought indoorss before waxing?
Also check Craig’s List or OfferUp here in the states. Tons of people selling tons of Crock Pots. Like anything else, people have an inflated sense of what their used stuff is worth, and with the above linked crock pot, there’s no reason to spend more than $10 for this.
It’s possible. One of the steps that Jonathon’s tutorial did not include but which was included in the Zero Friction Cycling guide is rinsing with methylated spirits, (a.k.a. denatured alcohol) twice, followed by the blow dryer. The purpose of this step is to ensure all of the Mineral Spirits are removed by a solvent that evaporates extremely quickly. Mineral Spirits, on the other hand, do not evaporate quickly at all.
It’s possible that leaving them out overnight to dry locked in some moisture with the mineral spirits, which likely would not have evaporated by the time you waxed the chain. That could cause surface rust after some time with moisture being locked in against the metal surface of the chain.
With the denatured alcohol and blow dryer steps, you’re assured of waxing a totally dry chain. Might be something to consider and try.
Depending on your climate if you strip metal you may expose it to surface rusting if left out for extended period of time. If you’re on the coast or in a wet climate this is more likely than if you’re inland or its -35*C and the air you breathe is currently freezing…
If you are in a more humid climate try and minimize the time between stripping and then waxing.
I moved over to it about a year ago and haven’t looked back. I’m convinced that poor reviews are down to poor application.
The chain needs to be stripped clean first. For refreshing and rewaxing the weird cleaning stuff they sell is surprisingly decent for this and you won’t need to get the meths out.
Apply it as they do about 1/2 way through this video (can do rubber side down though…): WEND Bike Chain Wax - YouTube Take it slower though, make sure it’s in deep in the rollers. Then I use my fingers and massage it in to them. This is all sounding a bit dodgy…
Give the outside of the chain a quick wipe and you’re good to go. I usually get about 300km out of an application. Extremely wet/grit proof compared to any lube. I was in Sweden for 3 days doing gravel last autumn in the rain, did not need to reapply and my friend’s lubed bike was screeching by the second day.
