I would recommend waxing your chains.

 


https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...lca%20chain#p7255135


https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...lca%20chain#p7207813


https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...lca%20chain#p6035046


https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...lca%20chain#p5340444

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Once, I was fast. But I got over it.

^^^^^ this

I have not. So, take my comments with a grain of salt. But, I can’t think of a Company whose description of its products contains more fluff than Silca. And that’s not to say that they don’t work or aren’t good quality. But, you pay top dollar (and then some!) for their products based on words like “super” and “secret”.

To be fair, silca also has a melt version of that lube. I have both but haven't gotten around to treating a chain with the melt yet.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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I'm sure josh will explain better than I. He explained a lot on his podcast.
It appears this lube has tungsten disulphide and a carrier that evaporates fully. Along with ptfe and molybdenum disulphide like the hard wax.
Is it noticeably faster? Maybe. The main thing is this lube is so much cheaper than other progressive lubes. Absolute black is crazy money.

The question is how much faster is it than $10/lb. paraffin.

I haven't watched/read all the Silca stuff, but I've seen references to significantly improved coefficients of friction, etc, but never an apples-to-apples Friction Facts-style showdown with real drivetrains.

I use paraffin (Gulf wax) and Squirt (so the same general stuff as the Silca wax, just without the special additives). The big PITA is fully cleaning the lube/packing grease off of a new chain. Once you've done that and waxed it, just putting the drip stuff (Squirt in my case) on every 150-200mi keeps everything clean and smooth (important: put the drip lube on after a ride and allow it to fully dry/harden before you ride with it or the wax will attract dirt and turn black). I rewax the chain in a crockpot about every 6mos just to make sure it gets fully coated and to melt off the old wax and metal flakes that happen with normal wear ("chain stretch" is really the metal in the pins and bushings wearing away slightly).

Once you have a clean, waxed chain; the additional advantage of MSW or Slica is probably <1W. Is it worth the extra expense? Depends who you ask.

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I've been using paraffin wax for ~12m now, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how much *less* hassle it is overall compared to oily lubes.

My 'cleaning routine' is very quick:

• Open all the garage doors for ventilation and turn on the wax bath (I use a deep fat fryer, which heats the wax very quickly to to ~150degC, 300degF), well above the boiling point of water. I'm doing this because wax viscosity declines with temperature; it's about 50% lower at this temperature than at 80degC, so I'm hopeful (no evidence) that this helps it penetrate the chain.
• Rinse the chain quickly under running boiling water, for maybe 10 seconds; this melts off the outer layer of wax, taking any dirt with it: the chain looks sparkling clean at this point. Shake dry.
• Put the chain into the fryer basket and lower carefully into the hot wax. There's a bit of spattering at this point, as the hot wax boils off any remaining water. Good to put the fryer lid on!
• Once the spattering has stopped, agitate chain for a minute or so to assist with getting wax deeper into the chain.
• Switch off fryer, remove chain, and hang to cool off.
• Once cool, refit to bike.
• ~10 minutes start to finish, and not much longer if I do several chains at the same time.

Things I don't know about - would love to hear some *evidence* from others.

• Does heating the wax so hot actually provide any benefit?
• Am I changing the properties of the wax in a way which adversely affects performance?
• Would I get better wax penetration with a lower temperature, but using the ultrasonic cleaner?
• Could I save myself even more time with a wax+solvent mix like Squirt or Silca SSCL?
  
• How to get molybdenum disulphide & PTFE *into* the chain? It just 'clumps' in the wax bath for me.

[Edit: there are many things I don't know about. These are just some of them]

Wax melts above 46°C or 115°F, so heating the wax so hot does not provide much benefit. 93°C or 200°F will be sufficient.

Thanks Richard.

I've been wondering the same, but the secondary question is... why? Why is 93°C sufficient? (or why is there not much benefit to going higher?)

My hypothesis is that with both lower viscosity and lower surface tension at the higher temperatures, the wax is more likely to flow into the finer crevices inside my chain. Just wondering whether anyone has actual evidence that this is good or bad idea.

I think it was Fast Fitness Tips on Youtube that broke down the wattage on the top chain lubes a while back but I had no luck in finding that video again last night. I remember it showing that plain old WD40 was less than 3 watts slower than even the best waxes, and for me and my riding purposes it worked well because where I usually ride is dry and not dusty, and I didn't have a chain that was easily removable at the time to wax it. However, I did come across this site showing a lot of information for drip lubes...

https://cyclingtips.com/...hat-saves-you-money/

FWIW, I am not promoting anything, just showing what I found.

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

I have been heating the wax to wax my chain above the boiling point of water for a number of reasons, mainly gets rid of any water and alcohol that may be left over, also yes as you increase the heat the viscosity goes down and so does the surface tension... so one would assume it can get into the nooks and crannies better but there is not much one can do easily to prove that. So for me going to say 110 deg C is worth the effort and what I do. I check the temp with an infra red thermometer and heat on an induction hot plate. I know plain parawax seems to last as long if not longer than most basic chain lubes based upon how quiet the drive chain remains. I am a convert. Now t ofigure out how many times I can reuse the quick link without raising the chance of failure too high.

For cross-reference, some related discussion here: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/..._Chain_wax_P7114562/, most notably page 4 onwards.

$3.25/lb at Wally...

Chain waxing is the easiest chain and grunge maintenance (being grunge free and requiring no cleaning after the 1st time) I've ever experienced, besides being cheap. Dry lubes and wax lubes still leave a mess (YMMV). I try to remember to replace that hunk of wax every year or so. Oh and I did invest the tidy sum of $19.95 or so in a hotplate, stainless bowl, and a strainer.

Me too. The #1 reason is that the wax job lasts longer; ie the chain stays quiet >200 miles... which is typically how far I go before I grapple with the arduous 3 min task of popping the chain into the melted wax and putting it back on the bike. It actually sits in the wax for over an hour but I don't need to tend it...

If anyone hasn't been exceeding the boiling point, I suggest you try it. I actually go up to ~280F typically according to my IR temp gauge. Just don't go up the the flash point of the wax (usually 390F+) or bad things will happen...

Molten Speed Wax chose 93°C for a good reason.

I wonder what that ‘good reason’ is? I’m wondering if it’s something to do with the physics of the wax, or a constraint of the application method? Do you have any further details?

When considering trying wax several months ago, I was looking online for a good enough reason for me to switch to waxing. Fast Fitness Tips on Youtube had a video listing how many watts I could save by switching to the very best waxes tested. The best case scenario was 2.6 watts. I understand that for some people that alone is enough. For me it wasn't, but during my research I also heard that there is an upper temp limit for waxes. I can't remember what it was, or even why, but if it wasn't FFT who mentioned it then it may have been Oz Cycle. If no one chimes in with the reason why, then 1 of their videos might answer your question.

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

I've never given waxing my chain much thought before because I assumed it was more complicated. But if all I need is a stainless steel pot and a sieve (using my stove) then perhaps I should be looking at this more closely.

Another reason to switch would be the nearly infinite life span of a waxed chain. On my road bike, which I am less anal about, I cleaned and waxed a new chain last year and then I used the Premier wax-based drip lube for the rest of the year. This spring I pulled out a new chain thinking that a year of use was probably too much to go without excessive water. Lining up both a new and the old chains, there was basically no discernible wear in the old chain. Chains don’t “stretch”. What you actually see is pin and roller wear from the “grinding paste” you get from dirty lube. Now apply the same wear savings to cassettes and chain rings and you can see the monetary value of waxing your drive train.

The sieve (strainer) isn't a necessity, but I like it. And if you get the wax hot enough to work well, it will smell... best to keep an exhaust fan running. It's also hard to avoid getting a few wax splatters about. And the initial cleaning with mineral spirits and alcohol is a bit involved, but that's the only time you need to clean the chain IMO.

Some people do have a more complicated procedures, but I don't believe they add much if anything to the result.

Yeah thanks. I've about to order a stainless steel pot and some paraffin wax and try this out. Initial cleaning with two solvents looks time consuming but I'm not worried if this is just the first time.

It may ignite if you go above 390F. I haven't tested that however... but it would be a fun experiment...