papaki72

Too much free time in my hands and started fooling around the net and asking ChatGPT with all kind of crap. I asked it about a chain wax recipe and here what it came up with:

However, if you still want to try making your own wax-based lubricant for your road bike chain, here's a basic recipe that you can use:

Ingredients:

• Paraffin wax (1 lb)
• PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) powder (2 tbsp)
• Mineral spirits (1 quart)

Instructions:

1. Melt the paraffin wax in a double boiler or a large pot over low heat.
2. Add the PTFE powder to the melted wax and stir until it is fully dissolved.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.
4. Add the mineral spirits to the wax mixture and stir until it is fully combined.
5. Let the mixture cool completely before using it to lubricate your bike chain.

Can you mix the white spirits with it like that? Would that work?

Steel Charlie

Chain lube in the 21st Century comes in spray cans

Bob Ross

Arlo Guthrie quote?

icemilkcoffee 

So it gave you the recipe for making your own drip wax, and not the crockpot hot-dip wax that we around here generally use.

flanso 

End the long running controversy by asking it, "What is the absolute best bicycle chain lubricant?"

Crankycrank

Yes, you can mix mineral spirits but don't know how well it will work for you. I recommend mixing about 1/10 of all the ingredients of what your recipe calls for so if you don't like it you won't be stuck with 10 years' worth of wax brew. Lots of strong opinions of what is the best concoction so try a few yourself and decide what works for you. I tried various wax brews for around 15k miles of experimenting and decided I would rather not use waxing but others love it. A little bit like everything having to do with cycling.

Wattsup

I just asked it. The answer:

"Yes, using wax-based bike chain lube can help prolong the life of your chain by reducing friction and wear. Wax-based lubricants create a dry and clean lubricating film that provides excellent protection against wear and tear. They do not attract dirt and debris like oil-based lubricants do, which can contribute to premature chain wear."

Polaris OBark

Now insert the word "personal" and see what it replies.

smd4

Gigo.

papaki72

Gave it a try and after almost five (!) minutes it gave me an answer : ))))




I must say I'm impressed. It seems like a summary of all you could google about best chain lubes.

squirtdad

Lol, rock and roll gold is a favorite, I have used Chain-L and trying the silca super secret. I can't be bothered to hot wax a chain

papaki72

Now I am on Silca Synergetic, an excellent drip lube. I would like to try the Silca Super Secret, but after the messy hell I had with Squirt I'm afraid I would mess things up with that too. Squirt was all quiet, but after a couple of rides the pulleys of my RD had a hard time. Is Silca Super Secret messy/sticky?

squirtdad

Silca super secret goes on as a thick liquid and then drys clean.....only limited miles on it so far, seems good.

GhostRider62

Not for me.

When you apply liquid chain wax, do you let it sit over night for the carrier to evaporate? If you apply and ride, you get yuck

BadAtThis

The best lubricant for a chain is the dry silicone type imo

papaki72

Yes, that's what I did. I cleaned and dried my chain, warmed up Squirt, set it to the largest gog in the read and the big chainring in front applied on the inside and backpedaled for 20 or more.
Then, after a couple of days went out. It was the quietest ride I had for a long time. The same was the second, but when trying to clean with a cloth the dirt, it was grey and large pieces of it where everywhere in the rear derailleur. I have the suspicion that the chain was not 100% clean and some contamination of the old lubricants might ruined it, but it was so messy that I decided to wipe it completely clean and try something else. Silica Synergetic that I use now, does a great job and although a drip lube, it is very clean. I will give Silca Super Secret a go and perhaps at some time I will try again Squirt (I have a 500ml of it ).

cyccommute 

Yes, you can mix mineral spirits with wax like that. It likely won’t be liquid however. The wax/mineral spirits ratio in that mixture is about 1:1 but you probably need closer to 1:5 or higher to make it flow properly. Commercial solvent wax is generally 60% to 90% solvent.

But, as with most any “I’m going to save money by doing it myself” scheme, you likely aren’t going to save money because you are going to have to fool around with the formulation until you find the right proportions. Each experiment is probably going to cost you more than just buying any one of several products that are available. 8 oz of White Lightning will cost you about $14. Making your own will cost you more than that. The PTFE powder will cost you $15 for about 5 to 10 times what you need. A pound of wax is about $7. A quart of mineral spirits is another $9 per quart. To do 60% mineral spirits, you’ll need two or $18. To do 90% mineral spirit, you’ll need 8 or 9 quarts (about $81 worth). Then you’ll need a double boiler…using the one you use for tempering chocolate probably isn’t a good idea. Plus something to store the up to 2.5 gallons of lubricant in and something to use to dispense it. And somewhere to store the home brew for the next 25 years.

Just buy it.

RCMoeur 

I started long ago with a tin of something called R.J. Hock brand Chainwax™. I used it mostly on chains that I might rub up against or might rub against other items, such as on the Bike Friday, the tandem timing chain, and the looong chain on the recumbent. Recently I decided to move more chains to wax, especially the KMC Rustbusters that are supposedly inherently corrosion-resistant.

As the original wax dwindled, I looked around for an additional wax I could use to mix in to replenish. I thought toilet gasket seal wax (yes, unused) might be good due to its adhesion and pliability. Hint: don't use that - it's OK, but messy.

I've since replenished with common paraffin and industrial PTFE powder (the powder is clumpy until a few melt cycles, even with stirring). I re-wax each bike on a 500-mile schedule. I've found I no longer have to scrub the chain as it's no longer retaining dirt - a big time-saver. I just re-dunk, stir to get bubbles & air voids out, let sit a few, pull out & hang to catch drips, and reinstall until the next 500-mile interval. I seem to be getting better service life with waxing, and no squeaks, added resistance, or rust spots in between dunkings.

Eric F 

I started using SSS on my gravel bike about a month ago. It didn't take me long to do a deep clean of the chains on my other bikes and start running SSS on those, too. It quickly became apparent that the drivetrain stays much cleaner.

papaki72

Great advice, thank you! It was all costs considered what made me try Squirt. Unfortunately it did not work for me. I don't blame Squirt, it might be me doing something wrong using it. At some point I will have a go with other products like Silca Secret (I might try White Lightning, but it will go through customs to get it where I live). Indeed, bothering making it myself might just cost more (and also might fail, I have a tendency towards such).

cyccommute 

Just to be clear, I was using White Lightning for comparison purposes. I use it but whatever you want to use or have available will work just as well.

The key to using solvent wax is to keep everything simple and to have different expectations compared to oil based lubricants. I strip the factory lubricant from the chain upon installation and don’t have to clean it again until it is worn out. Your chain will not be as quiet in use as oil but it won’t be as messy either. You don’t need to relube with solvent wax nearly as often as suggested by the manufacturer either. I get from 200 to about 600 miles between applications (currently running a test to actually quantify that number).

etherhuffer 

Cyclists need a cool product name like surfer's have: Dr Zog's Sex Wax. If we had a cool chain lube name then everyone would be satisfied!

squirtdad

course dr Zogs is meant to be sticky so don't try it as chain lube.....as someone is sure to. and surfwax in general has good names, sticksbumps, FU wax, Mrs. palmers, etc I kinda like the Chain-L name for chaing oil with the play on perfume names