tomato coupe

Where is all this hate that's being spewed?

yaw

I remember frequently scraping the squirt gunk out of the jockey wheels and between the cage plates with tooth picks and paper towels. The squirt would work itself past the ridge and actually build up in the cutouts of the jockey.

Now for more immersive wax photo evidence, the last time I touched this one is when I overhauled the jockey bearings in January:

Eric F 

I'm not having that issue, but it might be largely to do with not letting things go unattended long enough to build up that much residue where it shouldn't be. Maybe there's also differences between drip wax lubes.

I'm not claiming my way is better than anyone else's, or trying to convince anyone that they should do anything differently. This is just what I'm doing currently, and it's working for me.

mackgoo

Where are you in OC? I'm in Laguna Beach for a few weeks then back home to San Clemente.

Troul 

the build up is more likely related to the previous lubricant/stuff used & allowing the new treatment to bond with it. Cleaning the drivetrain & the chain for a fresh start with waxing should ressolve most of that build up. It'll never be spotless nor 100% "gunk" free.

venturi95

Maybe not "hate", but the tone seems degrading. NOT picking on you specifically.

SoSmellyAir

Irvine.

yaw

Nah I did a reset on everything when switching from devil juice to squirt, it's just the fact that squirt does not set nearly as hard as hot melt wax and therefore attracts particles and gums up the drivetrain. If you properly work it into the chain, where it needs to be, it will eventually squeeze out between the plates and deposit. Keeping squirt from gumming up would mean some TLC after each ride and I have better things to do.

Other drip on waxes may differ in viscosity, sure. I heard the Silca stuff sets much better and has a lot, or everything, in common with their hot melt formula (emulsified using mainly water, so the main drawback is a less thorough penetration and lack of full reset), but from memory that stuff wasn't around when I was on drip wax.

Needless to say, with immersive waxing there is no build up beyond the thin layer of wax at chain contact points visible in my previous photos. What squeezes out is much more likely to flake off than accumulate anywhere. Again, that's with a wax regime that's not trying to supercoat the chain with semi cooled down wax, as some people continue to spread as being a good way of doing it.

Troul 

Lombard's issue might have been to what I outlined though? At least it would seem to be so as I ran in to similar gummy issues with a half cared for drivetrain & going to wax route.

SoSmellyAir

Not really sure what Lombard's issue might have been other than he seems to be against waxing?

Yes, gummy or greasy residue on the drive train results from a less than thorough removal of oil-based lubricant from the chain prior to waxing. I experienced this when I tried to use only acetone to clean the chain before managing to buy odorless mineral spirits, which is not easy to buy in California. A properly waxed chain would still get black residue due to road grit, but such residue has a dusty texture and can be brushed off easily.

SpedFast

[QUOTE= A properly waxed chain would still get black residue due to road grit, but such residue has a dusty texture and can be brushed off easily.[/QUOTE]

That's a good point. When I pick up lots of road grime between waxing, I simply use an old paint brush with long bristles to clean out everything. No soapy water so I don't have to re-lube just to do a light cleaning, especially the DR's.

yaw

Seems like at times in the conversation above drip wax was conflated with immersive wax, key piece of information is that they set and behave differently when it comes to drivetrain gunk and contamination.

yaw

The photo stealers at Silca just released a chain stripper to prep factory greased chains for waxing with one solvent in a 10 minute application, offering an alternative to the usual hardware store multi-chemical multi-step prep. Obviously in a bid to lower the barriers to entry for those who were put off by the current prep requirements or the extra cost of buying a pre-waxed chain.
Keen to hear people's reports on this stuff. Unfortunately my chains last too long to require a new one for stripping any time soon

Camilo

Bold underline added Multi chemical and multi step? You put mineral spirits in a jar, put the chain in, shake it, remove it, dry it. I guess that's multi steps.

yaw

It would be if you'd do it properly, following up the mineral spirits with acetone or alcohol or whatever to get the residue off, and you'd do a few shake ups of each to get it all out.

SoSmellyAir

You don't have to remove all traces of the OMS "with acetone or alcohol or whatever." The reason we use a second, successive bath of OMS is to remove residual grease and/or particles on the chain after the first bath of OMS. As cyccommute has mentioned many times in this and other waxing threads, the OMS itself would dissolve into, mix with, and slightly dilute the paraffin. To the extent that you are concerned with this slight dilution, add a little paraffin.

yaw

SoSmellyAir No doubt the world is not going to end if the second round of chemicals to strip the first is omitted, however, I prefer to do it right when messing with this stuff in the first place. For that final rinse, 100% isopropanol works a treat, and the rest of the bottle serves as an ideal rotor cleaner. The reason I would give that Silca stuff a shot if I was in the market for chain prepping is mainly the volatile solvent free formula.

BCDrums

Obviously in a bid to remove any residue of cash from an obsessive's wallet.

SoSmellyAir

I have been considering Simple Green Aircraft cleaner as an alternative to odorless mineral spirits.

Simple Green - SMP13406 Extreme Aircraft and Precision Cleaner, 1 Gallon Bottle 13406: Household Cleaners: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Eric F 

I've been using the Silca Super Secret drip wax. Maybe that's why my experiences haven't really matched what yours were with squirt.

yaw

Yes that is very likely. SSS is runny and penetrates well and seems to set more like hot wax when the water content has evaporated after several hours, hence why it can be used to top up immersion waxed chains without clashing, whereas Squirt is thick to begin with and always stays a bit gummy. I don't doubt that a couple of applications of a formula like the SSS to saturate the chain can really work well. But I still think that immersion is worth it for complete saturation, and much more importantly, the complete flush reset each time, out with all the old wax and contamination, in with all the new. But if for whatever reason that isn't attractive enough, I think SSS, or anything formulated like it, is a drip on winner any day.

Psimet2001 

Listening to Josh's latest podcast this morning - the SSS should be fine but immersion is "5%" 'better'.

msu2001la

Since we're documenting stuff for the record...

A few weeks ago I did my first waxing. For the prep I stripped two chains (one brand new and one with around 500 miles on it). For the stripping I used OMS + Acetone. I also gave the two cassettes I use a good scrubbing and soaking with OMS as well. I cleaned up the chainring and RD pulleys with some spray-cleaner and a brush.

For hot wax I used Silca secret chain blend with "nano-scale tungsten disulfide". Sounds fast, right?

I waxed, dried, broke the links up and installed the chain. It ran a little rough in the stand - I took it out for a spin around the block and it seemed to settle down. The next morning I went out for a 20 mile gravel ride on some dry/dusty trails near me. Here's what things looked like after that ride, no cleaning:





Here's what my bike looks like this morning, after two weeks ~ 190 miles and zero cleanings later. This is a different wheelset/cassette - used for roughly 100 of those 190 miles:






There is a little bit of wax gunk on the sides of a few links. I could probably wipe the chain down with a dry towel and remove a lot of that. I would still describe my drivetrain as "clean" and there's no real dirt or gunk coming off on my hands if I grab the chain.

The chain is still running quiet and I actually came in here to ask people how long they typically go between waxings. I have a second waxed chain ready to go and can swap anytime. I am planning to ride around 120 miles between Friday and Saturday - I'll probably wash the rest of my bike tomorrow, so I'm thinking I'll swap the chain tomorrow as well just so I know I'm good to go.

Do I need to do anything to the current chain before re-waxing? Or am I literally just dropping it into the wax as-is?

SoSmellyAir

Chain looks clean. In my experience, the initial rough shifting can be eliminated by a quick wipe of just the side plates of the chain right after you pull the chain out of the wax, so that less wax dries on the outside of the chain, where it is not really needed.

On my road bike I wax the chain about every 300 miles. Have just started waxing on my gravel bike so I have not established an interval yet. If you are going to wash the bike anyway, remove the chain first, and install a newly waxed one after washing the bike.

I usually immerse the chain in OMS in a glass jar and shake for a minute or two, then air dry for about 10 minutes, before submerging it into the Crock Pot for rewaxing. The quick OMS bath removes the wax gunk and any road debris, keeping the wax clean.

Troul 

250 to 350 miles before I usually redip it; conditions contingent.
YMMV

After 250 miles, I may only apply the drip wax if majority of the miles were "clean" [no wet conditions] & I notice a rough chain... that typically extends the miles about 100 or so.