I think this will reduce your chain life by not removing grit trapped in the links.
It’s paraffin BTW, one R, two Fs, one N. It’s from the same root as affinity, the par bit means “little”.
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I don’t think it’s the wax, I have used plain paraffin for over 30 years and I throw chains away somewhere around 10,000 km each (rewax after 800–1000 km unless rain), and that’s not even because of elongation but rather because of lateral wear.
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No idea what is causing it, than. Maybe the type of wax I use is not the best?
I rewax from the moment I hear the chain is becoming more noisy, which I really have to do every 100 miles.
I use this wax at the moment. Oil content < 0.5%. A lot cheaper than Silca or Molten Speedwax, so I am really curious how much of a difference the more expensive waxes make.
Not sure about that one. I would think that the molten wax actually does the same as hot water: getting the dirt out.
I am actually thinking about buying a second crockpot and use the cheap wax to clean the chain in.
After cleaning the chain in crockpot 1, I can then wax the chain in crockpot 2 (which contains a more high end chainwax). Anyone else who is doing this?
My experience says this doesn’t work the way you think it does.
On the other hand, I am ludicrously fussy about cleaning and rewaxing chains: every chain is cleaned to bare metal in hot degreaser in an ultrasonic cleaner then given multiple solvent rinses before being treated with brand new wax.
My justification for this is that wax is much cheaper than the chain and especially the cassette.
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The only difference between a hot water dip and a hot wax dip should be that you don’t tend to keep reusing the water. But in dry running the dirt (really just dust) content after an initial external wipe is so minimal as to be negligible for many many cycles.
I wonder if you’re doing yourself a disservice if using wax with additives. Do materials like the tungsten disulfide found in Silca bind and build up in the pores of the metal over time so as to increase their effect? At which point doing a thorough strip each rewax would be counterproductive.
I don’t think there’s any accumulation of friction modifiers on the metal itself over time. The friction modifiers are just there to reduce wear and increase mechanical efficiency.
Maybe Adam Kerin could chime in if he’s chilling nearby.
It is worth nothing that candle wax did surprisingly well in his tests. It’s also worth noting that his tests appear to have shown that different base waxes/wax mixtures (excluding any friction modifiers) can make a significant difference in how a wax performs.. His testing of waxes with Silca’s Endurance chip added (so w/ Endurance chip vs w/out Endurance chip) show a pretty gobsmacking difference. Also a couple of newish waxes to market, waxes that are again a mixture of waxes, have demonstrated significant duration and chain wear gains over the usual top dogs.
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Certainly there might be differences in waxes, but over the years I have used plain paraffin in all kinds of varieties from pharmaceutical quality to actual candles (what I now use are granules from some hobby store, no detailed specification available) and have never had results as bad as yours. Maybe there’s something else off with your waxing procedure, care to describe it in more detail? (My first guess would be to increase the treatment time with occasional agitation to make sure the wax thoroughly gets into the chain.)
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My procedure is actually quite simple:
I turn on the crockpot, I remove the chain from my bicycle, I wipe the chain clean with a cloth and I put the chain in the crockpot. Then I let the chain sink in as the wax heats up, and usually I let the chain sit in the wax for a couple of hours. Before taking the chain out, I move it around in the hot wax so the links move and the wax can penetrate the chain even more. Then I take it out, hang it up to dry and reinstall the chain.
One thing I did not do when I still threw the chain in boiling water to clean it completely, is blowing it dry with air pressure. When I used this method for cleaning the chain, I just wiped it dry after taking it out of the boiling water and put it straight into the hot wax. I always thought that the hot wax would push out any water that was left inside of the chain. Maybe this was an error?
In any case, the chain that I currently am running is one that I installed less than 1 year ago, so I was surprised when I measured chain wear on it last week that the chain checker showed that the chain was already past 1.0% of stretch.
I just ordered some products from Silca (Secret Chain Blend, EnduranceChip, Super Secret Chain Lube and Chain Stripper), I’m really curiuous how much of a difference this will make. The Escape Collective Member Purchase Program made up for quite a saving 
Is there anyone here that has already tested the new Chain Wax Cleaner from Muc-Off? They launched their new Dark Energy Chain Wax last week and also have a Chain Wax Cleaner now. It looks promising as something good to clean an already waxed chain before rewaxing, but as it is from Muc-Off I went for Silca to be safe 
I have 2 wax pucks, both with a base of Silca’s Super Secret. One has an Endurance chip in it, and the other has two Speed Chips. If I’m rewaxing a chain that has been in the Endurance Chip mix with the Speed Chip mix, do I need to do anything other than wipe it down with a clean cloth before going in the pot?
Update on this. The difference is HUGE.
I have always been sceptical whether the expensive, cycling-specific waxes really make a difference, but I have to admit they certainly do, at least in comparison with the standard candle wax I was using for the last 5 years.
The Silca wax makes my chain completely silent and lasts a lot longer (after 150 km the chain is still completely silent, while with the previous wax the chain became really noisy after about 80 km).
And (I know this sounds ridiculous, but after 25.000 km on the previous wax I know how it feels on my chain) I can really feel a reduction in friction from the chain. The chain just spins a lot smoother.
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I have been using Walter CB100 degreaser diluted about 3 water to 1 degreaser in the Ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning old oily chains and degreasing new chains. I have chains with as much as 10000km on them with no sign of hydrogen embrittlement. I strip an average of about 30 chains per month for the shop where I work.
I run the ultrasonic cleaner at 69ºC (final temperature, I run it while warming up) for 45 minutes or so, and then rinse the chains with hot water and then swish them in isopropyl alcohol to help make them easier to dry and get any degreaser residue out.
I usually just wipe, but dirty waxed chains will get a quick rinse with warm water before re-waxing
How do you determine when exactly it is time for a rewax?
As mentioned above, I switched from basic candle wax to Silca wax, and it clearly last longer.
BUT I still haven’t been able to reach 300km without rewaxing, although I haven’t been riding in the wet. Maybe I am just too sensitive about chain noise? First the chain is completely silent, and slowly it becomes noisier until the point I can’t stand it anymore (which is about 200 km after waxing).
Also I’m curious how much wax temperature has an effect on this. My crockpot has only two positions. Position 1 melts the wax but never lets it cook, so I always use position 1. I have no idea what is the temperature of position 1, and whether this actually matters?
I run a combination of 2x slow cookers with Rex Black Diamond, and 3x pots of Molten Speed Wax. This set up works for me, in a waxing as a service format. I’ve found that longevity/durability of the waxed coating on a chain is highly dependent on a few factors, including
- Chain condition at the point of waxing (new/used)
- Cleanliness of the chain when being waxed (dirt/debris/presence of new factory grease)
- Cleanliness of the wax in the cookers (whether the used wax has been discarded, or new wax is simply added when the volume runs low)
- Temperature of the wax when the chain is immersed
- Additives and wax formulation
- etc
My cookers were all bought off the used market, in working condition, and all had similar I/II heating options. They’ve (fortunately) all had variances between 70 - 80°C when set to the “I” setting, but I tend to cycle them around 70°C give or take 2°C, which is a lot less effort than it sounds, since it takes awhile for them to heat/cool, at the “I” setting. Also, I use a digital cooking thermometer for this, so there’s some margin of error involved as well.
All said, my chains, which I run with Rex, from new, lasts around 1,000km (620 mi), or closer to 900km (560 mi) if exposed to regular downpours. The per-waxing mileage tends to decrease over the age of the chain, as dirt/debris finds its way into gaps between rollers, plates, etc. The chains also do exhibit some noise, when it’s about time to re-wax, though I tend to hold off on the re-waxing, until the chain starts feeling rough, which can sometimes take another 150 or so kms (100 mi)…
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Do you ride road or dirt? I rewax my chains after 400+km on road and 300ish on gravel. Basically don’t wait until it squeeks, just rotate. But I was able to comfortably ride way over 500km on road when needed.
I use Silca hot wax with no chips, melt on 85°C
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Mainly road.
The chain doesn’t really squeek after 200 km, it just gets noisier.
I have to say that it does not feel rough, so I suppose it is still fine.
You might try drip wax inbetween hot waxes. It will quiet that chain noise down.
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Anyone know of general rules for disposal of wax, or if no general rules, specific rules for a jurisdiction?
I have an app called ‘maintrack’ on my phone which tells me when my bike chain has done 300km based on Strava data and i then wax as soon as possible. I used to ‘top it off’ with drip wax but now i just go fully immersive waxing
i use Silca wax with the endurance chip. 12 spd Shimano drive train and duraace chains. I’ve never had an issue getting 300km+ out of a waxing. I just do it at the 300km mark because that’s what i set in the app and i prefer to let the app tell me it’s time to wax. I rotate through two chains at a time, so a ‘wax’ means swap the chains and wax the older one a bit later when i have the time.
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