Originally Posted by
Poppit
Not really, at a guess you're probably only looking at a couple of watts, waxed chain will be around 5 watts and the carbon chainring around 3 watts so do all 3 and it could be around 10 watts. Marginal gains?
https://www.shopforwatts.co.uk/blogs/news
I'd be surprised if the difference vs. Al or Steel is even that much. If the teeth are shaped right, there's not a whole lot of rubbing between the chain and cog- the friction is mostly inside the chain and takes place when you bend the chain as it wraps to the chainring or cog diameter (which is why bigger chainring & cog for the same gear is less lossy - less bend). Watch a belt drive as it goes around - all it has to do is bend - there's no rubbing once it's captured.
The feel on a carbon cog is probably a whole lot better when you rip the teeth off - it's like there's no chain at all.