MB33 

I've always put the bike together, got the cables where I wanted them, then waxed the bike. The plan was to do the same on the white PX10 project I'm finishing. But after putting the front brake on the fork and getting grease marks all over the fork legs, and spending 15 minutes cleaning and polishing the grease off, I'm rethinking the process before I move on to final assembly.
If you were to wax the frame first, what areas would you make sure to keep wax free? Would top tube cable clamps have issues clamping firm over a coat of wax?
I use Johnson's in the yellow can, if that matters.

JohnDThompson 

It's much easier to thoroughly clean and polish a bare frame than one that has components installed.

tolfan

How do you get grease marks installing a break? What grease do you use to install brakes

notenoughdaylig 

Headset maybe?

ryansu

I usually strip the bike down to the frame as it is much easier to clean everything that way and to wax the frame and fork, I tend wipe it down with armor all wipes first and then use a Meguiars 3 step; cleaner, polish, Carnauba wax treatment on frames I really like and perhaps just turtle wax if I am in a hurry. Waxing a frame does wonders to restoring the paint and protecting it. Even really oxidized paint can come back



before


After

SurferRosa

If the horse won't pull the cart in the first place, there's no reason to put the horse out front.

Wait, what?

Lascauxcaveman 

Yes.

RiddleOfSteel

Wax before. It makes logical sense as there is as much access to everything as possible. Additionally, once the "core" of the bike is as best it can be, it's a morale booster ("It's so beautiful! Now I want to build it up!") and mental "resting point" where you know that the innermost work is done and now one can work to hang all the jewelry onto it. Why anyone would wax after everything is installed and in the way makes no sense to me. I don't even really like cleaning a bike that's fully assembled--wheels off at minimum just to get to places (behind the cranks???) that are hard to reach. Too much hassle to wax at completion when it's immensely easier to do so when just a bare frame. And really, any bike or frame that comes into my possession gets a full disassembly and cleaning + waxing + overhaul.

Kuromori

After, because I'm not going to strip down a frame just to apply some wax. There's nothing wrong with waxing a frame before building it up, but it's not like wax is a permanent clearcoat that gets applied once and only once.

2cam16

Always before for me. Nothing gets in my way as opposed to after with all the parts installed.

MB33 

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to wax the PX10 first this time. It seems that my worries of the wax coat causing assembly issues are unfounded. However, I am going to leave the seattube bare where my Simplex delrin front derailleur clamps on.

due ruote 

I wouldn’t worry about that. Just wax the whole frame. The fd clamp tightened normally provides plenty of force to prevent sliding, at least in my experience.

MB33 

Are you talking front derailleur clamps in general or are you talking the Simplex delrin? To mitigate future cracking, my plan was to use the least amount of "tightness" necessary to keep the FD from sliding. And IMHO, clamping it over a coat of wax would necessitate a greater amount of tightness than clamping it on bare paint.

3alarmer

^^^this^^^. And for the record I have never reinstalled one of those Delrin front derailleurs, so best of luck on it. I have ridden some miles with them back in the day, but whenever they came off, there was always something better to replace them with.

As you can tell, I'm not a stickler for authenticity. I usually throw away the original bar, and often the stem on those too, after a near death experience one day.

tolfan

good point. I learned to repack the bearings in the headset and bottom bracket before waxing other wise you get that problem.

due ruote 

Sorry, I missed that. Don’t know if that’s an issue or not. I am in the 3alarmer camp.

ryansu

Process for re installing a Derlin FD on an old French frame:

• Put Derailleur in a drawer
• Wrap downtube where you will mount FD with one layer of cloth tape to act as shim for narrower French Tube
• Install Sun Tour FD.
• Smile as you will never have to replace your cracked Derlin FD.

YMMV

Early 70s Motobecane Mirage

MB33 

Man, you guys are wusses

I'm building this to catalog specs so it's getting an excellent condition Simplex Criterium up front. If it cracks in 5 years, I think I can find a spare 10 minutes to replace it.

Danbianchi881

I clean and wax before build, then repeat after complete build

non-fixie 

Wax the frame? Should I?

Road Fan

I used to find a metal front clamp and put it on instead of the Delrin one.

gugie 

I think MTBF on old plastic Simplex Criterium derailleurs is significantly less than 5 years...

ryansu

My experience with re-installing a plastic Simplex front derailleur was that it cracked as I was tightening the bolt, and I was being gentle and whispering encouraging words in French as I did so.

Reuse at your own risk @MB33 and carry a length of bailing wire in your seat bag for when (not if) it cracks and you need to limp home Bon Chance

dedhed

I do both. While stripped and easy, and after, usually before the cables are on.

MB33 

Uh, once again, you guys are wusses
The key is to start out with an excellent condition barrel that hasn't been discolored from UV damage. And install it with a minimum of clamping force. I still say mine will last 5 years minimum.
And a rubber boot on the pushrod will keep grit out of it to prevent it from ever needing more than a minimum of cable/lever force.
Otherwise, my plan is to acquire a stack of delrin fd's and become an expert at changing them out. I'll keep a spare or two in the seat bag and everything. All you need is the barrel, then you don't even have to mess with the chain.
That way I get to enjoy the whole black on white PX10 aesthetic. Black QR's, black saddle, black seatstay caps, black curly lugs, black derailleurs, etc...