@Johnnyvee I don’t have the answer you’re looking for, but I get the same. I think it’s road grime, etc, that just get’s worked into the wax. For a time I put the chains through the sonic cleaner with hot water, and it helped, but the effect never really goes away. I decided it wasn’t worth the effort and just accept it. I keep a fairly minimal amount of wax in my slowcooker and occasionally add some more wax. But once it get’s grungy enough I pour it off and start fresh. Wax is cheap – 2 years and still on my first bag.
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KMC. Make sure to get the reusable.
I also like to use the gold ones on standard chain so I can find them easier (I swear, as soon as I turned 50, my eyesight fell off a cliff…)
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Re-using Connex quicklinks, here. I’ve been using the same one on my trainer for a number of years now – will replace it when the chains wear out. I replace it roughly yearly on my outdoor bike to be safe after a season of CX on it.
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I have been using the YBN 5x rated quick links. On 4th use across two chains in my rotation and no problems at all - I’ve regularly subjected them 1 min efforts in the 500-600W range, but I rarely do short sprints and don’t exceed 900W. Seems like consensus is that of you are dropping well over 1000W sprints regularly you might want to be a bit more cautious.
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So, question about indoor waxing. It’s getting to be the cold season up here and the garage is often below freezing. On that note, will I kill myself if I wax in the basement? It doesn’t have good ventilation at all, but I would think that just the waxing step itself wouldn’t produce that much outgassing? I don’t think I’d use the cleaners/strippers down there though.
I use MSW fwiw.
I think you’ve got it right. None of the cleaning chemicals but wax should be ok. I do my wax indoors all the time and the cleaning outside. Wax is not very volatile, especially at the temps we are using it at. I’ve got a crock pot with a cover which I keep on it, which way or may not do anything…
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maybe a silly question, but do you filter and reuse the cleaning spirits after the initial chain clean in the mason jar? wondering how much of the cleaning spirit you go through removing the grease from a chain.
I use a coffee filter to filter out the some of the particulates in the mineral spirits and naphtha I use to clean the chain and remove excess wax from the chain/cassette. It doesn’t get it completely clean but does a good enough job for me that I don’t have a problem reusing the solvents. Once I de-gease a new chain initially I never do it again so I go through very little mineral spirits.
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Uggh - literally dropped all my mineral spirits off at waste disposal this week. The used spirits had sat in my garage for months, so all the black gunk from new chain grease had even sunk to the bottom. The coffee filter is a great idea!
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Has anyone seen/used the Silca Super Secret Lube? I kind of trust Josh from Silca to be honest. His stuff are expensive but from a quality standpoint they are top notch.
I am in Germany and don’t have access to simple green. What other cleaner do y’all use?
I was looking at this article the other day:
You have to be careful with regular Simple Green. If you leave a chain soaking in it too long, it can make the metal brittle. Other formulations that are advertised as safe on aluminum (like the aircraft version) are probably better for cycling.
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Good reminder. I think this was brought up somewhere way back in this thread, where another user learned it the hard way! Helps me not regret using gasoline for even a moment.
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You can find a review here !
From my first 500km with the new UFO drip I can say that I am very happy. Easily application, even in my 16 degree C shed. Dries quickly, no dripping to the floor.
Stayed very clean through out my riding. I did top it off after around 300k and it runs relatively quite and shifting performance is great. Price is also okay.
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My first wax chain experiment had mixed results. And I have a question.
I used paraffin and 1.6 micron PFTE. All went well for first 130 miles. Then I did a ride on crushed limestone trail that was went. After 30 mile ride in these conditions, the drivetrain was covered in a wet slurry of abrasive.
Rinsed the bike off when I got home. Chain was squeaky/gritty. I looked at the quick release link and it showed signs of wear.
Paraffin did not protect sufficiently in these conditions. Question is, if I have to go into conditions like this again, should I use an oil based product to the wax to repel water sufficiently? (Prior to waxing, my chain was cleaned extremely thoroughly before waxing and I let the chain sit in hot wax for a few hours to let the wax an PFTE penetrate fully.)
That seems about normal for a ride on something like crushed limestone. As the wax gets contaminated especially in the wet, much of it flakes off. That limestone is really gritty and with a little water does a great job of completely covering everything so you get left with a chain where the wax is just gone. On the other hand I’ve had road rides in the wet where the wax holds up very very well if there isn’t much dirt.
For rides that are longer in time and I know will be dirty and/or wet you can layer something like Smoove over paraffin and that holds up very well as the Smoove is a different type of wax and doesn’t flake off like paraffin. It dries to a plastic like state which means dirt stays locked in but it holds up very well if you apply it well. I think some of the newer waxes like Tru Tungsten over paraffin may also hold up better in the wet. Downside is you can’t clean Smoove off with just hot water like a paraffin chain so if you want to rewax you have to strip the chain down again.
https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/ has instructions on wet weather waxing options. His articles can be a bit long but usually have a good summary section.
I’ve found that if I put a stripped chain in the wax it really only needs to stay in long enough to get hot and then I swish it for another minute and pull it out. I probably give the chain 5-10 minutes. I haven’t found any benefit in letting the chain sit in the wax for hours but YMMV.
Headstart, thanks for the thoughts and the link. Will check that out. Paraffin seemed to be doing a good job on the crushed limestone trail if there was no water. Oil lubes foul quickly. Muc Off dry lube was even worse. Really fouled quickly.
I have a question regarding previously waxed chain. I got it done at a LBS but I want to go back to lubes. Do I have to melt the wax off boiling water, or can I just apply lube onto the waxed chain.
I store my “best” bike indoors and used to wax my chains. Came in one day and noticed a load of black marks on the carpet! wondered what the hell it was.
Took me a couple of days to work out it was wax that had flaked off my chain and been grounded into the carpet, there was no way I could clean it off so back to regular lube I went.
I do miss a waxed chain however.
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