I’ve been using wax on all my chains now for two years and I love it for all the reasons posted on the subject on the forum. My question deals with how the wax will hold up in wet conditions. I normally choose not to ride when it is wet and will jump on the trainer on rainy days but obviously don’t have that choice for a race.
This past weekend I cleaned and waxed all my chains (four) and took my cleaned and waxed tri bike out for a ride Sunday morning for a six hour ride and got caught up in a pop-up t-storm around three hours into the ride. The roads were very wet the remainder of the ride and the chain seemed to hold up well, but it got me wondering if I show up for a full Ironman with a newly waxed chain** will the wax hold up** if it rains the entire time on the bike?
If it’s that wet then friction from the water covered chain is not going to be a factor. Equally in a race you don’t care about wear either.
Wax will be far better than dry lube which would wash off in minutes. So unless you’d replace your lube in advance of a race where there was a forecast for possible rain then I’d suggest that you move this to the ‘million things not to worry about’ and focus on the ‘30 things I can control and influence that will make a tangible difference to my race’ pile.
Edit to add, even in the worst rain, you’ll get more than 200km out of a waxed chain (ie a shakedown ride pre race and the full race). Dry will be more than double that, but you’ll still have wax on it.
The wax is solid at room temp. Even the best solvent-carried drip on lubricants will be solid particles at best. Having a solid chunk of wax between the plates and rollers stops anything from migrating in until you raise it to melting temp.
I had some surface rust on my waxed chain after a nasty gravel ride. I rinsed the chain off after the ride and that was it. I should have dried it off after the rinse with a towel. The rust is pretty much gone after a cleaning in mineral spirits, so I think no longer term damage done.
Wax is however worn off by the particles that get thrown up and stuck on drivetrains when it’s wet, and so the longevity of a waxing is reduced if ridden in the wet (I say that from my experience and the Silca guide). So whilst you speak the truth, it’s not the whole truth IMHO.
Wax is however worn off by the particles that get thrown up and stuck on drivetrains when it’s wet, and so the longevity of a waxing is reduced if ridden in the wet (I say that from my experience and the Silca guide). So whilst you speak the truth, it’s not the whole truth IMHO.
I’d agree with you. Whenever I get caught in the rain and don’t rewax before the next ride, my drivetrain sounds like an awful grinding mess. That said, I have no reason to believe that it’s any worse that having all of that grit caught up in a heavy, greasy, wet lube.
All agree I think. Just in responding to the specific question in the last para of OP. is it a problem if waxed and it rains on raceday. Will you be disadvantaged in the race over someone with other chain prep.
I did a wet gravel race and my chain waxed with Squirt fared the same as my buddy who waxes with a crock pot.
It’s not the water, but the debris that removes the wax.
Wax is however worn off by the particles that get thrown up and stuck on drivetrains when it’s wet, and so the longevity of a waxing is reduced if ridden in the wet (I say that from my experience and the Silca guide). So whilst you speak the truth, it’s not the whole truth IMHO.
Yes, I wax with Silca Secret Formula and I believe I read something similar to this statement when researching waxing. I checked the chain today by scratching a link with my fingernail and there did not seem to be very much wax on it compared to a 100 mile dry ride after a fresh wax.
My only concern is if the wax will hold up to 116 miles of wet pavement and from reading the responses, I’m not going to worry about it. Thanks!
In my experience, waxed chains rust in wet weather or even if you just sweat on them a lot. A wax chain will be fine for occasional rain, but if you plan on riding in the rain a lot I would just run a wet lube. Also, some chains are more prone to rust than others.
I was just in touch with Adam Kerin of Zero Friction Cycling about wax performance for bike packing. Not your precise usage case, but I’ve added some of the text below:
In your case if weather is going to be rough, the top wax lubricants aren’t going to last too long in such conditions. SS drip / ufo drip / TTAW – all have relatively short treatment lifespan being half wax drip lube half carrier, and that carrier really needs to set well before riding in wet conditions (overnight minimium – even then some like ss struggle silca recommend 24hrs set time before wet riding).*
And as the water is going to wash a lot of contamination in, the high dust contamination resistance of the top wax drip lubricants isn’t going to be of too much help.
If I was looking at a solid wet bikepacking trip, I would be going with a top wet lubricant that doesn’t wash off like silca synergetic. If you can pack a degreaser spray to flush the worst of contamination out, quickly dry and then re apply at end of each day that will definitely help keep the rate of friction and wear increase lower vs just re lubing, and if depending on what you can pack, swapping to a fresh chain about half way to restart back at super low friction also really helps from a friction and wear perspective which will be worse 2nd half of the trip as more and more abrasive contamination brought deep into chain by water is getting a good crack at a abrading all key load parts of chain. Then when you get home, a full round of solvent baths to fully reset chain.
Regarding your precise usage case, I went from a fully waxed chain to a fully unwaxed chain in extremely wet conditions in less than 40 miles. The chain was rusted the next morning and required a good clean prior to rewaxing.
If I was in your position (and this is what I’ll do for my bike packing trip) is have two chains ready, one fully waxed and ready to be put on, and a second stripped chain that could be put on and have Silca Synergetic added to it. Check the weather forecast the day before the race, make your choice.
This won’t apply to you but if it looks dry-ish for my bike packing trip I’ll be taking a little bottle of Tru Tension Tungsten All Weather to top up if it’s starting to get gritty.
Regarding your precise usage case, I went from a fully waxed chain to a fully unwaxed chain in extremely wet conditions in less than 40 miles. The chain was rusted the next morning and required a good clean prior to rewaxing.
Was the inside of the chain actually unwaxed though? The outside flakes off pretty quickly, faster in the wet, and can even rust, but as long as theres still wax inside the chain then it’s still going to be good. Everything I’ve seen (and ridden myself) shows a waxed chain in the rain lasting 100-200 miles before the internal wax is pushed out.
I did a wet gravel race and my chain waxed with Squirt fared the same as my buddy who waxes with a crock pot.
It’s not the water, but the debris that removes the wax.
I don’t know what’s in Squirt, but I often suspect there’s something in it that’s a lot more like a traditional lube (which brings all it associated problems/dirtiness) than the Crockpot wax - at least my chain ends up picking up way more dirt and grime after I coat it with an extra dose of Squirt as compared to if it’s just wax alone.
It was pretty ropey. I wouldn’t have been happy to use it for any more rides. Just to be clear - the weather was appalling, I was looking out for Noah and his ark. It’s probably the worst weather I’ve ever ridden in.
I tried Smoove and it was worse than a normal lube. Maybe I put on too much on but the chain, jockey wheels, cassette and chainring were disgusting. I chucked the rest of the Smoove into the bin.
Like a lot of replies, this won’t exactly answer your question…
I switched to wax a few years ago (Molten), and I’ve stuck with it mainly because of how clean it keeps everything.
BUT, I always had similar questions to yours about long distance race day - what if it rains? will it be good for 180km if I do a couple shake out rides the couple days prior, etc etc.
So for those reasons, specifically for long race days, I use a freshly cleaned (spirits in ultrasonic cleaner) chain with Rock N Roll Gold applied. If on race morning there is rain in the forecast, I might add a few extra drops of a heavier oil like R&R extreme.
Maybe I’m wrong in my thinking, maybe a waxed chain will last longer in the rain than a well cleaned/oiled chain, but this is how I’m currently rolling.
For an MOP’er like myself, 1 - 2 watts -possibly- lost on wax vs oil won’t change my day, and its one less thing to think about.
