So i waxed my first chain before the summer. I bought a new chain and followed this Silca video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMDLBlFvgV4) to pretreat the chain with mineral spirits and acetone through waxing with Silca’s wax. After about 300 miles i used the Silca drip on wax to top it off. The overall process was a little annoying but I’ve generally really liked it since its nice and smooth and much cleaner.
All that said, I noticed my chain is quite rusty and im not sure why? Is it normal for waxed chains to rust or did i mess something up along the way? Will the pretreat process and rewaxing of chain remove the current rust?
Whoa - been on waxed chains for probably the last 40K miles or so of my riding and never seen anything like that. What make/model chain is that? And are you riding on salt flats or roads that are treated with salt or other substances? Is your bike stored outside or otherwise where it frequently gets wet or stays wet for periods of time?
I don’t think that’s it. Our house is about 1 mile from the ocean, we’ve been in it for almost 10 years, and no issues. Previous place was 200 meters from the ocean and similarly no issues. Even with marine layer, fog, etc, it’s not like the salt carries in the air.
Question for OP: Do you ride wet roads? How often do you clean your chain? My best guess here is that you are picking up road grime and it’s sitting on your chain, causing the corrosion.
This looks like you didn’t clean the chain well enough and the was couldn’t fully adhere. Topping off with drip wax well cover the inside but not the outside of the plates. 500 miles with just bare metal on the outside is gonna rust.
The chain really needs to be bone dry and squeaky clean the first time you wax it. Subsequent waxing is more forgiving, as imperfect cleaning leaves behind a bit of wax. But any water or grease for the first one and the was won’t stick
I would strip it down like you did initially–or use some of that Silica Cleaner found HERE I have no affiliation with Silica but this would be easy and take down the crud to nil on the chain & then just rewax. If there is has been rust on it for a while now, the integritiy of the metal may have weakened the chain.
Make sure you wax regularly and yeah if riding in the rain or near the ocean, make sure it is thoroughly dry after each ride, use a towel to dry off–may need to dip it in wax again. I’ve seen this with a friend’s bike coming back from Kona. It was a week only, and he had rust on it. He had a Quick Connect link not a Shimano, but it takes extra care when around salty air for sure.
I have always found that waxed chains are very susceptible to rusting if they see any moisture. On my mountain bike I generally wax, but if Iknow it’s going to be wet I’ll add a bit of standard lube. On my road bike I just religiously dry the chain after it gets wet
I’ve noticed after moving back to a wet/humid environment form the desert that I need to be significantly more diligent about dry/wax after every ride. I would easily go weeks without any maintenance while I was in the dry, but now that I’m somewhere with significantly higher humidity and rain I get a light surface rust quickly that I’m not terribly worried about for “daily” chains, but tend it definitely makes me more aware of my race chains.
Ok I’m my case the reason for rust was that I didn’t wipe the chain after washing the bike… in the summer it’s hot enough to evaporate quickly but during colder season it isn’t.
Good news it’s only the esthetics you can still use jt
I’ve been waxing my chains for 7-8 years and I’ve never seen that, but I do not use drip wax to “replenish”… my process:
Wax 3-4 chains at a time… put one on the bike, the others in Ziplock bags with dissecant pouch in each (sourced from whatever I bought online recently), then these small ziplock bags in a larger one also with a larger dissecant pouch.
(I actually keep a bag of “race chains” and one of “trainign chains”)
Use chain till it starts squeaking or making noise… then set aside, replace with one of the ready-to go chain
Never keep the chain on the bike when washing the bike… I use re-useable YBN chain links, remove the chain, clan bike, re-install the chain
I rarely ride in the rain, but happens
When several chains need waxing, a run a batch again in the slow cooker.
I use Molten Speed Wax.
Having several chains in the loop is a slightly bigger investment at first, but then I go years without buying a chain (i.e. I did not feel the supply issues during Covid haha!)
But as I just got my first 12 speed bike, I did just order $400 of chains.
Tip: I ordered the chains from SpeedVisionBike: they came directly waxed with MSW (at no extra costs!), so I did not have to go through the pain of the initial cleaning process to get rid of the OEM lubrication.
I’ve had rust issues as well (on chains that were thoroughly cleaned initially with the Molten Speed Wax process), sometimes within a few hours of finishing a wet ride. What has helped is wiping the chain as soon as possible to dry it, and rewaxing the same day.
I’ve had similar problems with a little rust showing up deep in the cassette as well.
I rarely ride in wet conditions.
I followed the same instructions that you did, and I was extremely careful.For my training chain I’m just using some generic wax.I wipe down the chain and rewax every couple weeks by putting it in the crock pot.My training chains are older version of a ceramic speed optimized chain or shimano dura-ace chain.I don’t ride on salted roads but I am in south Houston so very high humidity.Bike is stored in an unheated garage.
I believe the problem is that I’m a very heavy, very salty, sweater. Whatever you are imagining … I sweat more than that. Most of the bolts on my bike are rusted as are parts of the derailleurs, etc. (3 year old bike)
The only thing I have found to prevent the chain from rusting is taking it off the bike, wiping it down carefully with a towel and then re-waxing in the crock pot. I do this every few weeks. Basically as often as I have time to do it.
My wife does not have any rusting problems. She has the identical bike and chain setup that I have. I re-wax her chain every couple of months. The only difference is that she sweats like an ordinary human.
I’m guessing from being near the ocean
Nope.
I live less than 1/2 mile from a surf beach, ALL my riding is done near the water and I often ride in the rain and none of my chains have ever looked like that.
Edit: After reading the rest of the posts, I have a theory.
I wash my bike, ride in the rain, live near the ocean (never dry my chain either) and have never had an issue with rust like that.
The only difference is that I rewax my chains every 250km
Keiron from ZFC said that he couldn’t detect any wear when a chain was waxed this often and since my drivetrain is just too damn expensive to keep replacing (SRAM Red AXS, cassette is the wrong side of AU$500 in Oz!) its just cheaper and easier to rewax every 250km
I run 3 chains in rotation so not waxing all the time. I also have a 4th chain, brand new (also cleaned and waxed) I keep as a reference for elongation and with something like 20000km on the three chains they are still the same length as the new chain
It’s kinda tough to tell from the angle of the picture you posted, but it sure looks from the way the chain is sitting on the chainring that your chain is pretty much toast, or your chainring is, or both. Have you measured your chain?
Corollary to this… you mention that you bought the chain on Amazon… are you sure it’s an actual Shimano chain? The fakes are absolutely running rampant on there, and things like inferior plating and heat treatment - plus really quick elongation - are definitely to be expected with the fakes.
A few responses - thanks for the tip on Speed Vision Bikes - I was thinking about ordering one from Silca but it was so expensive. but this one wasnt! Now I will wait for this chain, swap it out, and re-treat my rusty one so I have 2 in rotation.
My chain was purchased from the “Shimano” store on amazon, which I assume (i know…) is legit. It certainly hasnt stretched - see pic
From all the feedback, i think I just need to wipe down my chain after my ride. I usually let it air dry but maybe this is the issue.
My chain was purchased from the “Shimano” store on amazon, which I assume (i know…) is legit. It certainly hasnt stretched - see pic
Yup, length looks good.
“Shimano store” on Amazon just means that someone is selling a product that they claim is made by Shimano. There’s no direct affiliation with Shimano. Based on the link you posted, here’s the actual sellers page on Amazon, and it’s worth noting that there are several one star reviews from people claiming that they were sold counterfeit Shimano products, including chains.
Frankly, I’d be surprised if you actually got a real chain from that seller.
