Any best practices on ‘breaking in’ a stiffly waxed chain after the waxing is done? Thanks
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I just loosen each link by hand, fit it to the bike, spin the cranks for 30 seconds or so with the chain fitted, then off I go. Sure it’s maybe a few watts less efficient, but by the time you are a few kms up the road it’s not noticeable. Like a lot of chain waxing stuff it’s not an issue,
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Put it on the bike and go for a spin.
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Some people mount a wooden dowel somewhere and run the chain back and forth over it a few times. I use the handle on my rolling trash bin. 
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I used to try and run the chain over a chain keeper (or anything with a suitable diameter) to loosen it up but the reality is that a bit of stiffness actually makes it easier to reinstall the chain. Then I just turn the cranks a few times to articulate the chain through the cogs and you’re all set. Leave it in the small-small for maximum articulation if you like but I find moving it up the cassette a bit also helps.
This is easier if the bike is in a stand but even if it’s on the ground it’s not too hard to lift the back wheel and pedal through a few times.
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I’m extreme about retaining as much wax as i can in my pot so i pull the instant pot liner, let it cool slightly then articulate each pin by hand. Think Z then S and back a few times.
I brush off any extra wax that i can by hand and scrape the drops that accumulate on the bottom of outer plates as they dry. All back into the pot to be re used.
I know the difference at the end of the life of the wax will likely be negligible, but its cleaner and makes me think I’m being more cost efficient.
Since I’m waxing to maximize chain life and not save watts, I just loosen each link by hand, put the chain the bike, and ride.
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I used to do that, then I had a top-stiff chain catch on a shift, hang up and tear my derailleur hanger off. Trashed the cage, an aluminum pulley wheel and a spoke. Now I make sure to loosen it up a bit and run the chain by hand once its on the bike 
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The trick for me is timing of pulling the chain from the wax. Once you figure that out it goes much better. I bend the chain to break up the dried wax, feed it in the bike and pedal around the block and all good.
I sometimes do some hand articulation but usually I just put it on the bike and ride. I’m just careful about my shifting for the first couple minutes because it will be chunky for a bit. But by the time I make it out of my neighborhood I barely notice it anymore
I move the links by hand about a minute after it’s out of the wax before it’s hardened
The wax cools really fast and I’ve never found after precision weighing that the temperature at which one pulls the chain from the wax makes a significant difference in how much wax is inside. You definitely get a lot more external wax retention by pulling out at a cooler temperature but that doesn’t do anything for the chain. Pull the chain at different temperatures, mount, and ride each version for 15 miles and then weigh – the weights are basically the same. It’s more about cleaning the chain well enough to begin with, about stirring and mixing the chain and all the lubricants in the wax that tend to settle out, and doing so at a high enough temperature and for long enough that the wax really gets inside. That really minimizes the amount of wax that will flake off.
Next, when the chain comes out of the wax, I use a shop rag to wipe excess wax off the chain. I find that the chain cools quickly enough and a quick wipe removes quite a bit that will impede remounting the chain and will just flake off anyway. Again, it’s only wax inside the rollers and between the side plates that counts.
By the way, I’ve been waxing a lot of chains recently and found pretty consistently that SRAM Force and Red chains tend to hold wax more than Shimano chains do. They also outlast Shimano chains by a large margin as well. If your results vary from what you see on YouTube or Reddit, it may be because you’re using a different chain from what someone else is using.
I regularly loosen up the chain by rolling it over a short piece of hardwood dowel screwed to a fencepost outside (it creates a lot of wax flakes so if you do so on your workbench you’ll get a wax mess on the floor). I’ve just put the chain on the bike as well, but sometimes if there’s a bit more wax on the chain (or if you are using double Silca endurance chips, I’ve found as well) the wax tends to build up and the chain doesn’t want to settle onto the chainring and cassette cog properly. Here’s a cool little device I’ve tried that works really well:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1879405614/chain-link-breaker-for-hot-melt-wax-bike?ref=sfl_cart
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Hi there,
Try setting up a little pully to roll the chain over. I use a really old hub mounted in a rust fork and wedged in my work bench but anything with a diameter smaller than a 10T sprocket will do. If it doesn’t rotate just be gentle. After that fot to the the bike and as @jasedepuit says small to small cogs for articulation and rotate for a minute or so in drive direction.
Possibly controversially, pull your chain at 100-104 degrees C and you will have minimal flake and plenty of wax in the chain for 600-700 dry km on the road or 250-350 dry km on gravel. Typical running in time is about 2km with this method in a low gear and 4km in a high gear but really not long. I have found some excessive wax buildup on the outside of the chain can inhibit shifting in the winter when the wax is at its hardest so a high temp chain extraction is a help for that situation.
Goid luck and keep it waxy.
Cam
I’ve found that flexing the links sideways breaks up the wax in the links much better than runnning the chain around jockey wheels or a dowel. You can actually keep and wide grip and flex 20 or 30 links at once.
You still have to fiddle with the two or three links on the ends but on the whole it only takes a few seconds to prep the chain.
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Somewhere in between for me. I free the chain up a bit by hand then like to roll it back and forth over something curved if possible to loosen it up a bit more before installing but I don’t find it necessary to be that thorough, just enough that it fits onto the cogs and chainring well. Pedal small/small a bit then shift through to break up the sides a bit as suggested above.
I’ve been waxing skis for a little longer than my chain so the excess flakes don’t even register compared to what I lose when scraping.
I do something similar by pulling the full length of the chain, section by section, back and forth around a wooden broom handle clamped by my bike stand.
I filed a groove for the chain in an old broom handle, clamp it in my vise and pull the chain around a few times.
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I do the same as @Blair_Cabot
Flex the chain side to side, holding it every 3-4 links, working my way down. This breaks up the stiffness substantially before putting it on the drivetrain.
Once on the drivetrain, I’ll give it a few back pedals, a quick wipe with a clean microfiber cloth, then I’m off.
When I pull the chain I wipe off the external excess wax with a rag while it’s still hot. After it cools, I get every like moving a bit before (re) mounting. Easy-peasy.
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I just run it across a metal pole a few times, like the one that supports my workstand, then throw it on bike and backpedal it on the small cog for a minute or so. Then I go ride. 30 minutes later it’s quiet and efficient AF 