Has anyone experienced an increase in dropped chains? Prior to this season i used Squirt for several years, never had a problem. This season i had chronic chain drops all year long on two bikes, both having a YBN & SRAM chains with Molten Speed wax (I swap them out every 250-ish miles)
F%@&# SRAM
No, but then again my bike is 1x 
After fresh waxing, the chain is a little lumpy for a few dozen rotations and needs to be done under load (ie, not back-peddling). Once the excess wax flakes off, it’s gtg. But I wonder if maybe the wax slightly increases the width of the outer chain links so sometimes the FD pushes it just a touch too far? Maybe dial the limit screws in a tiny tiny bit?
No, but I do know shifting changes as the wax thins out on the chain.
I know if I have my FD dialled with exactly the minimum amount of outward movement to change to the big ring, with a waxed chain after 100km or so, that won’t be enough to change to the big ring with a freshly waxed chain.
HTH
PS I have YBN, SRAM and Wipperman chains.
Not only that, but with pure paraffin, the cassette gets sticky as wax residue builds up. Campy shifting is smooth and Ultrashift is rapidfire fast… but I did notice a degradation and lag in shifting over time with a waxed chain due to the stickiness. I also found the flakes annoying.
Don’t have the same issue with Tungsten All Weather (which is better than both Smoove and Squirt). My crockpot’s done its dash… Tungsten moving forward. So quick and easy with better performance than hot wax.
NB: I used pure food-grade, commercially sourced paraffin wax from a company that makes it in-house on an industrial scale. 1kg bag of pellets for AU$15. I wanted this to be good, but it just wasn’t.
i get the paraffin build up on my cassette, but i havent noticed reduced shift quality. I take the cassette off every3 months or so and clean it anyway
You can fit 3 chains in a 2L crock-pot! It takes a fair bit of wax to cover it, but my HPV team runs waxed chains, and the trike uses 3 chains at once.
No issues due to waxing for the last two years. Only chain drops due to improper mech derailleur adjustment and one really bad (rough) line in a crit.
So I bought a bike with Di2 and I’m getting better at choosing lines. 
Help please: Am I over-using my waxed chains?
I am new to waxing. I am using Molten speed wax.
- On my road bike I did 463 miles in 30 hours of dry riding before I replaced the chain.
- On my TT bike I have done 442 miles in 26 hrs of riding (outside and turbo)
I have had the odd “click” sound from the chains, sometimes when shifting, and at other times. Sounds like a chain pinging on a tooth. However no other sounds of squeaking. Both were new chains, thoroughly cleaned.
Am I leaving these waxed chains on too long? (I think the recommendation on the zerofriction site was 300km!)
Experience and thoughts please - Cheers
If you wax more often your chain will last longer ! So it is up to you i wax every 150 miles
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I find it depends on how much it rains and how much grit and dirt gets on the chain, one 50mile ride in the rain and my chain was done but in the dry it can go much further.
yes i agree , i only ride in dry weather so 150 miles in dry weather in the wet i don’t have any experience 
Hi Phil
it doesn’t appear that you are “over” using them, I haven’t experienced a click sound related to the chain, generally when they need rewaxing they will start to squeak.
Does the clicking go away after rewaxing?
The chains are new - how old are the chain rings/cassette?
Thanks @MikeMckinney Chain rings and cassette are fairly decent condition. Not much wear, but I will take another look, just in case I have missed something.
@Michael_Brooks All have been dry rides (thankfully). And a bit of indoor turbo use.
@Thomas_De_Kesel Gosh 150 miles, that is 2-4 rides! I guess teh problem is, that with wax, it is harder to assess chain wear, as teh wax takes up some of teh slack (more so than oil I would imagine). However I will swap chains and (see if I can) measure the (apparent) wear on the ones I have taken off.
General consensus seems to be - 1) check other wear and 2) yes change more frequently - esp. is they get wet.
Cheers
I’ve got a teammate that runs his 4-500 miles between waxing and waits for them to start making some noise. I swap mine weekly on my main bike, which is typicallly 200-250 miles and they are always nice and smooth/quiet at that point. I just like having a fresh “like new” chain for my long saturday ride. I have 4 chains in rotation, so basically waxing once per month. I’ve only been waxing for a couple months, but I don’t think I’ll ever go back to regular lube.
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I dont change mine until it is getting noisy, sometimes a ride or 2 after that because I forget
Josh turns chain waxing geekiness up to 11.
Just curious for people waxing chains, are you also reusing quick links?
I’ve used the reusable quicklinks on 3 bikes (1 road, 2 mountain) without issue.
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Curious who makes these? I run Shimano DA 11s on road and Eagle X01 on MTB.