elcruxio

Our chains last longer and there's noticeably less friction at least compared to an oiled chain in the middle of winter.

Yeah the surface rust can become a nuisance if you're a stickler for that shiny chain look. But even if surface rust does look a bit iffy it's not actually detrimental.

When one of our bikes gets ridden past a swapping threshold I take the old chain off, put a freshly waxed chain on and reset the trip counter. I never feel the urge to rewax after rides. In fact used chains might hang around for a month or two before I get to rewaxing all our chains in bulk.

Well I mean... I ride in the extreme wet* and I sorta feel wax is by far the best solution for that. If enough road salt is present there's no amount of oil that can counter that. In the end both waxed and oiled chains need to be thoroughly washed periodically.

With an oiled chain what's required is a full degrease so that you're left with a shiny dry chain. To achieve this you'll need at least some sort of solvent. Even though bike degreasers are getting more effective and environmentally friendly, you might still need quite a bit to clean a stubborn chain. I had one that didn't come clean even after two weeks soaking and shaking in naphta.

And you need to clean the drivetrain too or you'll just smear all the old salt on the newly cleaned chain.

With a waxed chain you need to boil a chain in water and rewax. You may need to spray the drivetrain with water from time to time too just so you get rid of excess salt.

For me and our conditions wax is a no brainer.

*Wet salty roads and frequent slushy rain.

phughes

I use leftover bacon grease. I find I am much faster when I use that on my chain. I have to be to outrun the bears.

squirtdad

I want to to find a way to get karate kid wax on / wax of quote in, but alas brain is not working

I personally can't be bothered with the melted wax, which is not so say it is right or wrong.

I do like the liquid Silca super secret liquid wax lube, it is now my go to
My previous go to was rock and roll gold.

I have also used Chain-L and it is good stuff if messier and would use it more in really wet situations.

so for now keep it simple Silca super secret and Phil's grease (had to slip the grease discussion in)

PeteHski

I use this stuff too. It’s no more time consuming than lubing with oil, but a lot cleaner. Before Silca I used Squirt drip wax for years, which is not bad. But the Silca drip wax seems a bit more tenacious, backed up by the testing on zfc, which I find a very useful resource for this kind of thing.

SpedFast

Definitely one with a battery.

SpedFast

I use scented candles. Does that mean I have to 'start' outrunning the girls?

squirtdad

Worry more about bears

Kai Winters

nothing to add...felt like i had to say it...

rosefarts

Here is a little story.

The other day, through my own stupidity, I bent a link in my chain in half. I was using my manual/wheelie machine and had the chain off. Somehow this happened.

I shortened the chain a link but didn’t like it, since the new shorter length required me to back out the b-screw too much and the derailleur looked unhappy hitting that big ol 52 in the back.

I took my second waxed chain out and put it on. Since it was new, I sized it to exactly what I wanted. I put it on the bike and went and rode.

I’ll revisit the “old” chain (20 miles total, gold XX1) later with some quick links and a little disgust with myself.

Now, everything I just did is totally possible with any lubrication scheme if you have a spare chain. What's cool about this, is that I did the whole process barehanded and was clean enough that I could have eaten right after. Literally nothing but a couple flakes of dry wax on my hands.

I’ve decided for my conditions (central Oregon moon dust) that wax is the way to go. I’ll be rotating 3 chains this season. Regardless of the slight extra time, I’m sold on the cleanliness.

bbbean 

1) In my personal experience, waxed chains are faster, last longer, and are cleaner.
2) Don't be so cynical. When the entire industry embraces a technology, multiple vendors publish their test results, and third party testing services back up the claims, you can feel pretty confident they aren't all just trying to sell you a $15 bottle of drip wax once or twice a year. See https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/
3) If you try it and don't like it, you're out a little time and roughly the cost of a fast food lunch. Easy enough to do something else if you decide you don't like it.

bbbean 

Using drip wax is the exact same process. No more complicated of time consuming than using oil.

13ollocks

I run gold chains - one of the nice things about wax is that, after several hundred miles, my chain still looks gold

phughes

So... just how long does your waxed chain last compared to an oiled chain, and does that take into account running multiple chains when using a wax method, vs the one chain used when oiled? Also, just how well does it work in the rain compared to oil? So, to recap, exactly how many miles do you get from a single waxed chain vs an oiled identical chain? I shall await your data. Thanks.

Eric F 

Why must his preferences be justified by self-performed scientific data collection under tightly-controlled conditions? Do you know a lot of riders who do this kind of thing with their bike parts?

cyccommute 

I'm currently running a test on mine. Single chain using White Lightning Clean Ride. It currently has 990 miles on it and has been lubricated 2 times...initial lubrication, 430 miles and 694 miles (264 miles for that application). It currently has 295 miles on the last application for a total distance of 990 miles. Wear is currently below 0.5% with a Park CC-3.2 chain checker.

Someone else is going to have to do the oiled chain. I refuse to use oil...even in the name of science.

phughes

He doesn't, and I'm not against waxing. this statement however, is not personal preference though, so I just want to see how he came to that conclusion. "1) In my personal experience, waxed chains are faster, last longer, and are cleaner."

So in other words, knowing more from someone who actually uses the wax based product on their chain, can help others make a decision. Is that okay?

Eric F 

Have you tried other wax drip lubes? I've only used the Silca Super Secret. I like it, but I don't have any frame of reference for comparison. I've heard people talk about long-term build-up issues with Squirt, which is something I haven't encountered with the Silca stuff. That said, I'm also pretty regular with touch-up maintenance to minimize those kinds of issues.

phughes

I would l also postulate that if a chain does last longer for those who use wax, it may simply be due to more frequent, and thorough chain cleaning, which could also be done to a chain that is oiled, thereby negating any longevity advantage of waxing.

Eric F 

My rub with your comment is that it's requesting actions that people don't generally do in order to validate their preference/conclusion, based on their own experiences. I've reached the same conclusion based on my experiences and the data available from ZFC, who have done the testing under controlled conditions.

phughes

Well, you will be happy to know I didn't ask you to do anything, or provide any data. I have also read reports from ZFC, and still, i like real world data from bikes actually ridden in the real world. not that I question an a manufacturer of a product showing their type of product is better than others.

Once again, I am not against wax based lubes. They are great, especially for keeping things clean. I also asked about how well they hold up in wet conditions. Oil based lubes work very well in the wet. I personally have never had issues with bad chain wear, most chains lasting thousands of miles, even being a bit neglected. MY current chain has over 2500 miles on it at the moment, and isn't even close to worn out. It still measures close to new. So will a wax based lube get me 10,000 miles from a chain? 20,000 miles? Will I never have to buy a new chain for the rest of my life?

Sorry you took issue with my simple questions that were not even directed at you. I asked because I was genuinely curious and interested. Since you took such offense to my question, I took it to the absurd in this post, but I am genuinely curious to hear the actually answers from the actual person I asked, based on their assertion that their personal experience is that their, the actual person I asked, chains last longer with a wax based lube, and it seems they use the one I am interested in if I ever go that route. I also specifically wanted to know, from the actual person I asked with no malice or trolling, how that particular wax based product performed in wet conditions.

phughes

And therein lies the rub, controlled conditions, by a company who markets lubes. I want real world data which it why I asked.

Eric F 

IMO, what you're asking for is unrealistic. You would need to run 2 chains - one waxed and one oiled - on the same bike, at the same time, for them to encounter the exact same conditions. Otherwise, variations in riding conditions may affect the results. I have seen nothing in ZFC's testing that indicates a subjective bias in their data collection or reporting.

As others have said, if you try it and don't like it, you're not out very much for the experiment. For me, just the cleanliness of wax compared to oil was enough to justify using it on all my bikes. A difference in chain lifespan is inconsequential to me. When I first used wax, it seemed like things were operating more efficiently. Since I haven't gone back to oil (and won't) I can't confirm whether or not it was a real feeling or my imagination. ZFC's data supports what I think I felt.

bbbean 

Noting that n=1 data is closer to anecdote than data, I can tell you that when I was oiling, I'd replace the chain on my primary bike (5000-8000 miles/yr) every 2500-4000 miles or so. I'm now rotating two waxed chains on my primary road bike for the third season, so each chain has 4-5000 miles, and according to my chain checker, I'm nowhere near replacement. If the wear stays consistent, I don't see any reason I shouldn't get 8-10,000 miles out of the chains. That's doing a hot dip every 500-1000 miles and using drip wax as needed (typically every 100-200 miles).

In my experience, the wax holds up about as well as oil in the rain. If I get rained on, I'm re-waxing, just like I used to re-oil right after a rain. I do also run a waxed chain on my cx/gravel bike, and wax responds similarly to oil in the mud.

BB

phughes

Thanks! I appreciate it. That's the info I was looking for. Any issues with rust after rain?

alcjphil

I have sort of skimmed this thread. Has anyone yet offered this suggestion?

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html