Am I being dumb for throwing away easy watts by not waxing my chain?

[TobinHatesYou]

The Silica SS was less gunky than UFO for me...perhaps i over applied the UFO.

Both great options.

I use the SS oil for RD and FD.

UFO Drip should not be gunky at all. It abrades off as a fine powder. Silca stays more gunky. Flower Power is gunkier still.

[Xabi]

The gunk just flies away with silca, I just notice a bit of "wax dust" around drivetrain. Cassete, chainrings, derraileurs don't get gunked

The Silca SS is almost too liquid for me compared to the CS UFO. When applying - drop per drop - it almost drops through the chain where the UFO sticks to it.

I use silca hot melt, drop style silca just when I travel with the bike to top up hot melt.

If you do it right and let it dry properly it should be solid, you can't apply the lube and go out and ride.

[TobinHatesYou]

I use silca hot melt, drop style silca just when I travel with the bike to top up hot melt.

If you do it right and let it dry properly it should be solid, you can't apply the lube and go out and ride.

He's not talking about riding on still wet wax drip lube. He's talking about how shitty Silca Super Secret is to apply. It has poor surface adhesion and drips right off unless you apply the tiniest drop right on the center of the roller. And when you backpedal it drips off anyway.

[Xabi]

I use nitrile gloves and spread it with my fingers, haven't tried other liquid wax than squirt, silca is easier.

[rudye9mr]

The Silica SS was less gunky than UFO for me...perhaps i over applied the UFO.

Both great options.

I use the SS oil for RD and FD.

UFO Drip should not be gunky at all. It abrades off as a fine powder. Silca stays more gunky. Flower Power is gunkier still.

UFO drip (tried 2 bottles) was gunky for me. My operating temp was +30degC. Maybe colder ambient temps allow for better dusting.

Silica is less gunky and easier to clean with hot water bath for me.

[MDecius]

I just switched to using wax based lube for cleanliness alone, I couldn’t care less about the free watts because I don’t race.

After only four rides with wax, I’m already 100% sold. My chain is sparkling clean after any dry ride, and the one wet ride I experienced barely left any dirt or mud. I cleaned the entire bike in 30 mins without using a single degreaser.

This wet ride was a real test as well, it was cold (-5) with sections of road that were covered with lightly packed snow and ice. When we got to our cafe stop I had to unblock my FD from all the ice and that had built up.

Highly recommend it for ease of cleaning alone.


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[otnemem]

Unless by "plain paraffin" you mean "food/lab grade paraffin", that's not even close to being true. Plain paraffin, i.e. candle paraffin is full of mineral oil which is terrible and is behind many people's bad experiences with immersive waxing.

I have tried paraffin from chemical supply store and candles from Ikea. Both are similar and work equally well. My chains last so much longer than using typical chain lubes. What bad experience should I expect with candle wax?

Unless Ikea candles are made with 100% food-grade paraffin or your chemical supply paraffin is not food'grade, then that comparison is non-sensical. Also, the comparison here is with immersive wax like MSW and Silca's own.
By introducing two unknown products against each other you lose the actual known comparison point and we/you have no idea what you're comparing.

Yoi are right on your last point though. Typical chain lubes are demonstrably awful and it doesn't take much to beat them. Almost anything is better than them.

[Ritsuke]

I use silca hot melt, drop style silca just when I travel with the bike to top up hot melt.

If you do it right and let it dry properly it should be solid, you can't apply the lube and go out and ride.

He's not talking about riding on still wet wax drip lube. He's talking about how shitty Silca Super Secret is to apply. It has poor surface adhesion and drips right off unless you apply the tiniest drop right on the center of the roller. And when you backpedal it drips off anyway.

That's it and it seems to me you have the same experience.

[C36]

I wonder how consistant is their production or QC, I have zero problems putting a drop on 20 rollers at the time and none drop on the floor and other reported differently. The only thing I do is open the nozzle just a bit rather than fully opening it.

[LRB23]

I just switched to using wax based lube for cleanliness alone, I couldn’t care less about the free watts because I don’t race.

After only four rides with wax, I’m already 100% sold. My chain is sparkling clean after any dry ride, and the one wet ride I experienced barely left any dirt or mud. I cleaned the entire bike in 30 mins without using a single degreaser.

This wet ride was a real test as well, it was cold (-5) with sections of road that were covered with lightly packed snow and ice. When we got to our cafe stop I had to unblock my FD from all the ice and that had built up.

Highly recommend it for ease of cleaning alone.


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Hi, which wax lube are you using? After reading this forum I’m tempted to give it ago.

What are the tips and tricks? How often are you having to re-apply?

I rarely ride in the wet so I’m hoping it would require little maintenance


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[LRB23]

Double post

[MDecius]

I just switched to using wax based lube for cleanliness alone, I couldn’t care less about the free watts because I don’t race.

After only four rides with wax, I’m already 100% sold. My chain is sparkling clean after any dry ride, and the one wet ride I experienced barely left any dirt or mud. I cleaned the entire bike in 30 mins without using a single degreaser.

This wet ride was a real test as well, it was cold (-5) with sections of road that were covered with lightly packed snow and ice. When we got to our cafe stop I had to unblock my FD from all the ice and that had built up.

Highly recommend it for ease of cleaning alone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi, which wax lube are you using? After reading this forum I’m tempted to give it ago.

What are the tips and tricks? How often are you having to re-apply?

I rarely ride in the wet so I’m hoping it would require little maintenance


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm using Squirt, which is arguably the most basic and least involved wax-based lubricant. Some have great things to say, others not. YMMV.

Haven't even re-applied it yet because I've ridden less than 200km, so for tips and tricks I would suggest reading the whole chain waxing thread. I found a lot of helpful advice there, but nothing to add from me that's not already been said.

[TobinHatesYou]

I'm using Squirt, which is arguably the most basic and least involved wax-based lubricant. Some have great things to say, others not. YMMV.

Haven't even re-applied it yet because I've ridden less than 200km, so for tips and tricks I would suggest reading the whole chain waxing thread. I found a lot of helpful advice there, but nothing to add from me that's not already been said.

UFO Drip is even less involved. It’s by far the cleanest, driest running of all the wax drip lubes.

[AnthonyE]

I use silca hot melt, drop style silca just when I travel with the bike to top up hot melt.

If you do it right and let it dry properly it should be solid, you can't apply the lube and go out and ride.

He's not talking about riding on still wet wax drip lube. He's talking about how shitty Silca Super Secret is to apply. It has poor surface adhesion and drips right off unless you apply the tiniest drop right on the center of the roller. And when you backpedal it drips off anyway.

That's it and it seems to me you have the same experience.

On an already waxed chain the Silca Super Secret Drip Chain Lube can certainly bead off while applying. Since it is non toxic petroluem free lubricant you really should be using your other hand and rubbing the lube in while applying it. If you are just dripping it on then yes you can have some of it fall right on the floor. Once you get the chain saturated enough it stops dripping off. I personally have not found a better drip lube for the times I need to lube my chain in between hot melt wax. It's the perfect companion to the holt melt wax.

I started waxing my chain for cleanliness and parts longevity purposes only. Cleanliness is the primary kick in the butt that got me started and I'm so glad I did. I could honestly care less about the couple of watts it's saving but not having to deal with a black gunked up chain is so worth it. I hated cleaning my bike when it came time to degrease all the drivetrain parts, so time consuming and gross. I can't express how happy I am to be on the hot melt wax camp. Everyone should give it a shot, I'd be surprised if most that do don't stick with it.

[JaeOne3345]

I could never see myself going back to normal drip lubricants.

The only "hassle" I used to complain about with the waxing process was stripping the factory grease, but UFO clean makes that extremely easy, especially if you are in a place like California where you don't have access to some of substances commonly recommended to strip chains. I no longer have to deal with using/finding mineral spirits, naphtha, etc or doing countless passes through citrus degreaser. So now with UFO clean, that headache is gone. Stripping a chain takes no time.

I've messed with MSW quite a bit, but I just stick to simple Gulf Wax now. I don't think anything else is necessary. Cheap. Works.

If you are waxing 11 speed chains, the Wipperman link is a no brainer. Makes the whole process that much easier. I can't wait until I can use them on my 12 speed bike.

I don't get the hassle/"religious"/time consumption complaints. I spend far less time cleaning my bike/drive train since I don't have that nasty mess from drip lube everywhere. Hot water/dish soap and the cassette looks brand new in 2 minutes. Cleaning brushes don't get all nasty. I'm not wasting a bunch of rags/shop towels/paper towels/brushes like I used to with normal lube. I hate when friends bring their bikes to me for service and I have to deal with their nasty drivetrains.

Now and then I might dip the chains in boiling water to get rid of contaminated wax beore they get dipped into wax again, but I don't do that too often. How hard is it to dip 3-4 chains all at the same time once a month?

Drivetrain component lifespan is the other obvious benefit.

Yeah, I could never see myself going back. Not ever. People tend to over complicate the whole process, which of course would make it annoying. Keep it simple.