The reason you do all that is because your lubricant requires it. If you are willing to live with the grim, you wouldn’t have to wipe or clean but we all know how that would turn out.

Contrast what you do in toto to what I do. I get a new chain, clean it in mineral spirits, put it on the bike and ride. I lubricate when it needs it...about every 500 to 600 miles...and that’s all. I don’t clean again because it simply doesn’t need. I don’t wipe it after every ride because it doesn’t need it. I don’t even need to remove the chain for any reason other than removal or, in a few cases, work on the drivetrain. When I do remove it, I don’t need gloves to handle the chain.

Having elaborate cleaning procedures doesn’t extend your chain life nor does using a lubricant that requires elaborate cleaning procedures. So the question to ask is why use a lubricant that makes for more work?

I wouldn’t say that all lubricants have detergents. Motor oil does but that is for a different purpose and environment. Bicycle lubricants may not as a detergent is unneeded for a exposed system like a bicycle chain. It might even be detrimental since it would increase the water solubility of the lubricant. Some people have pointed out that the detergent in motor oil makes it less desirable as a bicycle chain lubricant.

As to what make the chain black, it is finely divided metal particles (mostly iron) and finely divided soil particles (primarily quartz). And, by finely divided, I mean microscopic or nearly so.

My waxed chain doesn’t collect dirt to a significant extent. Nor does the lubricant have detergents in it. But the lubricant gets a bit black from the chain wear. Since the lubricant sluffs off through design, my chain doesn’t get as black because of the particles but I can see some dark spots.

I wipe and relube my chain after most every ride because it's coated with wet dirt, as I'm usually riding through mud. After only one ride it's coated with what amounts to a lapping compound. I can actually hear the grinding sound, and that's after a rinse with the hose. Again, I'm often riding through mud.

And we haven't even begun talking about how many watts a dirty chain consumes.

Every ride? You ride in mud every single ride? That’s a lot of mud.

That said, perhaps you should consider wax based chain lubes. First they don’t serve as a trap for grit. Secondly, the wax fills the gaps between the plates and serves as a barrier to grit infiltration. Since there is no flow of the lubricant, there is not mechanism for the grit to get transported from the outer part of the chain to the inner part. There would be less grinding. And, since the lubricant is filling the gaps, anything you wash off the outside of the chain just get washed off instead of getting pushed into the chain.

Although I don’t ride in mud all the time, I do ride in dirt and sand and grit. I fully understand the crunchy chain noise that can result with oil lubricants. I’ve experienced it many times...but only back when I was using oil based lubricants. Since switching to wax lubricants, I haven’t had a crunchy chain in any condition for more than 20 years.

These days, most every ride, like this one from the other day. So how long would a waxed chain last me in these riding conditions? Do I have to go buy a cordura crockpot bag to mount on the bike?

A waxed chain will last you about as long oiled one will in those conditions. Perhaps longer for the reasons I gave above. Essentially, the grit covers the outside of the chain like it does your frame. Oil lubricants trap the grit and transport it into the chain. Wiping down the outside of the chain just pushes the grit into the gaps of the chain.

That doesn’t happen with wax based lubricants. The gaps of the chain are filled so that it’s harder to push anything in. Additionally, since the wax doesn’t flow, the grit doesn’t migrate from the outside inward.

To be clear, I’m not talking about hot waxing chains here. I find that method to be just about as involved and tedious as all the cleaning involved with oil based lubricants. Liquid wax lubricants...i.e. solvent based...provide all the cleanliness of wax with the ease of application oil lubricants without the fuss of either. I’ve done multi-week tours that have included 700 miles on dirt roads (out of 1500) including several days of wet dirt riding. The chain was treated with White Lightning. It did fine. It lasted me about what I’d expect out of a chain, about 3500 miles.

The difference between what you do, what hot waxing people do and what I do is that I don’t take the chain off all the time to clean it. Why do more work then you need to do?

I never said that at all. I said in post 52 that I apply it about every 500 to 700 miles or about as often as people using oil apply lubricant. I get about the same mileage as people who use oil do. But I only have to clean it once.

I use Clean Ride. It does need refreshing after rain but oil based lubricants should be refreshed after wet rides as well. The chain will be noisier than an oiled chain but that noise does not translate into increased wear.

To my mind, noise=friction=wear. I won’t argue whether or not wear is significantly more or less but I don’t like noise so I’ve become disenchanted with dry lube.