Immersive waxing / it should be more popular
08-26-22, 08:26 AM
#226
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08-26-22, 08:39 AM
#228
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Then there's brake clean, acetone. I worked next to a guy who washed everything off with brake clean or carb cleaner. Brain damage.
08-26-22, 08:43 AM
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Let me spell it out - I'd rather spend more time riding and less time maintaining my bike and, for me, over the course of tens of thousands of miles, waxing has proven to be the best solution to that end. Do you think that's an example of not valuing my time?
08-26-22, 08:44 AM
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08-26-22, 08:47 AM
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08-26-22, 08:49 AM
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In almost 50 years of working on cars I have consumed more than my share of petro chemicals. Huffing gasoline sucks, gives me headaches, and I read that the volatiles in it are absorbed through the skin.
Then there's brake clean, acetone. I worked next to a guy who washed everything off with brake clean or carb cleaner. Brain damage.
Then there's brake clean, acetone. I worked next to a guy who washed everything off with brake clean or carb cleaner. Brain damage.
I think I will be OK though lubing my chain once a week with an aerosol based lubricant.
08-26-22, 09:00 AM
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I guarantee I am spending less time maintaining and more time riding than you are.
08-26-22, 09:03 AM
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08-26-22, 09:13 AM
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I don't want or need a spotlessly clean chain - I want a non-grimy chain.
08-26-22, 09:14 AM
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08-26-22, 09:14 AM
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10 pages about chain lube. 
08-26-22, 09:15 AM
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08-26-22, 09:16 AM
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08-26-22, 09:31 AM
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If you had just bothered to read the whole post before responding to it you wouldn’t have to go through all this work to pretend that you didn’t miss something that you obviously did.
08-26-22, 09:48 AM
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People don't need to be anal-retentive for waxing to make sense as a time (and hassle) saver. Frankly, the most fastidiously clean drivetrains that I've seen have certainly not belonged to people that wax. Go figure.
08-26-22, 10:10 AM
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Let's talk about the lubing methods a little deeper. We could compare it to the options cyclists have when they want to remove body hair. They have the longer lasting products/processes such as Nair, Nads or Lazer removal. Like chain waxing, those products might do a better job and require a lot less overall time/maintenance. Then we have ordinary shaving which is similar to ordinary chain lubing. Definitely requires more maintenance than the other methods and doesn't last as long. You'd think shaving would be the least popular method, but that's not the case. I wonder why?
I mentioned hair removal in this post, but haven't got a response yet.
08-26-22, 10:27 AM
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08-26-22, 10:35 AM
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I've been thinking the same ting since this thread started. Total immersion - face, legs and anywhere else I care about stays shave free for how long? Could be a real time saver. And if you are going to fill the tub with wax, you might as well bring your chain. (Sounds kinky but we do this to keep our chains kink-free, right?)
08-26-22, 11:02 AM
#248
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Frankly, I don't know what the upper bounds of cleanliness with waxing looks like, and I'm not interested in finding out. I don't bother with wiping down my chain immediately after waxing, or anything like that, and the wax that I use is black/gray, so the plates certainly aren't sparkling. Does the chain run smooth? Yes. Can a grab the chain barehanded without getting grubby hands? Yes. Is there any buildup of road grime? No. Does my drivetrain look like I just pulled it out of an ultrasonic bath? No. IOW, it's functionally clean with minimal work, but it's not showroom sparkly.
I can think of a few guys IRL and on the forum that keep immaculate wet lube drivetrains (I like being on the wheel of one of the guys in my club - his cassette is so mesmerizingly shiny that it distracts from uncomfortable efforts). I shudder to think about the amount of work that I'd have to go through for that - I suspect that that's a different kind of obsessiveness than what would make waxing appealing. Maybe some people that wax are obsessed with cosmetic cleanliness, but I can't say that I can recall any; most seem to be interested in it for functional/practical reasons.
08-26-22, 11:07 AM
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You can define it however you like. But, your statement was "the most fastidiously clean drivetrains that I've seen have certainly not belonged to people that wax." So, if the cleanest drivetrains were non-waxed, doesn't that nullify the most commonly cited advantage of waxing?
08-26-22, 11:09 AM
#250
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You can define it however you like. But, your statement was "the most fastidiously clean drivetrains that I've seen have certainly not belonged to people that wax." So, if the cleanest drivetrains were non-waxed, doesn't that nullify the most commonly cited advantage of waxing?