I would strip it and wax it. But that’s just me. Can’t beat the low friction and low mess of wax.

I always use a ceramic speed chain before my A-races and do 1-2 rides in my race setup prior to the race. So this seems very reasonable to me

Classic Slowtwitch reply.

Yup.

OP: I'm deciding between three CX bikes: X, Y, Z. Which do you recommend?
Reply: sell your couch, buy 3 bikes, lower the seat, and pay a coach

Use whatever you need to get the packing grease off the chain first, then knock yourself out with your fancy Silca Super-Secret Lube.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

The Silca product is a wax lube.

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Ideally, you would ride the chain a bit before a race. Chains are essentially always a bit faster after they've worn in, this also allows for better lube penetration. Given your circumstances, I would either install chain, ride, remove, de-grease, lube, re-install for race, or just de-grease, re-lube, install, ride a bit, then race. You'd probably have slightly better lube penetration and rolling resistance with option one, but it's pretty close to a wash.
*Definitely* make sure you de-grease really darn well before using the Silca lube!

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
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This is the guide (and rationale) you want.

https://moltenspeedwax.com/pages/clean-your-chain

Thanks all!

That molten speed wax process is...thorough! Sure beats training more or eating less though 😉. Gonna try it tomorrow.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

rtfm!

Silca's instructions say to thoroughly clean the chain before applying. Then apply.

Yeah, they do 🤦‍♂️. RTFM, but even more basic, RTF side of the jar!

Opening the new chain would have told me everything I needed to know - rather embarrassing that I buy chains so infrequently that I forgot they come greased.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

And get a shorter crank

Yeah, but sometimes people don't know the correct question to ask, and per Dunning-Krugger, they don't know they don't know, so it's necessary to ignore what they asked and tell them what they really need to know. See? ;)

Agree; isn't this website great! The OP got a quick answer based on knowledge and experience. Per instructions on the OP's Silca lube, he should strip the factory grease before lubing with the Silca wax.

Got to ask: how much difference will it make? I’ve got a brand new Roubaix with a shiny new chain with factory grease on it. Why would I want to go through three deep cleanses to apply wax? What’s the payback for me from that effort?

I'll let the speed guys comment about the watt savings (if any) but for me it's all about cleanliness and ease of maintenance as it's very stupidly easy to rewax a waxed chain and it ends up 100x cleaner than the chain-tattoo making lubed chain (which will leave big chain tattoos even if you run it through a degrease/chain tool multiple times.)

I'm so lazy about my chains for training that I don't even bother degreasing them with solvents to get the manufacturer lube off - I just dunk the whole thing into the wax, stir it, and call it a day. For sure, the wax wears off faster for the first few times since I'm sure it doesn't cling as well due to the factory lube , but it becomes just like any other waxed chain for me after like 2 wax cycles.

A little more speed of course. And many other lubricants are less prone to gathering dirt on the chain too. It may be shiny now but that will change, and it won't take long, especially if you do any riding in dusty or wet conditions.

"Factory grease" on new chains is generally there to prevent corrosion while it's on the shelf, rather than to lubricate it in use. I don't know how good it'll be as a lubricant in terms of efficiency but I reckon it's unlikely to be very good. I also don't know how well it will protect the chain against mechanical wear in use. If you don't care about some losses in your drive train, no need to change for now. If you also don't care about a dirty chain in the longer term - no need to remove the original lubruicant, just add some mineral oil or any of a myriad of wet lubes. And that's a perfectly reasonable decision.

Somewhere in the lands of Slowtwitch or in the old Friction Facts reports, there is a comparison of chain lubes, including typical factory lube. But, I could not find it. I believe that factory lube is slower than the good aftermarket dyno lubes, and dyno lubes are slower than wax by 1-2 watts. I am not sure how much slower the factory grease is, but it may be another few watts. So, you are probably looking at a net savings of 5+ watts by stripping the factory grease and going with wax.

Other than friction, the new drip wax lubes are fabulously easy to maintain. They do not get gunky and they do not chain tat you nearly as badly as any grease lube. The only downside is that they need more frequently re-lubing than grease. But, the drip lubes make that super easy.

no manufacturer uses packing grease on their chains.

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

It's not so much about saving watts.. as it is probably same as a lubed chain, and it is time consuming comparing to bottle lube, but it's totally worth it. The biggest payout is that you won't have a greasy messy chain, and it's always clean and shinny like a bing bing chain.