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

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TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

jadedaid wrote:
Wed Nov 09, 2022 7:10 pm
Thank you for the advice both of you. Will keep the over night plastic container with the chains outside the flat in that case just to be sure.

Tobin, is the citrus degreaser good enough for stripping new chains? I'd prefer to use something with the lowest amount of toxicity, and citrus degreaser sounds better than white spirits in that regard.
I run Shimano and KMC chains through at least 3 ultrasonic cleans in a plastic food tub filled with 5:1 water degreaser. SRAM chains take at least 5. Keep in mind the stripped factory grease will be as environmentally hazardous as mineral spirits, so you need to store it for proper disposal anyway.

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eurperg
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by eurperg

Lakal wrote:
Wed Nov 09, 2022 1:02 pm
ZFC is testing Dynamic Speed Potion right now. The first test block (no contamination) shows a 21.7% wear - worse than Squirt and Smoove.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Rex Black Diamond Hot Wax has gone through first 3 main test blocks with 0% wear.

by Weenie


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Lakal
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by Lakal

eurperg wrote:
Thu Nov 10, 2022 10:30 am
Lakal wrote:
Wed Nov 09, 2022 1:02 pm
ZFC is testing Dynamic Speed Potion right now. The first test block (no contamination) shows a 21.7% wear - worse than Squirt and Smoove.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Rex Black Diamond Hot Wax has gone through first 3 main test blocks with 0% wear.
What is the expected launch date? Is it still in 2022?

JLiukkonen
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by JLiukkonen

I think launch is going to be more likely jan23
www.rex.fi/en/bike

wickedstealthy
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by wickedstealthy

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Sun Oct 09, 2022 1:53 am
MikeD wrote:
Sun Oct 09, 2022 1:46 am

You're saying that a squeaking chain doesn't have a lot of friction when the squeaking is caused by metal to metal contact? Borderline chain suck was what I was seeing. The chain wasn't releasing smoothly from the chainring due to high friction within the chain.

Squeaking would be rollers scraping on the inner plate shoulders, and yes that's bad. However you mentioned no squeaking originally. It takes a lot to get squeaks out of any wax lube. 145km of Huffmaster didn't do it. 160km of riding around the Bay Area slough didn't do it...and that was partially wet too. Also you didn’t say chainsuck…you said the chain was “bouncing around.” The severity of you situation seems to be increasing with every reply for some reason. My chain bounces all the time, especially in the small ring and middle of the cassette combo.

BTW Adam/ZFC’s worst testing block has him alternately spraying sand and water directly onto a running drivetrain…that’s more extreme than pretty much any real-world scenario. The newer wax drip lubes and hot melt waxes are clearly enduring better than Smoove. There is strong correlation between increased chain life / reduced elongation and reduced friction / the most efficient lubes. But hey, if you really believe Smoove is a better lube, no one (but you) is going to stop you from using it.

You're the umpteenth person in this thread to complain about noisy drivetrains after one ride with wax lube. That's just what you need to expect after about 120km worth of road riding...and less in dusty gravel.
Indeed totally agree. Can't be bothered by the noise chain. Currently at 22k on first cassette, first chainring set and 3 chains in rotation. Check last week with the shimano wear checker which according to Adam is proven to be accurate for regular chains. Actually I used 3 different checkers and none of them allows to be pushed in the slightest. At this rate I can get the whole set till 30k or more ! And I run this whole shit the whole year including winter road spray.
I had already many comments about doing some lube on my chain 😂
I always tell them you do that and buy 3x as many cassettes and chainrings as I. I'm perfectly happy with a little noise 😂

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kdawg
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by kdawg

Anyone tried waxing anything else ?

I'm tempted to dip an entire SPD pedal - you could suspend them in the wax easily so the springs get lubed but the bearings stayed out.

Or Speedplay cleats? Seems like it would last well on there.
I'm left handed, if that matters.

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

I've once dipped a Gates Carbon Drive belt in hot wax. But the excess wax made a huge mess and it took forever for the wax to wear off.

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

kdawg wrote:
Thu Nov 10, 2022 11:29 pm
Anyone tried waxing anything else ?

I'm tempted to dip an entire SPD pedal - you could suspend them in the wax easily so the springs get lubed but the bearings stayed out.

Or Speedplay cleats? Seems like it would last well on there.
Bearings, unlike roller chains, do not contend with sliding friction. Semi-solid lubrication would likely prevent a needle or ball bearing from rolling, just like if you over-fill a bearing with a thicker than recommended grease.

blaugrana
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by blaugrana

Silca just released a new wax with a claimed 0.5W saving over their existing hot melt wax. Also 200€ for 300g, this is not a typo. Not that I would even consider it if it was a third of the price, but it would be interesting to know if it actually works better, or if it's just a sequel to the sealant fiasco.

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

blaugrana wrote:
Tue Nov 22, 2022 6:14 pm
Silca just released a new wax with a claimed 0.5W saving over their existing hot melt wax. Also 200€ for 300g, this is not a typo. Not that I would even consider it if it was a third of the price, but it would be interesting to know if it actually works better, or if it's just a sequel to the sealant fiasco.

The problem with molten wax treatments is contamination of the wax pot over time. For $200, I can buy 23kg of Gulf brand paraffin and swap out the wax every couple months and it would likely result in similar efficiency just because the wax is cleaner.

Now you we could discuss filtering out contaminants in the various commercial wax products, but any such filtration would also attract the lubricious solids.

I will continue to use plain paraffin with UFO Drip top-ups.

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C36
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by C36

Their current wax works fantastic and is 40€ for 500g. More than the 0.5W gain, the 2+ x durability (800km in dry conditions ?) would be the main upgrade… but I will wait ZFC test to confirm. In all cases 200€ for 300g seems too high for real world use.

TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

C36 wrote:
Tue Nov 22, 2022 6:59 pm
Their current wax works fantastic and is 40€ for 500g. More than the 0.5W gain, the 2+ x durability (800km in dry conditions ?) would be the main upgrade… but I will wait ZFC test to confirm. In all cases 200€ for 300g seems too high for real world use.

ZFC also tested the newer MSW as lower wearing than the original Silca Hot Melt in all but the last, most extreme contamination block. Considering that block is equivalent to riding through a sand shower, I kinda dismiss it as I will never encounter those conditions.

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C36
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by C36

Duplicate

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C36
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by C36

TobinHatesYou wrote: ZFC also tested the newer MSW as lower wearing than the original Silca Hot Melt in all but the last, most extreme contamination block. Considering that block is equivalent to riding through a sand shower, I kinda dismiss it as I will never encounter those conditions.
Indeed, another good option, specially now that availability in Continental Europe doesn’t kill you with shipping.
It also last a bit longer (rated 600 km versus 430 for Silca).

In all case it is a solid product, nothing to compare with the sealant.

by Weenie


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MagicShite
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by MagicShite

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Tue Nov 22, 2022 6:57 pm
blaugrana wrote:
Tue Nov 22, 2022 6:14 pm
Silca just released a new wax with a claimed 0.5W saving over their existing hot melt wax. Also 200€ for 300g, this is not a typo. Not that I would even consider it if it was a third of the price, but it would be interesting to know if it actually works better, or if it's just a sequel to the sealant fiasco.

The problem with molten wax treatments is contamination of the wax pot over time. For $200, I can buy 23kg of Gulf brand paraffin and swap out the wax every couple months and it would likely result in similar efficiency just because the wax is cleaner.

Now you we could discuss filtering out contaminants in the various commercial wax products, but any such filtration would also attract the lubricious solids.

I will continue to use plain paraffin with UFO Drip top-ups.
so much this...lol

I've tried many ways to keep contamination as low as possible, the only thing that I could never fully get rid of is that slight brownish taint that I get over dipping my MTB chains. My MTB chains were always rinsed with hot water for clean up and also cleaned with a isoprop alcohol, with the chain submerged.

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