Waxed Chain for Commuting

bob7896

Has anyone got any experience of using a waxed chain for commuting? I have read they can be very low maintenance, but only for 500-1000 miles at which point the wax needs completely needs replacing. I am not interested in saving the fractions of watts but having a chain that works well with little maintainance.
My commute is mostly down a canal towpath which seems to have a fine sand like dust. Which coats everything and wear through chains pretty quickly. I cycle around 12 miles a day. So I would hope to get at least 1 month before needing to recoat the wax. Typically I do as little bike cleaning as possible. I have a internal hub gear system so I can get away with it as much as possible.
Also does anyone know somewhere or some one who sells waxed chains? I don't want to have to buy the equipment to do it myself to discover they don't last very long!

cooldad

Try Squirt.

http://www.squirtlube.com/

https://road.cc/content/review/12803-squirt-lube

The Rookie

I find even squirt wax lube no good for commuting, if you commute with salted roads it doesn’t protect the side plates where they articulate and I found chains rusting, that’s why I stick with a horrible gunky wet lube.

That said my commute is cross country on minor roads so puddles and water is common, so in low temperatures the chain gets a near continual jet wash of salty water off the front wheel (it’s not possible to drop a guard low enough to prevent that).

neilr4

I ride throughout the winter usually commute 3 days a week to work and longer training rides at weekends. Having replaced numerous drivetrain components and felt that I was spending almost as much time maintaining my bike as riding I came across this video on youTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXuWxehSl-s

My Wife had a paraffine bath which she purchased for her nail studio but had only been used once so I thought I'd give the chain waxing a go.... Sourced and ordered candles, paraffine oil and xylene (for making lube, more on that later!) online!!

The initial setting up and ordering everything takes up the most work and time. You can get an electric rice cooker in order to use as a waxing bath and keep everything out of the kitchen, the whole process isn't dirty but the petrol does stink and lingers for a few days!!

I found it a hassle to source and make the container (filter etc.) for cleaning the chain so I just rinsed out a used pickle (glass) jar and filter the used petrol through a funnel and a coffee filter for re-use (use it for up to 3 cleans, usually 2-3 months. I get approx. 1 year from 5 litres of petrol.)

Before, I used to go through 2 litres of morgan blue a year @ 10 euro a litre but I was using squirt at the time so was cleaning my drive train more often. Squirt btw is decent (though bloody expensive!) in dry weather but only goes on the outside of the chain whilst waxing lubricates inside the links and rollers.

Ozcycle goes through everything in the video, watch it a couple of times to get the details right. Wax viscosity is very important..... If it's too low then the wax just flakes off when cooled down and everything just peels off your chain. I've found through experience that it is better to have the viscosity (very) slightly too high (runny!) but his 'cold knife' analogy is pretty spot on! at least you know for sure that the wax is inside the links and rollers.

When I remove the chain from the bath, I wipe the outside down as per the video in the summer (dry weather!) but in the winter I don't wipe it and find that the extra wax acts as an extra barrier!!

I have 3 chains and two cassettes and usually get 3 to 4 weeks out of each chain before I switch over. Cassette's I change at will, depending on how dirty they've become. I still use morgan blue to clean my chainrings, pulley wheels and cassettes BTW!!

The whole process of cleaning and waxing 3 chains, 2 cassettes takes about 1 hour. A 'change over' (chain only) takes 2 minutes though I usually clean my whole bike whilst doing a change over and takes about half an hour.

I use the xylene to make chainlube in order to lube the outside once of twice between change overs though usually only when the weather is really wet. I have one bottle of wax-lube in an old squirt bottle and in 18 months I'm only half way through it!! The wax mixture (which is scooped from the bath btw) solidifies when cold but run the bottle under a hot tap for a couple of minutes to make it liquid again before applying to chain. process is a little messy, I always remove the rear wheel and use a chain guide for this step, otherwise my cassette gets covered in wax.

GCN have done their own version of the original video which includes filtering and re-using the petrol (great!).

The whole process takes effort to initially set-up but is well worth it..... I used to remove my chain and cassette every time I cleaned my bike but with winter commutes I just couldn't be bothered spending an hour plus cleaning my bike once or twice a week, now it's a quick rub down with hot water and washing up liquid, a rinse down and a chain change over. The drivetrain lasts a lot longer and doesn't attract dirt.

In the summer I race twice a week most weeks and I went for 6 weeks on my good bike between change overs though that was pushing it!!!

Good luck, if you take the step and get set-up it'll be well worth it!!!

Any questions I'd be happy to help.

Warmest regards
Neil.

keef66

Crikey! That took more time to read than I usually spend wiping down and relubing my chain!

(white spirit on a rag / 3-in-1 oil / 2nd clean rag if anyone's interested)

Moonbiker

Have you read this article?

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/03/fast-ch ... you-money/ :shock:

neilr4

keef66 wrote:

Crikey! That took more time to read than I usually spend wiping down and relubing my chain!

(white spirit on a rag / 3-in-1 oil / 2nd clean rag if anyone's interested)

I purchased 3 chains in 2015 and haven't replaced one yet at 10,000-12,000km per year!!!

swod1

I've been using Fenwicks professional chain oil on my mtb I've been using to commute 7 miles each day and its great.

Just make sure the chain is completely dry and then apply and leave for 3-4 hours.

Stopped the chain going black like other chain oils I've used before.

do use a bit of paraffin in an old biscuit tin to clean it though.

bompington

Commuting through Scottish winters...

... I've found that the only way to avoid utter gunkiness is to use GT85, and only GT85. Works great for me.

JBVRV

+1 for the Ozcycle video, and the general excellency of chain waxing.

Main benefit for me is the cleanliness of the bike. Got so sick of having black lumps of oily dirt in the garage and making their way around the house, ditto when putting the bike in the car.

The initial clean prior to waxing is quite time consuming, but once that's done I don't bother doing it again - just wipe down and rewax.

neilr4

JBVRV wrote:

The initial clean prior to waxing is quite time consuming, but once that's done I don't bother doing it again - just wipe down and rewax.

Does your wax not get very dirty?

I cleaned 2 chains this morning, left them to soak in petrol for 10 minutes then hung up for the petrol to evaporate. Will dip them in the wax this evening!

essex-commuter

The less I clean my commuter bike the longer components last. Fact.

mpdouglas

Try this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unknown-1-Putoline-Chain-Wax/dp/B003K8NG1O

It's primary market is motorbikes but works brilliantly with pedal cycles. The can that it comes in is frying pan sized so you just stick it on the hob under a gentle heat until the wax melts. Dunk the cleaned chain in, leave for a bit and then lift out and let it drip over the can until it cools. I use a length of bare copper wire (the stuff you can pull from the flat twin and earth cable you run domestic wioring in) to give me a handle that sticks out of the wax and can be used to lift the chain in and out and to hang it with while it drips and cools. It does last well through the winter (as you would expect - it gets way more grief on a motorbike than it ever will on a pedal bike).

neilr4

Looks like a great product. What does it have as ingredients along with wax?