My adventures in chain waxing: goals, reviews, suggestions...

[B0tt0mline]

I started at christmas period with the Cyclowax set - really great product and user support.

[MDecius]

Just started waxing my chains, is it ok to wash the chain when cleaning the bike, or do you need to avoid getting soap on it?

Based on my experience, you cannot do this, sadly. I use both squirt and silica secret lube, the wax just washes off if you wash the drive train. Moreover, since the waxed chain is not really fully covered by the wax if you do not dry your chain fast enough, it will rust. This will be more obvious on XT chains (and below) because the coating is not as complete as XTR chains.

Wax chains basically just cannot have too much contact with water... not to mention soap. I once did that and I found that one of the chain nodes on my gf's bike is completely stuck overnight. I spent like 20m on the roadside to figure out it is the chain node stuck rather than if there is anything wrong with the derailleur. I also noticed an intensive increase in noise after riding in the rain for around 30mins.

I have not had the same experience. Right now I am running UFO Drip on my best bike and Squirt on my trainer/all road bike, and I wash the drivetrains of each one with soap & water normally before drying with a microfiber cloth and then reapplying. About 5k km on each one and no rust.

[Ritsuke]

It's because you dry it in time. If you rinse your bike after a dirty ride and wait a few hours before really washing it, parts of your chain will be rusty.

[xiyuwang]

Just started waxing my chains, is it ok to wash the chain when cleaning the bike, or do you need to avoid getting soap on it?

Based on my experience, you cannot do this, sadly. I use both squirt and silica secret lube, the wax just washes off if you wash the drive train. Moreover, since the waxed chain is not really fully covered by the wax if you do not dry your chain fast enough, it will rust. This will be more obvious on XT chains (and below) because the coating is not as complete as XTR chains.

Wax chains basically just cannot have too much contact with water... not to mention soap. I once did that and I found that one of the chain nodes on my gf's bike is completely stuck overnight. I spent like 20m on the roadside to figure out it is the chain node stuck rather than if there is anything wrong with the derailleur. I also noticed an intensive increase in noise after riding in the rain for around 30mins.

I have not had the same experience. Right now I am running UFO Drip on my best bike and Squirt on my trainer/all road bike, and I wash the drivetrains of each one with soap & water normally before drying with a microfiber cloth and then reapplying. About 5k km on each one and no rust.

As mentioned, if I didn't not dry the chain completely, it rusts. Well, I mean, true that wet chain will rust. But oil-based lube does not have this sort of hassle because the chain is covered by the oil. So, overtime, I found this quite annoying that I have to dry the chain so explicitly otherwise it rusts. I love being a home mechanic, but not about the part I had to repeat same hassle over and over again.

Silca or Squirt, they wash off pretty fast in tropical area, such as S'gapore due to humidity and warm temp. Hence why I found my chain needs frequent, if not too frequent, reapplications.

[EugeneC]

As mentioned, if I didn't not dry the chain completely, it rusts. Well, I mean, true that wet chain will rust. But oil-based lube does not have this sort of hassle because the chain is covered by the oil. So, overtime, I found this quite annoying that I have to dry the chain so explicitly otherwise it rusts. I love being a home mechanic, but not about the part I had to repeat same hassle over and over again.

Silca or Squirt, they wash off pretty fast in tropical area, such as S'gapore due to humidity and warm temp. Hence why I found my chain needs frequent, if not too frequent, reapplications.

Defo no expert. But why do you wash the chain in the first place? If the bike needs washing, the chain probably needs waxing as well?

[TidyDinosaur]

As mentioned, if I didn't not dry the chain completely, it rusts. Well, I mean, true that wet chain will rust. But oil-based lube does not have this sort of hassle because the chain is covered by the oil. So, overtime, I found this quite annoying that I have to dry the chain so explicitly otherwise it rusts. I love being a home mechanic, but not about the part I had to repeat same hassle over and over again.

Silca or Squirt, they wash off pretty fast in tropical area, such as S'gapore due to humidity and warm temp. Hence why I found my chain needs frequent, if not too frequent, reapplications.

Defo no expert. But why do you wash the chain in the first place? If the bike needs washing, the chain probably needs waxing as well?

You must live in California or something... If you live in western europe chances are you will have to wash the bike after every ride for a big part of the year

[EugeneC]

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[EugeneC]

Defo no expert. But why do you wash the chain in the first place? If the bike needs washing, the chain probably needs waxing as well?

You must live in California or something... If you live in western europe chances are you will have to wash the bike after every ride for a big part of the year

If you ride in the rain, you will have to run the chain through boiled water and wax it. And if you remove the chain before washing the bike, you wont expose the chain to soap.

[TobinHatesYou]

UFO Drip or Silca Super Secret drip top-ups give me 80-100mi of range in torrential rain. Wipe the chain down thoroughly and/or use a compressor to dry the chain and immediately relube after a wet ride. As for washing bikes, the sliding/moving components and contact points are the only parts I bother cleaning.

[fatpinarellorider]

I doubt I will continue waxing.
All my waxed chains ended up rusting.

[bremerradkurier]

I'm starting to think a portable induction standalone burner, ferrous pan and trivet to suspend the chain might be good for the first step of degreasing and removing old wax.

[patchandscruff]

New Silca toys:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEnD95UwE3w

https://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/silca-st ... ew%20chain.

[eucalyptus]

How https://silca.cc/collections/chain-waxi ... strip-chip

Must be dark magic

[C36]

It may be what is needed for people thinking it is too complicated to prepare a new chain and want a almost plug and play setup. It could also be a nice option for people in small appartments, where stripping a chain may not be practical (and not even super expensive compared to the Cyclowax station that cost 50% more).

[kode54]

Also looks like a different temp to strip factory grease off. 125C for one chain (one sixth of the bar). then 75C for waxing.

their new crock pot has 3 sewttings.