Kontact 

I have never seen an oiled chain rhat didn't leave black marks after 20 miles of riding.

SoSmellyAir

If both you and your wife each have multiple bikes in active rotation, why are multiple chains per bike still needed? Just stagger the maintenance so that each of you would still have at least one bike to ride.

himespau 

If you mainly ride on a trainer indoors and have cats that are jealous of the amount of time you spend on the bike (and show it by rubbing up against the bike whenever you are nearby or on the bike), yes, absolutely. 100%. If that doesn't describe you, I don't know. You'll have to figure that out for yourself.

masi61

I like the quiet-ness of a freshly waxed bike chain. I also like the cleanliness of it. Having clean chainrings and clean cassette cogs that stay that way is a nice bonus. By using Wippermann Connex quick links it is easy to run a 2 chain system. When I remember that on my previous ride the chain was becoming more noisy I usually have my backup ready to go and I can change it in less than 5 minutes prior to my next ride. Somewhere along this mechanical journey I believe I have also tuned into optimizing the operation of my rear derailleur tension, optimal chain length, indexing adjustments and knowing when the chain is due for replacement so that I can swap it out before it starts to wreck my chainrings or my cassette cogs.

smd4

Sounds like maybe you haven’t seen a properly oiled chain.

Polaris OBark

i.e., a chain oiled with wax.

cyccommute 

Softens it. The “wax” most people use is candle or canning wax. Both are “hard” waxes which means they are rather inflexible and mostly just break off. A “soft wax” is more flexible. Petroleum jelly is probably the most common soft wax that people have experience with in addition to factory wax lubricant. Both would soften a hard wax because they form a solution with hard wax which changes the properties of the hard wax.

Kontact 

Must be. But it seems like it would take a special oil that doesn't pick up dust or metal and a drivetrain that doesn't wear.

cyccommute 

Band saw blades as well. These guys make waxes for chains in various applications, especially dusty conditions. This company talks about the lubricating functions of wax as well.

Frankly, the distinction between “oil” and “wax” is a bit nebulous. They are both part of a homologous series with similar properties but different molecular weights.

cyccommute 

Oil is used because it flows. If you put it on and wipe off the “excess”, there is still oil inside the chain. Moving the chain or even just letting it stand, allows the oil to migrate to the outside where you have to wipe off the excess. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum. There is no such thing as a “properly oiled chain” that doesn’t have oil on the outside and that translates into a black gunky chain which leave black gunk everywhere.

How often do you clean your “properly oiled chain”? My pictures above were for chains that were in the middle of their service duty. They are clean and the chain can be handled without getting gunk all over everywhere. I only need to clean the chain once. I seldom need to clean the rest of the drivetrain at all. I’ve used oil in the past. I have never experienced an oiled chain that is “clean” and I have handled tens of thousands of oiled chains.

MikeWMass

I use a method that was explained years ago by a guy named Garth on the old Bicycling forum.
I clean a new chain in oderless mineral spirits
heat in a tin pan in a 200 degree oven
Sprinkle with powdered graphite (optional)
Rub with a votive candle (or whatever solid wax you prefer)
Turn it over and repeat.
One last bake for 5 minutes or so
Let cool, flex over the pan to remove the excess wax and put back on the bike.
I generally go 700-1K miles between treatments
My drivetrain and hands stay as clean as in the post by Cyccomute above (actually my hands stay cleaner because I use nitrile gloves when working on my bike or changing a flat on the road).
Don't have to deal with a pot of melted wax or dripping chains.

SoSmellyAir

Petroleum jelly (e.g. Vaseline) and factory lubricant are both tacky (i.e., exhibit mild adhesiveness). So if I soften canning wax (or any other high purity paraffin wax) by mixing in some factory lube, would the resulting wax also be more tacky and thus pick up more debris?

Polaris OBark

Yes.

You might be better off mixing in some mineral spirits. I found that softens the wax without making it more tacky. Basically, you are adding some lower melting-point, lower molecular weight wax molecules to the mixture. I also found I had to reapply more often.

cyccommute 

It would depend on the proportions. It would take a lot of either to make canning wax that soft. But a little (experimentation would be needed) could make the canning wax softer without being tacky.

dedhed

you've obviously never owned a chainsaw.

SkinGriz

Maybe small bandsaws?

The bandsaw I used was lubed with antifreeze.

Russ Roth

My mortiser uses wax on the slides and gear, the radial arm saw uses it on the post that raises and lowers the arm. The bandsaw, table saw, jointer and planer all have their cast iron tables/work surfaces waxed to inhibit rust and make the surface smoother for the boards to move over.

OP, I used wax for a short period on my road bike and seemed to have to wax every other day or the chain sounded dry and squeaky, even had the noise start same day it was waxed after riding 75 miles. Not good when multiple people get annoyed enough with the sound that they offer the shop tech that fixes their bikes, lube so he can fix his own. But the newerwaxes seem a lot better and I will be starting to wax my kids' track bikes since those don't experience rain, snow or mud and if they hold up well I might experiment with the road bikes. Honestly I'm lazy and I keep a small bottle of prolink lube and some rags in my car. If I notice a chain seems dry or poorly lubed I'll give the pedals a spin while dripping lube on the chain, let it sit a moment and then hold a rag to the chain while spinning the pedals till everything looks clean. Doesn't seem to make a mess or drip anything all over, but not a long process

Darth Lefty 

People have written walls and walls of prose about how it’s a waste of time

cyccommute 

The bandsaw I used in the staff shop at work wasn’t small. We used wax sticks like this. Cut aluminum, steel, and plastic.

GhostRider62

Front chain has 800 miles on it from a hot wax, guilty for not rewaxing sooner but recovering from Covid and a bit lazy. I can rub my hand on it and not leave a mark.

Rear chain is lubed with liquid wax and is a little gunkier. It is on a recumbent and is more of a PITA to remove and therefore doesn't get as much love.

To redo the hot wax, I turn the crockpot on and throw the chain into it. After being in the melted wax for a while, I remove it and wipe off the excess wax from the exterior plate surfaces. Reinstall. Perhaps not kosher because I'm sort of using the wax to displace any metal particles but it achieves two purposes with one stone. Hands stay clean and no solvents although I use them to strip off the factory wax and if the chain got nasty but the front chain will get waxed soon, it is overdue

elcruxio

Stove always has the risk of overheating and fire. I do have a transportable hob at the garage I use for experiments, but the actual maintenance waxing happens in the slow cooker, which can't really overheat the wax.

Drip wax can supplement hot waxing, but it doesn't flush the chain clean. Extended use of drip waxing can start introducing wear due to the contamination locked inside the chain by the wax.
Of course in hot waxing that contamination is transferred to the hot wax, but it's easy enough to clean by scraping the bottom of the hardened puck clean every year or so. But for touring purposes I think drip waxing is the way to go.

I did use a hob and pot when I started out and I still do with experimental waxes. However I find my method to be far less work.

I only have to melt wax once in two to three months. I power the slow cooker on and in an hour or so I'll have a pot of wax which hasn't overheated and hasn't caught fire. And If I've been smart all of the chains are already waxed by that time. A stovetop requires one to watch over the melting process lest the wax overheats or starts vaporizing or catches fire. It's also easy to inadvertently overheat the wax on a stovetop as the wax at the bottom of the pot can already be way too hot while the surface is still solid. It's not uncommon to get the bottom wax to 150C or more while the top is still solid. Going over 100C isn't great for the wax. So the melting needs to be done with pretty low heat anyway and that takes time that could be spent better.

I treat all used chains at once and that's the main workload I do only every few months. The sorting doesn't really take time as every bike has a peg where the chains of said bike are hanged. So I just hang the chains to drip. When they're cooled I take them off the wire tools and hang them on the pegs. Used chains get put on the same peg already laced in the waxing wire tool so no mixups are possible.

If I treated every chain individually I'd be spending more time on watching over the wax and I'd spend more time with the actual waxing process since I wouldn't get the time bonus of treating multiple chains at once. Now I have far more say in when I do the waxing. And while waiting for the wax to melt I can either do something useful around the house, get some work done, or drink beer and do other bike maintenance tasks that have accumulated to my to do list.

Mainly because we like to choose which bike we'd like to use on any particular day. I sometimes use my touring bike for utility and utility bike for just riding around. And I use the fatbike for a suprisingly high amount of utility. The wife prefers her touring bike for commuting but uses the commuter if she has things to do in the city. But in the summer she commutes with the road bike too.
It's just easier having every bike usable and ready to go whenever we want to use them. If a bike was in maintenance queue when I wanted to use it, that'd be a real bummer.

Kontact 

If you put the chain in a small sauce pan on the stovetop on the lowest setting and put the puck of wax on top of the chain, 7 minutes later when the puck has fully liquified the chain is at full temp and you take it off the heat. Nothing has time to overheat and there is no soak time necessary because the chain gets hot, first. It is impossible to screw up, unless you can't stand 7 minutes of doing something else in the kitchen.

Kontact 

You either used the wrong wax, didn't heat the chain enough to get the wax into it or heated the chain so much that the wax flowed back out during cooling. Normal wax doesn't get squeaky in 75 miles when applied correctly.

smd4

I just ran my chain, one revolution of the cranks, while grasping it with some white TP. OK, there's a little, barely visible residue. Hard to see in most light. Wouldn't come off when I just used my hand. Definitely not "black and gunky." Which, if this is what you're seeing, makes me think you don't know what a properly-lubed chain should look like.

Yeah... as you've suggested, I really don't need to clean my chain that often. One really deep-cleaning actually, since it was installed. But when things start looking a little black, I'll take it off and clean it, while at the same time thoroughly cleaning the cogs, RD pulleys, chainrings and crank.

In my years at the bike shop, it was my experience that even so-called "knowledgeable" cyclists use WAY too much oil on their chains. I'll say that again: WAY. TOO. MUCH. OIL. I guess it falls under the adage of, if a little is good, lots must be way better.

Hondo6

And the religious wars continue . . . .