Just FYI, Chain driven drive trains are 98-99 percent efficient. So anyone claiming a more then 1% increase in efficiency at the drivetrain HAS to be lying, according to math and science and reality.
$140 for a bag of Silca wax and their pot - you don't add any Strip Chips for a used chain. Strip Chips only work on the new chain's factory grease - not on clean or old lubed chains. Use Silca's Chain Stripper or your own choice of cleaner to prep your chain for waxing. And a quick way to 'break in' a freshly-waxed chain is to wrap it around something like a length of PVC conduit or pipe and pull the ends of your chain backwards and forwards. Then only the last few links need 'manual' breaking.
The delight I get from this kind of content is inversely proportional to the delight I get from maintaining my bikes. I'm more into spray the degreaser from a safe distance, brush if I have to, dry poorly, few drops of chanel n. 5 and hope for the best. You do stuff so I don't have to, this subscription is the best money I ever spent on the internet, hands down!
Tip: Use automotive brake cleaner, the non-chlorinated type to degrease and clean your chain. It's cheap, works really good, won't harm the finish on you bike or components, and dries fast. I have been using the Autozone brand version because they usually have it on sale, sometimes 2 for $5.99-7.99, which is tons cheaper than the Finish Line brand cleaner.
I had good results with mineral spirits (charcoal lighter fluid is the same thing if you're in CA) and isopropyl alcohol. I tried acetone instead of isopropyl the first time around and ended up with a horrific headache from inhaling the acetone fumes. Would advise avoiding acetone unless you have a vent hood or a respirator. Brake cleaner sounds like a good option, I'll have to give that a try for my next chain.
Thanks for the hack. I have been using the White Lightning Clean Streak degreaser, which comes in a little bigger 23oz, a little bigger than Finish Line (I think) and comes in at about $18. It's magic and I love it. I'll try the AutoZone non-chlorinated and compare.
Solution looking for a problem, which is Silca’s business model. They take routine objects, like pumps or Allen keys, and make them more expensive than necessary. Yes, they are objects of art to some extent but their pumps are not significantly better than a $30 pump, for example. And of course there’s an after ride wipe that you need to buy from them. ! Just gets some NixFrixShun lube.
I read somewhere (Hambini?) that they repackage conventional auto antiseize in small tubes and charge a huge markup on it to unsuspecting customers. Like, $18 for a 1-2oz tube when an 8oz bottle that'll last for years if not decades is around $12. Other companies do this too of course. Like, why pay $100 for a Park Tool torque wrench when basically the same tool can be had for half or less without the fancy name on it. I've rebuilt cars with such tools and they're just fine.
My wax setup is a bent wire clothes hanger and a $7 mini crocpot from Kohl's. For stripping/cleaning chains before waxing, I have a medium/large (28 or 32 oz) gatorade bottle, some heavy duty degreaser (I like the purple Dawn stuff or Totally Awesome) and small tin of mineral spirits. Just throw the chain in the bottle with 4-5oz (100ml) of spirits and shake the crap out of it until the solvent turns black. Dump the solvent and switch to degreaser, shake, dump again. Alternate until the spirits stop turning black. My nasty chain took like 7-8 rounds, and a new chain takes like 2-3 rounds. The problem with brake cleaner is that you wind up spraying most of it past the chain. It's formulated to flash off quickly which isn't what you want to do. You want all the oils and grease to dissolve and stay in solution, and the cleaner step removes the dirt and everything else that the oils let go. All the equipment I use was still cheaper than the massive bag of silca wax that I had to buy, but still cheaper over time than buying chain lube. I've only used like 10% of the bag because my cheap crocpot is so small. You only need enough to submerge the chain. I only ride road on nice days, so I don't see rain dirt or other adverse conditions. I've only rewaxed once so far and it's been 18 months or so. Less maintenance than my unibrow. edit: I did all this because I transport my bike inside my car which has a light-colored interior. The cleanliness aspect was more important to me than friction or efficiency or any of that other bullshit. Try to keep the waxing to the garage or away from the inside of your house if you can help it. Rolling your bike along will cause the chain to flake and you'll have little Tungsten disulfide grey flecks all over your floor. If you try to wipe it up or mop it, the soft wax smudges instead of staying solid so it's a real pain in the ass to clean. But that's better than greasing up your calves and everything else you accidentally touch forever and ever.
Cleaning tip. Ecolab floor stripper, home depot. It came up when looking into wax removal. I install tile, i had one coated in a fine layer of wax, this stuff did the trick. 5 minute soak, light scrub, wipe with water. I also use Ecolabs purple degreaser or orange degreaser. Then i rinse in 99% isopropyl. Here in California mineral spirits is illegal, the vapors from mineral spirits are toxic (its the wood alcohol). I soak a dirty chain for 20 minutes, shake, rinse clean. I repeat this as necessary, normally 2-3 times, until the degreaser doesnt turn black and i can see the bits @ the bottom easily. Then i rinse in 99% ISO, then drop in the wax. I use an instant pot to heat my wax. About 5 minutes. According to zerofriction, using 2 wax pots is better than water for deep cleaning a chain. I do think it would save on wax consumption, as wax is lost on a deep clean in water. I think an ultrasonic cleaner would be ideal here, as the basket suspends the chain so it never sits in sediment. Im switching my wax soon to molten speed wax. Its the best performing wax zerofriction has tested for a dry climate. Silca is best for adverse conditions.
Switched to waxing a while back and the DIY method is significantly cheaper/actually better than Silca's own melt product: - Crockpot was $15 AUD ($10 USD) from the supermarket - Thermometer not needed, just whack it on low and walk away. Come back an hour later, swoosh it around and you're sorted - No wood/brackets needed. Just use an old coat hanger and bend it into shape (mimic Molten Speed Wax's tool) - Free - Mineral Turpentine 1L $5 AUD ($3 USD) for 1L + a Jar - Methylated Spirits 1L $4 AUD ($2.50 USD) for 1L + a Jar - Wax $40 USD Total cost = $55.50 USD vs. SIlca's system for $164 = DIY is about $110 USD difference. With the chain, you need to break the links using a handle or a bin handle first (just run it through, don't do it link by link).
Or a dowel. He clearly didn't do his research because most waxing how-to's explain this. And holding up the agitator with a rod so it doesn't fall into the melted wax isn't rocket science.
SILCA sais that STRIP CHIP is only for factory greased new chain. STRIP CHIP is for "neutralisation" factory grease so the grease would not make wax too soft. Soft wax - short lifespan of the wax on the chain.
Yeah that is something hardly anybody mention... How many factory greased chains are you stripping for waxing a year? On the other hand their chain stripper... Hmmm... Might give it a try and stop pissing my Missus off with "that weird annoying noise making machine" xD
@@ivanjednobiegowiec7656Silca also makes a chain stripper, it's basically a degreaser they designed for stripping new chains without all the chemicals. Strip chip still seems easier, but you gotta get it to the right temp or it won't work.
I'm surprised you never tried Squirt Lube due to the area you live (wet, wild, wacky...seriously though...). I assume you were using oil before. I 've used Squirt only due to the "easy-ness" of it but this product would be great if it lasted 500 miles. Squirt seems to last for me about 170-200 miles.
Love it! I've been waxing my chains with the crock pot and yes it takes a long time to melt the wax. But there are other things you can do while it's melting like clean the house cut the lawn....... As far a dripping I jus have my chain on a shirt hanger and pull it out and hold a piece of paper underneath . Removing wax , I just roll the chain over a 2x4 / my handrail and it frees up the chain. As far as the wax, I use paraffin wax with a little Teflon. BAM!!!
Also, I can fit about 6-8 chains in my crock pot, unlike one in silca. Silca is nice solution if you have one bike and one chain, anything other than that I'd stick with crockpot.
Crock pot takes 90min to liquify wax. Pain in ass. Fortunately, i do this while in home office, so i plug in the crock pot just before work starts, and its ready for coffee break. Double boiler is way faster. Get cheap camping pot and fill with wax. Put it in another pot with water. Boil and wait
D. One suggestion for the tribe - don't use a crock pot. Get an old rice cooker, which will melt the wax way faster. Literally 5-10 minutes. Also, the DIY approach can be a lot cheaper than you might think. I use wax from a bag of crushed ikea tea light candles. I don't think I'm losing very many watts. My degreaseing regimen involves a jam jar and a 50-100 millilitres of petrol - shaken not stirred! The entire set up cost me about US$10. And the running costs are close to zero. Worth thinking about before taking the plunge. Cheers
Even quicker get an old pan and put it on medium on your stove. The petrol is the cheapest and fastest cleaning way to go. I used to wax 5 chains at a time for convenience. It eventually got old doing this. Now I just use Muc Off dry lube and buy it in Liter size to save money.
Most bike wax makers will tell you that this will ruin the wax by overheating it. Plus they put various additives in it so it's not just candle wax, which I'm not sure is even clean enough for bike chains. I've heard that canning wax is best for that. And it's not about watts, but drivetrain life.
I use a one foot length of copper pipe clamped in a vice to work or break the chain lengths after waxing. I run both sides over the pipe and just break the last link or two at each end manually. It also sheds some of the excess wax before you mount the chain.
I’m 500 miles into a Silca waxed chain on my winter bike. Like you I live in PDX, my chain has remained spotlessly clean and worked flawlessly. I started before the Silca system melter came out - so have a $15 thrift store crockpot. Works great - just less control of temperature. I have now waxed four of my bikes (I have G.A.S. too). The most important part is to not contaminate the wax with dirt - so a really clean chain will make the $40 bag of wax last the longest.
Was using an od 1978 crockpot until I got the Silca pot. It controls the temps for fast melt then switch to 70C to get to the pull temp. Take 10 min to cool to 70C and pull the chain. Beats watching the wax for it to get down to 70C or skim ready etc. Love the setup. Josh recommends using SuperSecret after the first ride so I tried that and he is right.. so smooth and quiet.
Hmmm. Camping stove. Small saucepan. Parafin wax. Clean chain until it shines deeply. Heat wax,soak for 10 mins. Hang up to dry. Refit chain. When a bit dry/ squeaky then clean chain with hot water. Re wax. Simple as that. Been waxing all my chains ( in wet Donegal) on all my bikes..MTB,Road,Gravel for past 7 years. Very pleased with how cheap and simple it is.
Yeah I was gonna say. Gotta be super careful with that. Definitely don't want the wax to get too hot or combust god forbid. I like the crock pot because you don't have to babysit.
IMO the smallest crockpot you can find is super easy. No need to monitor temperature, you can literally leave the chain hooked onto an old spoke on-top of the wax and leave it there to melt as long as you want. The crock pot wont ever get hot enough to smoke the wax or ignite like a pan could. I just set it up in the corner of my kitchen counter while i make dinner and forget about it until after we eat, hang the chain up under a shelf and then put it back on the bike the next morning. No effort or active attention required.
Silca ships their wax in a bag that you can just boil. You put the bag in boiling water for 10min, take the bag out, drop the chain in for a few minutes, and you're done. You'll never burn the wax since boiling water won't exceed boiling temperature. The pan is basically clean after because it was just boiling water, and you don't have a crockpot or pan dedicated to chain wax.
The chain doesn't lengthen on it's own. The cassette and chainrings don't wear by themselves. It's all done by the power of your legs. Power that wasn't used to propel you. So less wear definitely means more efficient.
Haven’t tried the new strip chips but have used the recently released silca chain stripper which you soak a chain in for about 5 minutes or so, then clean with water and then wax. It’s amazing and left me super clean waxed chains in what used to take me a full days of soaking and ultrasonic cleaning. I then use silca super secret drip wax every 150-200 miles after a light spray down on a microfiber cloth with silca biodegreaser on the waxed chain and I’m currently get at least 1500 miles between bike-off re waxing.
I just started waxing the chain on my road bike and do the same as you. I was really impressed with the Silca chain stripper - it works and it's easy. When I put my freshly waxed chain on the bike, I use my wife's hair dryer on low to gently warm the wax - a few spins of the cranks and the chain is super quiet and very smooth. The drip wax is a little messy but definitely works. I'll probably start waxing the chains on all my bikes. Edit: I put my quick link on a paper clip and wax it at the same time.
I am waxing by oz cycle method (yes that insane dog killer). 1 kilo of parafin wax costs ... 20 euro - a lifetime supply. 1 bag of PTFE from aliexpress .. about 8 euros, i clean the chain fist time with gasoline (by far the best merhod) then degreaser (generic crap) then izoprophylic alcohol - att together not more than 10 euros. A crockpot costs.... 10 euros at most. A clothes hanger ... zero. So...my grand total is 48 euros. Maybe less. And that stocks lasts me years. How do you imagine I would pay 150 usd for parafin ...from "silca". Is like buying ceramic speed....a scam. As always I enjoy your work ! Take care.
Much the same for me. Been doing this for decades except I use molybdenum disulphide also from eBay. Couldn't get PTFE to mix well. Top up with Squirt drip on after washing bike or a wet ride.
Same here. With 5 chains rotation. I did buy the silca wax too trying to perceive the difference. Didn't notice so I got back to buying parafin and ptfe. But to anyone who has to do that in a kitchen with one chain every single time without ordering suspicious powders from aliexpress, the silca way is not THAT expensive either.
As a long term waxed chain user, id like to add a few points. Chain waxing is the polar opposite to wet lube. So best suited to very dry dusty conditions, think mountain biking in thick dust and although it works ok in wet grimey conditions you, wont see so much advantages. Also the first degreasing clean is extremely important. I like to soak my chain for 24 hours regardless if its a new chain or previously used with wet lube. Loving your channel Dustin Klein
@mackknife1551 technically not "necessary" but it will contaminate your chain which will then contaminate your chain wax. So you will want to give it all a good clean for the first wax. However, the good news is you'll never get the build up of gunk on your jockey wheels, cassette, chainrings ever again. The wax can absorb some grime but as the wax wears off the gunk will come off with it.
DIY is the ticket - it only matters when you must introduce a new chain into the mix. Starting with 2 fresh chains and alternating makes this even easier and less frequent!
chain wax lubes like squirt or BikeWorkx Chain Star MAX WAX /here in europe/ work well without all that chain-cooking mess around but first you need to degrease the chain better than you did /inside is more grease than outside/
I still feel this whole hot waxing process is inconvenient and expensive and keep wondering about the environmental cost of all this. I'm using the effetto mariposa flowerpower drip wax and it's super simple and effective to use while being ecofriendly as much as possible. And top rated by zero friction cycling, which says a lot about it.
Me too! I don't see any substantial cost savings by going to immersive waxing (investing in the waxing equipment, electricity costs, ...) - plus the time taken is under 60 seconds versus 15-30 min. For me, the Flower Power wax is the obvious choice among the drip waxes. Might be marginally cheaper to buy 5-10kg of paraffin wax plus some friction modifiers like WS2... but not a huge gain to be made for me at least...)
Exactly, and according to friction tests Flowerpower had less friction and made the chain last 3.5 times longer than Silca Super Secret wax did, the Flowerpower Wax lasted longer between applications, and was a whole lot less money and hassle, the only hassle there is, you have to clean the chain of all the factory grease before using Flowerpower which is typical of any lube you might use.
@@georgec2894 Shouldn't cost more than $20-$30 for everything but the wax and the electricity costs are at most pennies per waxing session. But it's not about up front cost, but rather performance and drivetrain life, which will save you way more than you spent for the wax and equipment over the years. The real reason to not hot wax is the time, mess and bother, which I agree isn't for everyone.
i still use muc off for this reason, and if your arent using wax or muc off they contain teflon PTFE which is cancerous lmao Dupont says its safe but well you know
$110 lol. Rice cooker $15 (and that’s new. Used one $5). Paraffin gulf wax $7. Chain degreaser $7. Total : $29 or less than $20 if you get a rice cooker from goodwill
Sure, i give them Silca have some good R&D and decent main products, but these gimmicks are some otherwordly animalistic bs. Imagine owning a Silca branded Mini-croc pot and not thinking about how much you spent on that alone. Baffling. womp womp
If you use the Super Secret every 100 or so miles you don't have to reset your chain as often. I usually go a total of 800 to 1000 miles between resettings as directed by Silca.
Why do people go through the hand wringing process of "hot waxing" their chain? That's for pubes. Anyway, thanks to chemistry you can just spray Maxima moto chain wax. The wax is dissolved in a solvent carrier that quickly evaporates after application. You are welcome. Oh and the prefect dirt bag degreaser is in your garage in the form of lawnmower gasoline. Total cost about $10.
I'll stick with my ultrasonic cleaner, thank you very much and my dry Teflon lube. This is too time consuming for not much gain over what I'm currently doing. Better than WD40 or other wet lubes? Of course but not in my situation.
Long Time Waxer - most people I talk about waxing their drivetrain say it is too much of a hassle. The best part is that it runs quieter, doesn't get dirty 'grease' everywhere, and significantly extends the life your components. Helpful Hack - get and affix a small piece (length & diameter) of PVC pipe to roll your chain back and forth to 'break the chain in' before remounting it back on your bike! No individual 'breaking' of links.
6:30 You clearly need to setup some kind of a "chain trainer" to do that, by hand it seems awful lot of work. Old single speed narrow sprocket and a crankset with narrow chainring mounted on a rig that can be spanned out to tension a derailleur chain, put the newly waxed chain on that setup to give it a few good rotations until the links are freed, then move it on to the intended derailleur bike.
Absolute Black Graphenwax €40, Ikea inductionhob €40, old pan €0, solid electric wire to hold chain on 1 side €1, nail in wall of garage to hang chain on €0,01, carton on ground to catch waxdrips €0, white spirit to degrease chain €2,50. Total costs: €83,51. AB Graphenwax outperforms Silca in use and you don’t need to break your chain: runs smooth in 3 turns.
I've been doing this for a couple years now. Every odd numbered month, I clean and re-wax. One pound block of paraffin wax and PTFE (powdered Teflon). Crock pot from a thrift store and a wire clothes hanger to thread the chain on and dip in the hot wax. I break the chain loose on the crank handle of my bench vise. About a 1.5" radius and I just run over that. Flip it and run it again and she's ready to go. Great performance and those in my ride club that have noted how clean my chain always is have made the change too. I recommend it.
@@rasmusriemann6557 no one's snorting it.... Empty the Teflon into the melted paraffin wax and it's suspended in that medium. Great process that doesn't collect road grime and extends the life of your groupo. Hands and kit remain clean during flat repair
I use MSW and have had good results, and I was assured by them that wiping a chain down with a clean rag to get rid of excess wax and any dirt is perfectly fine and won't affect its performance or longevity, since it's only the wax inside the rollers and on the inside surfaces of the plates that matters, and some minute amount of wax will always remain on the outside. I do this mostly for looks.
I have been using Ceramic Speed UFO drip wax. The only hard thing about the process was degreasing the drive train in the first place. All you need to do is wipe the chain with a cloth every 180km and reapply the drip wax. No need to remove the chain. Takes about 5 minutes or less. I've not had to clean the chain for about 2500 km so far. Ride is smooth and chain is quiet.
$164? That is like 8-10 chains on sale. My chains last 4-5k miles. I ride 5-8k miles a year. I take chain off once a month degrease & re-lube. I probably lube again once a month if rainy. For myself I think I will stick with simple green & T-9 Lube 😉 Good video though Thanks!
Only been waxing for 6 months or so but I infinitely prefer it over using petroleum based products. So much cleaner and easier to work with. Also, tip for breaking those links after the wax cools - drape it over a garbage can handle, drawer knob, etc. and alternate pulling it up and down. Like you’re milking a cow. Helps loosen the links in seconds.
I have now used Silca competitiors in the UK.. used this on my roadie and gravel bike.. 4 chains, swap and use new one then once all 4 are used up redo the waxing on all 4.. overall happy with product, so far very little wear on the chains if you follow the directions. Any top ups i use SQUIRT lube to keep chaings going additional few hundred KMs if needed one dislaimer is that if you ride in the wet, one waxing would almost instantly wear off, going through puddles and mud is very quickly removes all the wax, so on my gravel bike i had to basically wipe chain quickly after a ride and reapply squirt to keep it from rusting.. So does not last as long and not as great as maybe wet lube in the UK wintertime (Off road more so than road). Dry / warm days this is perfect, used it on holiday in Majorca and didint even need to bring lube for the 400km i had done that week. Recommend doing it for sure!
I DIYed my home waxing setup and it was just as fast and easy as that Silca kit. A $12 crock pot, an easy to make agitator (with end loops fitted through a rod or dowel that rests on the pot edge so it doesn't fall in), and one of those simple $15 portable bike stands with 2 hooks to initially hold up the waxed chain as it hardens. Didn't have to fashion anything other than the agitator, which took a couple of minutes and a diagonal cutter. I later found out that a couple of rare earth magnets attached to a metal door frame was strong enough to suspend several chains without falling (hopefully magnetized chains aren't bad). I get the appeal of an all in one kit, but I prefer to DIY it. It's actually half the fun. And I saved way more than $54 because you overpriced a basic small crock pot, I already had a candy/oil thermometer and some isopropyl alcohol (which I assume most people do), and used existing items to agitate and hang the chain. Aside from the cost of the wax which is the same no matter which way you go, it cost me a total of $22, $12 for the pot and $10 for the spirits. And even the spirits ended up not costing me anything because I got it on Amazon and the product page misrepresented the size so they comped it to me. So, $12, and a bit of time. I call that a bargain, if not quite the best I ever had.
My DIY setup costed me less than 25 EUR. To degrease a chain i bought 2 liters of mineral spirits and 1 liter of acetone (still have leftovers), used 2 jars to do 2 baths of mineral spirits and 1 rinse with acetone. For wax i used regular 2 liter pot with a lid for 10 EUR. Melted wax on the electric stove on the lowest setting which took 10 minutes to melt. Prepared batch of 5 chains, because i can't be bothered to re-wax frequently. When wax solidified in the pot, put the rest of the chains in, closed the lid ans stashed it away till the next chain change or re-wax.
Been waxing my chains for several years now, mountain, gravel, touring, road and urban. It works well for me and i have converted several of my friends. What we really need is chain manufactures offering factory waxed chains. So far the only ones i know about is Connex. Great and funny video as usual! Cheers!
First rule of tv, don’t wear stripes, it strobes! I get 5000 miles from a chain by using biodegradable degreaser on it when I wash my bike. Dry it off with compressed air re-lube with Muc-off ceramic lube and it adds about 2 mins to your bike wash process and costs £15 ($16) every 7,000 miles for lube and £1.20 ($1.50) for degreaser for about 20washes. The lube just washes off so when your bike needs washing the chain does too.
Nothing beats a waxed chain. I've ran different dry lubes, they all attract dirt, and you might wash your bike religiously, but that dirt is still there the duration of your ride. On my bikes I can ride like 100mi and the chain is clean still unless I ride in pancake batter mud. It has a lot less wear on the drivetrain. Wax is hard to beat. I get that it's easy to just degrease and relube, but I don't have to do that pretty much ever. There is no grease, the chain, cassette, and chain ring just stay clean. Every so often I'll use drip wax emulsion to rewax the chain, every other month I'll take the chain off dip it in boiling water, throw it in the hot wax, and I'm off. It's awesome.
@@ov3rcl0cked I was hooked on GRAX until I tried Silca. No more nasty cassette cleaning and I can touch the chain etc when putting the bike into my car if I am not using the rack. Super clean cassette and chain makes it worth it alone!
I tried the DIY method and finally gave up on it and just use a bottle of Smoove lube. Similar to Squirt. The wax submersion method only got me about 70 miles of trail riding on my mt bike, so wasn't worth the effort. With Smoove, my chain is lasting forever and the drivetrain is quieter than with the submersion method.
The wax itself holds up fine. But it won't protect against corrosion as well as oil does, so if you're using wax, you want to also have a nicer chain with anti-corrosion coating.
Okay... questions. What do you do with the melted wax in the melter when you are done with the job? Wait for it to solidify and use again? Throw away? How do you clean out a melter? If you can continue to reuse the wax...how many times? How often do you need to purchase wax pellets for $40? I'm doing a few very dusty gravel races this year and have strongly considered this. Just want to know what I'm getting myself into.
Non crock pot method. I utilise an Oz Cycle UA-cam recipe made of paraffin wax , shellite (petrol), and PTFE (Teflon) . Mixed and shaken in a sauce bottle. I hold a paper towel under the chain to catch the excess, then clean the chain with the paper towel that has the excess wax in it. Quietest, smoothest and cleanest chain I have ever used. As the wax recipe has shellite in it, it also cleans the chain when I apply it.
I used gasoline as a first step in degreasing my chain. After chain was degreased I used a bent coat hanger as a dipper to put the chain in a crock pot. The coat hanger tool was long enough to stick out of the pot. After chain was waxed I hung the chain vertically from a nail in the shed. After chain cooled I ran the chain around the handle of my bench vice to remove all kinks. I also completely disassembled my cassette and degreased for the first wax application. Also degreased my chain rings and rear derailleur wheels. I only degreased cassette, derailleur, and chain rings once for the initial wax job. I am now on my third year of waxed chains. I generally use the crock pot twice a year to wax chain. In between wax jobs I use a wax based lubricant such as Squirt if I hear any noise from the chain.
Instant pot ist best for waxing. 3qt model is nice and small. Makes for a good rice cooker too! Heats the wax in a few minutes (saute on low). Silca recommends getting another pot for it, so you can do deep cleanings in water. Zero friction uses 2 pots of wax with the 1st meant to do the deep cleaning. You can put the chain wet (in fact its ideal). As soon as water dries, surface rust can form. The molten wax will displace the water and coat the chain in the same process. The water will also evaporate. This will bubble like a new chain, letting you know when the chain is fully waxed. An ultrasonic cleaner is the best was to easily deep clean any chain. After the chain is waxed all you need is water to get a deep clean! Now i also wash my bike with dish soap. 2tbsp of dawn in a 32oz spray bottle. I only use dawn as many professional products call specifically for it. A couple drops in a 5 gallon bucket works wonders wiping epoxy grout!
I wax the chains on both my most ridden bikes. It's awesome. Shifts better, quieter, cleaner, actually less maintenance. Silca sells a drip wax emulsion you can use to easily re-lube without having to fully rewax. The stripchain is actually meant for new chains only. They also sell a chain stripper which is what I've been using to clean chains prior to waxing. I don't know if I'll go over to the strip chip because I like their boil in a bag method which apparently doesn't get hot enough for the strip chip to work effectively. There are some bikes I don't wax the chain on, the bike that goes on my trainer gets wet lube, because chain wax flakes off over time and this creates a mess. My bike packing bike doesn't use wax cause I need a lube that I can apply on the trail, it also gets wet lube since wet lube lasts a long time and doesn't need to dry. I like rock'n'roll holy cow wet lube, it seems to run pretty clean for a wet lube.
“pour boiling water over the chain” in order to rewax….. just use a heatGun. The wax will flow out of the links and wipe off with cotton cloth. Can be done on the bike when you wanna add wax between dipping. HairDryers aren’t hot enough and a plumbers torch can easily get too hot for some.
I put my wax in a tin on the BBQ. When it’s melted it’s ready! While that’s going I clean the chain in a bucket of boiling water and scrub the cassette with the same. All takes about 20 min. Also, to free the waxed chain - loop it over a metal bar and with a hand on each free end pull the chain left/right so it flicks the excess wax off.
Rice cooker from local Chinese grocery store: $15 Digital meat thermometer $10 Old wire coat hanger (for threading chain to dip into wax (doesn't fall into pot either!) $0 Old piece of pipe $0 (roll your chain over it to loosen the links) 5L jug of 95% alcohol $10 (now 15 waxes in still have half of it left) I just hang the hot chain on a pedal of a hanging bike... $35 dollars for the setup I don't count degreaser as I use that for other stuff too. Microfiber towel works great. Put some alcohol on it and it's just as good as the fancy gear wipes. I also use Silca's drip on wax between hot melts because 500 miles is barely two weeks, this way I can just drip on some waxy goodness and keep going. And yes you are 100% you can can hear when it's getting noisey, which actually means it's just no longer silent. Now other people's bikes annoy me.
been using wax on chains for years. I don't use wax anymore with these super narrow chains as I clean and Teflon them regularly, I think it works better on todays design
Over the years i have found drying the chain after waxing to be far better than letting it drip dry. After all, wax on the outside of the chain is of no use at all. Just dump the chain into an old rag and wipe it dry. Wear gloves. It will be very hot. Also dramatically improves initial articulation of the links. For me, the principal benefit is how clean it all stays, not reduced chain wear or imaginary performance gains.
Been waxing my chain for years. I started using Molton Speed Wax but switched to Silca 10000 miles ago. With almost 11K on my chain and cassette, I can say wax is definitely the way to go.
I have four electric bikes that I did the chain waxing on. Electric bikes are much harder on chains and cassettes and front chain rings. I broke down and bought new chains for the older bikes two chains for each bike. I waxed everything at one time. Are usually change out the chains every 250 300 miles. Most expensive component is a cassette where sometimes they cost as much as 450 bucks. I did this about five years ago and I haven’t replaced a chain or cassette yet. When I measure Stretch I haven’t gone over .025.Track my chains in Garman so I know when to replace the input on the other chain. I live in the San Francisco Bay area so I don’t have the water that you guys have in Portland. Attempt to loosen up the links is to take a 2 inch dowel, clamp it in your bike stand and pull the chain back-and-forth over the round part of the Dowel, As usual great video.
Bill so much good stuff here. I was also thinking this would be ideal for eBike (partly because the one I has the chain is hard to clean with no spinning the cranks and chain backwards) Great tip on the dowel. I had the same thought after I had put the chain back on. Next time critical move. Thank you!
This was very helpful and good to know. As a fellow Portlander my chains are always dirty and I think this would help preserve them in all the foul weather we have. Now I know the cost and time, I might have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing great content.
Hey everyone - DIY is way cheaper, than Dustin suggested, in my honest opinion. I‘m using simple, cheap paraffin wax. It melts in 20 min on medium heat in an old pan on my stove top. To securely handle the chain I’m using a slightly modified coat hanger, like the ones you get from the dry cleaner. You can get paraffin in small pallets just like the branded stuff Dustin used but for way less - about 10€/kg. jar 🫙 0€ old pan 🍳 0-5€ 1kg paraffin wax 10-15€ stovetop 0€ coat hanger from dry cleaning 0€ + degreaser and spirits, like Dustin mentioned I have been doing this since about two years. Works like a charm and has no harmful PTFE like most other pricey branded wax products. PTFE contaminates our environment and should not be treated carelessly. Although it is used in many bike related products - I‘d avoid this stuff as much as possible. In my opinion it’s a marketing BS ingredient to make you believe you can save 0.5 Watts. Lately I’ve been experimenting with mixing in small amounts of carnauba wax, which is way harder than paraffin… I’d imagine this improves longevity as the wax should stay on the chain for longer. Best
FYI on the DIY...this can be done right in the wax bag, you can just put the chain into the bag of wax pellets and then put them into a pot of boiling water...no crock necessary...the silca strips are a nice way to avoid the thinner/acetone bath on a new chain so ill def be looking into those.
So how much better is this than products like Rock and Roll Blue? I soaked my chain in diesel overnight and put on rock and roll and I think it done a pretty good job and the cost was like $15
To fully cover the drive chain options, have you considered evaluating the Gates belt drive system? To be honest, it seems like the logical place bikes should be headed towards. Why have an exposed gearing system that can get all yuck when an enclosed transmission system is available? Thoughts?
we won't see this option for our "go fast" bikes because of efficiency losses. and the manufacturers don't want to entertain this idea, even though for majority of their customers are not racers and never will race. so hub gearing and carbon belt drives will potentially be as much benefit to road bikes for some people as much as that commuter bike.
I recommend for degreasing , first step : PETROLEUM wash , blow out with compressed air , second step : nitro paint thinner wash , compressed air , third step : a second nitro paint thinner wash - compressed air ... for waxing i use an old fashion milk boiler , witch its a double wall container and filled with water
Good vid. Please give a long term update. Have used it. PROs: quiet, clean, more enviro friendly than forever chem lube. CONs: Tedious, Lasted about 150-200mi before needing either Silca drip wax which lasts about 4 rides or redo the full immersion wax. This is for mountain biking in So. Cal. on mostly dry dirt conditions, some winter mud, big hills.
If you're just oiling a dirty chain then you're just shortening its life and maybe the rest of your drivetrain. Ask me how I know. The amount of effort it takes to properly maintain a chain that's oil lubed is actually more than the effort it takes to wax one, unless you only ride indoors or on clean velodromes. It's just that most of the effort is up-front.
Wax is more than fine, but in cold, wet weather, aint last. I prefer thinned gear oil and cleaning with diesel every long drive. Cheaper and easier than anything else. Why oil beat wax? Wax has close to no protection against rust. Oiled chain will never rust if maintained.
To break the stiff links, just pull the chain back and forth a few times over something round, like a (firmly secured) dowel or wooden handle. The chain will gouge wood, so don't use something near and dear.
I'm on team wax. Rain degrades the wax within a ride. It's better than wet lube, but the downside is having to rewax after wet rides. Otherwise the chain starts to rust, etc.
Degrease your chain, then use a drip wax like Squirt, Smoove, Silca, whatever. When you clean your bike and drivetrain, which you should be doing at least weekly if you do some serious distance, then reapply the drip wax. Simple, super cheap, clean, your drivetrain will last for a LONG time.
i've used candle wax on a dirty chain. let it settle then repeated a few times. I actually think that waxing a chain is a good way to clean the chain.. but it just doesn't last.. 500km.. so every two weeks. nope 11:05 $2 dollar store cookie tin and cookies. $3 candle. if you say candle wax isn't good enough... OK THERE BUD!!!! for $164... nope get an ultrasonic cleaner and the dry lube teflon clean the entire cassette and hub.
A. DIY chain dipping tool made from a bent coat hanger doesn't fall into the wax and hang it from a nail in the wall over the pot B. A wax Pot on Amazon is 29 bucks and heats fast. C. Whack the chain on a counter to get the excess wax out of the hollow pins D. Use a hair dryer or heat gun to loosen up the wax before you put it on your bike. The new degreasing product looks cool, but how long have you been biking and not tries wax? This is the first DK video that felt shilly.
My biggest upgrade was shifting from external gear drives into protected internal ones, and switching from a lubricated chain to a lubeless more durable Gates Carbon Belt drive. No I have zero drive train maintenance.
Great video. Love the comparison to DIY (effort, cost time) and the conclusion that it's really taking a lot of "little maintenance and consolidating it".
On the cheap. Used saucepan, paraffin wax, piece of wire coat hanger, mineral spirits and isopropyl alcohol. A thermometer is a good idea, do not exceed 130 degrees Fahrenheit. About $15-25
fun fact , parrafin wax will act like a solvent and dissovle and homogenise with pretty much most greases you would find on a chain i use a double boiler method , a pot of wax in a pot of water . making my own wax i used parrafin candles and molybdenum disulfide oil additive , re melting the wax also literally takes 10 mins once the water is at a boil
Pretty interesting. I read about chain waxing years ago, and early on in biking I think it was the only way people lubed their chains. The old way sounded too messy, but the Silca setup looks slick with the dedicated pot.
I use a Silca waxed chain. Last year at Gravel Worlds it was very muddy. I don't know if it was because of a waxed chain or not, but other friends had their deraileur jam up. I rode a 50k in mud with no issues. It did get a little noisy by the end, but when i finished i wiped the water and mud off. When i got home i used the Silca bio-degreaser, which is safe for the wax, to clean the drive train. Then used Silca Super Secret to refresh the wax. It all worked out well.
A waxed chain handles muddy conditions better than oil-based lubes because the wax is hydrophobic so the mud won't get in between the pins and rollers... cleaning a waxed chain is easy as pouring a kettle full of boiling water over it
To be fair, most DIY wax (or other brands) is in a block (or at least pieces) where as that Silca wax is already in tiny pieces which would aid in that quicker melting time using their pot or a thrift store crockpot. I've been waxing my chains for a few y ears now and will never go back to traditional chain oils. I am going to have to try the Silca Strip Chips though, that seems like more of a time saver than anything else.
My longest chain was 6000km with silca, I crashed my bike before the chain wore out... It was around .2 wear (so about 25% worn). Waxing is the way. You can just drop wax to top up.
DIY will take less if you do a bunch of chains at the same time in a large crock pot. I do 6-8 chains at a time and only have to do it every 6-10 weeks.
The strip chip is better used on new chains with factory grease from what I got from silca's video, it converts grease into wax by emulsion apparently 😊
I like most DIY chain cleaning cyclists started with the Park thing a magig attachment to the chain while on the bike soon learn: it is not very good at deep cleaning the chain. So, I saw a UA-cam video on using an ultrasonic cleaner. I tried different degreasers. and found they all required like five soakings. When I was a bike racer in the late 1970's and early 80's, my brother and I used gasoline. Yep. That flammable stuff. It worked very well. So, I used gasoline again. and Voila! I only needed 2 soakings for a very clean chain. The time to remove the chain, wipe it down well with a rag, put into the jar to soak in gasoline, and place into the Ultrasonic cleaner (twice), a rinse in the sink to remove that gasoline residue, and wipe one more time with a rag, place back on the bike, and oil the chain, takes just under an hour. Your wax method is much too cumbersome, especially having to break each link. I don't record how many miles I ride before cleaning but it is definitely more than 500, or so. I learned a lot from your presentation about waxing chains. Where did you buy that stiped jacket? It is so cool.
I just melt a couple of block of canning paraffin in a lg coffee can & add a bit of graphite key lock powder. Then clean & dip. about $3 worth does 10 to 16 chains.
Getting a quick link that is specifically designed for reuse is also important, I've noticed general quick links can start to feel a little loose after a few waxes.
I'm currently in the process of moving out of a house and into an apartment (no readily available hose for bike washes). Something tells me I'm about to get a little Silca crockpot and convert all my bikes to chain wax.
if space is an issue you can just leave the wax in the bag it comes in and boil it, they advertise this. I put it in a mason jar instead of leaving it in the bag.
According to the Silca website, the wax lasts up to 500 km, not miles, so up to 300 miles, and the key words here are "UP TO", but they recommend rewaxing it every 150 miles. After looking at their website, it would be a lot less work and time if you simply buy their Pre-waxed (Dura Ace) Race Chain for $99, and then buy their Super Secret Chain Lube for $16, then every 150 miles relube the chain using a simple drip bottle method. Wham Bam thank you, ma'am. And if that pre-waxed chain lasts 3 times longer than a normally lubed $50 DA chain, you're still saving money over replacing a chain every 5,000 miles and doing a lot less work. The problem with all of what I mentioned above, is that according to Zero Friction Cycling tests that they ran showed FLOWERPOWER WAX - BICYCLE CHAIN LUBE wore out far fewer chains than did the Silca system. All that was required was to clean off the factory lube, drip the FlowerPower wax on, and wait 12 hours to ride. The only question I have is how good of a testing protocol does Zero Friction Cycling use.
So the trick to improve the longevity of your chain is basically just to... clean your chain? Do I have that right, or is waxing it necessary? If wax is necessary, wouldn't a good clean and some $12 surf wax accomplish the same result for significantly less money?
I'm keen on trying this out. I have one concern: Will you strip off the wax when cleaning the rest of the bike? I read a waxed setup is not ideal for wet conditions, and cleaning the bike is quite a wet affair.
11:00 erm, nmo you dont. You can get a kg of candle wax for like 15 bucks, add some graphite if you feel like it but it doesnt make a big difference. You dont need a thermometer and you also dont need a crock pot, but a basic pot and your kitchen hotplate. Once its liquid, you reached temperatur
Funny timing cause i finally bought mineral spirits yesterday to clean my chain for silca super secret i picked up a while back. Might try the full shebang down the road
Everyone that does chain waxing properly knows the most important first step is stripping the chain down to bare steel so the hot wax (and your favourite flavour of additive) can bond to the pins and rollers... the outer and inner plates are much less important. The end goal isn't so much increased efficiency or cleanliness - it's the increased longevity of your drivetrain. 10, 000 kilometres per chain isn't uncommon for gravel bikes ridden in all conditions and if it's common to replace a cassette after every third chain (30K km) and the chainrings after every second cassette (60K km) then you can do the math to understand how much waxing saves over oil-based lubes.
Easier yes. Cleaner yes. BUT at what cost?! I might have to spend more time with my family. If they ever learn that I don’t have to spend hours cleaning and maintaining my bike it could get ugly. Sitting around not spending time with my bikes kind of ugly.
😉For more upgrades and Strange behavior: bit.ly/Subscribe_to_EBD
Just FYI, Chain driven drive trains are 98-99 percent efficient. So anyone claiming a more then 1% increase in efficiency at the drivetrain HAS to be lying, according to math and science and reality.
It's literally moronic to pretend this video has any value with a super glued derailleur cage...wtf bro??
$140 for a bag of Silca wax and their pot - you don't add any Strip Chips for a used chain. Strip Chips only work on the new chain's factory grease - not on clean or old lubed chains. Use Silca's Chain Stripper or your own choice of cleaner to prep your chain for waxing. And a quick way to 'break in' a freshly-waxed chain is to wrap it around something like a length of PVC conduit or pipe and pull the ends of your chain backwards and forwards. Then only the last few links need 'manual' breaking.
but, without grease marks on my leg, how will they know I'm really good at bikes?
😂🤣❤️
And the chainring scar ! 👍🏽
You can get grease marks tattooed on your legs
@@MoonMoon-rm2vg guilty
The old B-grad mark.
The delight I get from this kind of content is inversely proportional to the delight I get from maintaining my bikes. I'm more into spray the degreaser from a safe distance, brush if I have to, dry poorly, few drops of chanel n. 5 and hope for the best. You do stuff so I don't have to, this subscription is the best money I ever spent on the internet, hands down!
You just made my day Alessandro!
🤜❤️🤛
Tip: Use automotive brake cleaner, the non-chlorinated type to degrease and clean your chain. It's cheap, works really good, won't harm the finish on you bike or components, and dries fast. I have been using the Autozone brand version because they usually have it on sale, sometimes 2 for $5.99-7.99, which is tons cheaper than the Finish Line brand cleaner.
This is what I was looking for.
I knew there would be some alternative option but had no clue what it would be.
Great tip!
@DustinKlein_ Just be sure it's the non-chlorinated version whatever brand you use. And you're welcome. 😊
I had good results with mineral spirits (charcoal lighter fluid is the same thing if you're in CA) and isopropyl alcohol. I tried acetone instead of isopropyl the first time around and ended up with a horrific headache from inhaling the acetone fumes. Would advise avoiding acetone unless you have a vent hood or a respirator. Brake cleaner sounds like a good option, I'll have to give that a try for my next chain.
I clean everything on my bikes with brake cleaner…….
Thanks for the hack. I have been using the White Lightning Clean Streak degreaser, which comes in a little bigger 23oz, a little bigger than Finish Line (I think) and comes in at about $18. It's magic and I love it. I'll try the AutoZone non-chlorinated and compare.
Solution looking for a problem, which is Silca’s business model. They take routine objects, like pumps or Allen keys, and make them more expensive than necessary. Yes, they are objects of art to some extent but their pumps are not significantly better than a $30 pump, for example.
And of course there’s an after ride wipe that you need to buy from them. ! Just gets some NixFrixShun lube.
I read somewhere (Hambini?) that they repackage conventional auto antiseize in small tubes and charge a huge markup on it to unsuspecting customers. Like, $18 for a 1-2oz tube when an 8oz bottle that'll last for years if not decades is around $12. Other companies do this too of course. Like, why pay $100 for a Park Tool torque wrench when basically the same tool can be had for half or less without the fancy name on it. I've rebuilt cars with such tools and they're just fine.
My wax setup is a bent wire clothes hanger and a $7 mini crocpot from Kohl's. For stripping/cleaning chains before waxing, I have a medium/large (28 or 32 oz) gatorade bottle, some heavy duty degreaser (I like the purple Dawn stuff or Totally Awesome) and small tin of mineral spirits. Just throw the chain in the bottle with 4-5oz (100ml) of spirits and shake the crap out of it until the solvent turns black. Dump the solvent and switch to degreaser, shake, dump again. Alternate until the spirits stop turning black. My nasty chain took like 7-8 rounds, and a new chain takes like 2-3 rounds. The problem with brake cleaner is that you wind up spraying most of it past the chain. It's formulated to flash off quickly which isn't what you want to do. You want all the oils and grease to dissolve and stay in solution, and the cleaner step removes the dirt and everything else that the oils let go.
All the equipment I use was still cheaper than the massive bag of silca wax that I had to buy, but still cheaper over time than buying chain lube. I've only used like 10% of the bag because my cheap crocpot is so small. You only need enough to submerge the chain. I only ride road on nice days, so I don't see rain dirt or other adverse conditions. I've only rewaxed once so far and it's been 18 months or so. Less maintenance than my unibrow.
edit: I did all this because I transport my bike inside my car which has a light-colored interior. The cleanliness aspect was more important to me than friction or efficiency or any of that other bullshit. Try to keep the waxing to the garage or away from the inside of your house if you can help it. Rolling your bike along will cause the chain to flake and you'll have little Tungsten disulfide grey flecks all over your floor. If you try to wipe it up or mop it, the soft wax smudges instead of staying solid so it's a real pain in the ass to clean. But that's better than greasing up your calves and everything else you accidentally touch forever and ever.
Cleaning tip. Ecolab floor stripper, home depot. It came up when looking into wax removal. I install tile, i had one coated in a fine layer of wax, this stuff did the trick. 5 minute soak, light scrub, wipe with water.
I also use Ecolabs purple degreaser or orange degreaser. Then i rinse in 99% isopropyl. Here in California mineral spirits is illegal, the vapors from mineral spirits are toxic (its the wood alcohol). I soak a dirty chain for 20 minutes, shake, rinse clean. I repeat this as necessary, normally 2-3 times, until the degreaser doesnt turn black and i can see the bits @ the bottom easily. Then i rinse in 99% ISO, then drop in the wax.
I use an instant pot to heat my wax. About 5 minutes. According to zerofriction, using 2 wax pots is better than water for deep cleaning a chain. I do think it would save on wax consumption, as wax is lost on a deep clean in water. I think an ultrasonic cleaner would be ideal here, as the basket suspends the chain so it never sits in sediment.
Im switching my wax soon to molten speed wax. Its the best performing wax zerofriction has tested for a dry climate. Silca is best for adverse conditions.
Switched to waxing a while back and the DIY method is significantly cheaper/actually better than Silca's own melt product:
- Crockpot was $15 AUD ($10 USD) from the supermarket
- Thermometer not needed, just whack it on low and walk away. Come back an hour later, swoosh it around and you're sorted
- No wood/brackets needed. Just use an old coat hanger and bend it into shape (mimic Molten Speed Wax's tool) - Free
- Mineral Turpentine 1L $5 AUD ($3 USD) for 1L + a Jar
- Methylated Spirits 1L $4 AUD ($2.50 USD) for 1L + a Jar
- Wax $40 USD
Total cost = $55.50 USD vs. SIlca's system for $164 = DIY is about $110 USD difference.
With the chain, you need to break the links using a handle or a bin handle first (just run it through, don't do it link by link).
Or a dowel. He clearly didn't do his research because most waxing how-to's explain this. And holding up the agitator with a rod so it doesn't fall into the melted wax isn't rocket science.
SILCA sais that STRIP CHIP is only for factory greased new chain. STRIP CHIP is for "neutralisation" factory grease so the grease would not make wax too soft. Soft wax - short lifespan of the wax on the chain.
Yeah that is something hardly anybody mention... How many factory greased chains are you stripping for waxing a year? On the other hand their chain stripper... Hmmm... Might give it a try and stop pissing my Missus off with "that weird annoying noise making machine" xD
@@ivanjednobiegowiec7656Silca also makes a chain stripper, it's basically a degreaser they designed for stripping new chains without all the chemicals. Strip chip still seems easier, but you gotta get it to the right temp or it won't work.
Correct.
I'm surprised you never tried Squirt Lube due to the area you live (wet, wild, wacky...seriously though...). I assume you were using oil before. I 've used Squirt only due to the "easy-ness" of it but this product would be great if it lasted 500 miles. Squirt seems to last for me about 170-200 miles.
Love it! I've been waxing my chains with the crock pot and yes it takes a long time to melt the wax. But there are other things you can do while it's melting like clean the house cut the lawn....... As far a dripping I jus have my chain on a shirt hanger and pull it out and hold a piece of paper underneath . Removing wax , I just roll the chain over a 2x4 / my handrail and it frees up the chain. As far as the wax, I use paraffin wax with a little Teflon. BAM!!!
a crock pot makes no sense to use
Agree, a crock pot is much too slow@@timtaylor9590
Also, I can fit about 6-8 chains in my crock pot, unlike one in silca. Silca is nice solution if you have one bike and one chain, anything other than that I'd stick with crockpot.
@@Pav_1983 takes too long
Crock pot takes 90min to liquify wax. Pain in ass. Fortunately, i do this while in home office, so i plug in the crock pot just before work starts, and its ready for coffee break. Double boiler is way faster. Get cheap camping pot and fill with wax. Put it in another pot with water. Boil and wait
D. One suggestion for the tribe - don't use a crock pot. Get an old rice cooker, which will melt the wax way faster. Literally 5-10 minutes.
Also, the DIY approach can be a lot cheaper than you might think. I use wax from a bag of crushed ikea tea light candles. I don't think I'm losing very many watts.
My degreaseing regimen involves a jam jar and a 50-100 millilitres of petrol - shaken not stirred!
The entire set up cost me about US$10. And the running costs are close to zero.
Worth thinking about before taking the plunge.
Cheers
Even quicker get an old pan and put it on medium on your stove. The petrol is the cheapest and fastest cleaning way to go. I used to wax 5 chains at a time for convenience. It eventually got old doing this.
Now I just use Muc Off dry lube and buy it in Liter size to save money.
Most bike wax makers will tell you that this will ruin the wax by overheating it. Plus they put various additives in it so it's not just candle wax, which I'm not sure is even clean enough for bike chains. I've heard that canning wax is best for that. And it's not about watts, but drivetrain life.
I use a one foot length of copper pipe clamped in a vice to work or break the chain lengths after waxing. I run both sides over the pipe and just break the last link or two at each end manually. It also sheds some of the excess wax before you mount the chain.
I’m 500 miles into a Silca waxed chain on my winter bike. Like you I live in PDX, my chain has remained spotlessly clean and worked flawlessly.
I started before the Silca system melter came out - so have a $15 thrift store crockpot. Works great - just less control of temperature.
I have now waxed four of my bikes (I have G.A.S. too).
The most important part is to not contaminate the wax with dirt - so a really clean chain will make the $40 bag of wax last the longest.
Was using an od 1978 crockpot until I got the Silca pot. It controls the temps for fast melt then switch to 70C to get to the pull temp. Take 10 min to cool to 70C and pull the chain. Beats watching the wax for it to get down to 70C or skim ready etc. Love the setup. Josh recommends using SuperSecret after the first ride so I tried that and he is right.. so smooth and quiet.
Hmmm. Camping stove. Small saucepan. Parafin wax. Clean chain until it shines deeply. Heat wax,soak for 10 mins. Hang up to dry. Refit chain. When a bit dry/ squeaky then clean chain with hot water. Re wax. Simple as that. Been waxing all my chains ( in wet Donegal) on all my bikes..MTB,Road,Gravel for past 7 years. Very pleased with how cheap and simple it is.
You don't need all that stuff in the DIY method (like the crock pot etc) - I just melt mine in a pan on the stove.
Me too! An old pot and meat thermometer works perfect! And propably quicker than the crock pot, even though I raise the heat very careful.👌
Yeah I was gonna say. Gotta be super careful with that. Definitely don't want the wax to get too hot or combust god forbid. I like the crock pot because you don't have to babysit.
IMO the smallest crockpot you can find is super easy. No need to monitor temperature, you can literally leave the chain hooked onto an old spoke on-top of the wax and leave it there to melt as long as you want. The crock pot wont ever get hot enough to smoke the wax or ignite like a pan could. I just set it up in the corner of my kitchen counter while i make dinner and forget about it until after we eat, hang the chain up under a shelf and then put it back on the bike the next morning. No effort or active attention required.
This is the way. We have a pot with graphite enhanced wax we use all the time. Zero effort, just pop the chain every once in a while.@@Max-xl3ml
Silca ships their wax in a bag that you can just boil. You put the bag in boiling water for 10min, take the bag out, drop the chain in for a few minutes, and you're done. You'll never burn the wax since boiling water won't exceed boiling temperature. The pan is basically clean after because it was just boiling water, and you don't have a crockpot or pan dedicated to chain wax.
The chain doesn't lengthen on it's own. The cassette and chainrings don't wear by themselves. It's all done by the power of your legs. Power that wasn't used to propel you. So less wear definitely means more efficient.
Haven’t tried the new strip chips but have used the recently released silca chain stripper which you soak a chain in for about 5 minutes or so, then clean with water and then wax. It’s amazing and left me super clean waxed chains in what used to take me a full days of soaking and ultrasonic cleaning.
I then use silca super secret drip wax every 150-200 miles after a light spray down on a microfiber cloth with silca biodegreaser on the waxed chain and I’m currently get at least 1500 miles between bike-off re waxing.
I just started waxing the chain on my road bike and do the same as you. I was really impressed with the Silca chain stripper - it works and it's easy. When I put my freshly waxed chain on the bike, I use my wife's hair dryer on low to gently warm the wax - a few spins of the cranks and the chain is super quiet and very smooth. The drip wax is a little messy but definitely works. I'll probably start waxing the chains on all my bikes.
Edit: I put my quick link on a paper clip and wax it at the same time.
I've been using Squirt chain wax. Clean the chain initially then just Squirt every 200miles, job done.
I do the same, this whole removing and waxing the chain every two weeks seems like too much hassle.
I am waxing by oz cycle method (yes that insane dog killer). 1 kilo of parafin wax costs ... 20 euro - a lifetime supply. 1 bag of PTFE from aliexpress .. about 8 euros, i clean the chain fist time with gasoline (by far the best merhod) then degreaser (generic crap) then izoprophylic alcohol - att together not more than 10 euros. A crockpot costs.... 10 euros at most. A clothes hanger ... zero. So...my grand total is 48 euros. Maybe less. And that stocks lasts me years. How do you imagine I would pay 150 usd for parafin ...from "silca". Is like buying ceramic speed....a scam. As always I enjoy your work ! Take care.
Much the same for me. Been doing this for decades except I use molybdenum disulphide also from eBay. Couldn't get PTFE to mix well. Top up with Squirt drip on after washing bike or a wet ride.
Same here. With 5 chains rotation. I did buy the silca wax too trying to perceive the difference. Didn't notice so I got back to buying parafin and ptfe. But to anyone who has to do that in a kitchen with one chain every single time without ordering suspicious powders from aliexpress, the silca way is not THAT expensive either.
@MichaelTabolsky £100 /kg for silca is not THAT expensive,!? I bought 5kg of wax for £22....
Totally agree 👌
yes I have been using paraffin mixed with aliexpress ws2 and ptfe for years, still have no wear on my chains or cassette.
As a long term waxed chain user, id like to add a few points.
Chain waxing is the polar opposite to wet lube. So best suited to very dry dusty conditions, think mountain biking in thick dust and although it works ok in wet grimey conditions you, wont see so much advantages.
Also the first degreasing clean is extremely important. I like to soak my chain for 24 hours regardless if its a new chain or previously used with wet lube.
Loving your channel Dustin Klein
Is it necessary to degrease the cassette and... basically the whole drivetrain as well, at least the contact points with the chain?
@mackknife1551 technically not "necessary" but it will contaminate your chain which will then contaminate your chain wax. So you will want to give it all a good clean for the first wax. However, the good news is you'll never get the build up of gunk on your jockey wheels, cassette, chainrings ever again. The wax can absorb some grime but as the wax wears off the gunk will come off with it.
DIY is the ticket - it only matters when you must introduce a new chain into the mix. Starting with 2 fresh chains and alternating makes this even easier and less frequent!
chain wax lubes like squirt or BikeWorkx Chain Star MAX WAX /here in europe/ work well without all that chain-cooking mess around
but first you need to degrease the chain better than you did /inside is more grease than outside/
I still feel this whole hot waxing process is inconvenient and expensive and keep wondering about the environmental cost of all this. I'm using the effetto mariposa flowerpower drip wax and it's super simple and effective to use while being ecofriendly as much as possible. And top rated by zero friction cycling, which says a lot about it.
Me too! I don't see any substantial cost savings by going to immersive waxing (investing in the waxing equipment, electricity costs, ...) - plus the time taken is under 60 seconds versus 15-30 min. For me, the Flower Power wax is the obvious choice among the drip waxes. Might be marginally cheaper to buy 5-10kg of paraffin wax plus some friction modifiers like WS2... but not a huge gain to be made for me at least...)
Exactly, and according to friction tests Flowerpower had less friction and made the chain last 3.5 times longer than Silca Super Secret wax did, the Flowerpower Wax lasted longer between applications, and was a whole lot less money and hassle, the only hassle there is, you have to clean the chain of all the factory grease before using Flowerpower which is typical of any lube you might use.
@@georgec2894 Shouldn't cost more than $20-$30 for everything but the wax and the electricity costs are at most pennies per waxing session. But it's not about up front cost, but rather performance and drivetrain life, which will save you way more than you spent for the wax and equipment over the years. The real reason to not hot wax is the time, mess and bother, which I agree isn't for everyone.
i still use muc off for this reason, and if your arent using wax or muc off they contain teflon PTFE which is cancerous lmao Dupont says its safe but well you know
$110 lol.
Rice cooker $15 (and that’s new. Used one $5).
Paraffin gulf wax $7.
Chain degreaser $7.
Total : $29 or less than $20 if you get a rice cooker from goodwill
Sure, i give them Silca have some good R&D and decent main products, but these gimmicks are some otherwordly animalistic bs. Imagine owning a Silca branded Mini-croc pot and not thinking about how much you spent on that alone. Baffling. womp womp
If you use the Super Secret every 100 or so miles you don't have to reset your chain as often. I usually go a total of 800 to 1000 miles between resettings as directed by Silca.
Why do people go through the hand wringing process of "hot waxing" their chain? That's for pubes. Anyway, thanks to chemistry you can just spray Maxima moto chain wax. The wax is dissolved in a solvent carrier that quickly evaporates after application. You are welcome. Oh and the prefect dirt bag degreaser is in your garage in the form of lawnmower gasoline.
Total cost about $10.
Bro you glued your derailleur
😂
With superglue specifically not meant for plastic parts.
I'll stick with my ultrasonic cleaner, thank you very much and my dry Teflon lube. This is too time consuming for not much gain over what I'm currently doing.
Better than WD40 or other wet lubes? Of course but not in my situation.
I’ve waxed for 30 yrs., but this is what was missing! Wow...a buyer here!
Long Time Waxer - most people I talk about waxing their drivetrain say it is too much of a hassle. The best part is that it runs quieter, doesn't get dirty 'grease' everywhere, and significantly extends the life your components.
Helpful Hack - get and affix a small piece (length & diameter) of PVC pipe to roll your chain back and forth to 'break the chain in' before remounting it back on your bike! No individual 'breaking' of links.
6:30 You clearly need to setup some kind of a "chain trainer" to do that, by hand it seems awful lot of work. Old single speed narrow sprocket and a crankset with narrow chainring mounted on a rig that can be spanned out to tension a derailleur chain, put the newly waxed chain on that setup to give it a few good rotations until the links are freed, then move it on to the intended derailleur bike.
Absolute Black Graphenwax €40, Ikea inductionhob €40, old pan €0, solid electric wire to hold chain on 1 side €1, nail in wall of garage to hang chain on €0,01, carton on ground to catch waxdrips €0, white spirit to degrease chain €2,50. Total costs: €83,51. AB Graphenwax outperforms Silca in use and you don’t need to break your chain: runs smooth in 3 turns.
I've been doing this for a couple years now. Every odd numbered month, I clean and re-wax. One pound block of paraffin wax and PTFE (powdered Teflon). Crock pot from a thrift store and a wire clothes hanger to thread the chain on and dip in the hot wax. I break the chain loose on the crank handle of my bench vise. About a 1.5" radius and I just run over that. Flip it and run it again and she's ready to go. Great performance and those in my ride club that have noted how clean my chain always is have made the change too. I recommend it.
Powdered teflon sounds really unhealthy...
@@rasmusriemann6557 no one's snorting it.... Empty the Teflon into the melted paraffin wax and it's suspended in that medium. Great process that doesn't collect road grime and extends the life of your groupo. Hands and kit remain clean during flat repair
i also add red-40 to mine
I use MSW and have had good results, and I was assured by them that wiping a chain down with a clean rag to get rid of excess wax and any dirt is perfectly fine and won't affect its performance or longevity, since it's only the wax inside the rollers and on the inside surfaces of the plates that matters, and some minute amount of wax will always remain on the outside. I do this mostly for looks.
I have been using Ceramic Speed UFO drip wax. The only hard thing about the process was degreasing the drive train in the first place. All you need to do is wipe the chain with a cloth every 180km and reapply the drip wax. No need to remove the chain. Takes about 5 minutes or less. I've not had to clean the chain for about 2500 km so far. Ride is smooth and chain is quiet.
$164? That is like 8-10 chains on sale. My chains last 4-5k miles. I ride 5-8k miles a year. I take chain off once a month degrease & re-lube. I probably lube again once a month if rainy. For myself I think I will stick with simple green & T-9 Lube 😉 Good video though Thanks!
$ilca
Spot on, more unnecessary work and waste of money.
T-9 is paraffin wax based already.
@@drill_fiend1097 Thanks have used it for years & really like it. Didn't know that about the wax. No wonder it works so well even in wet
Exactly. I don't get the fuss... Chains are meant to be changed...
Only been waxing for 6 months or so but I infinitely prefer it over using petroleum based products. So much cleaner and easier to work with.
Also, tip for breaking those links after the wax cools - drape it over a garbage can handle, drawer knob, etc. and alternate pulling it up and down. Like you’re milking a cow. Helps loosen the links in seconds.
I have now used Silca competitiors in the UK..
used this on my roadie and gravel bike.. 4 chains, swap and use new one then once all 4 are used up redo the waxing on all 4.. overall happy with product, so far very little wear on the chains if you follow the directions.
Any top ups i use SQUIRT lube to keep chaings going additional few hundred KMs if needed
one dislaimer is that if you ride in the wet, one waxing would almost instantly wear off, going through puddles and mud is very quickly removes all the wax, so on my gravel bike i had to basically wipe chain quickly after a ride and reapply squirt to keep it from rusting.. So does not last as long and not as great as maybe wet lube in the UK wintertime (Off road more so than road).
Dry / warm days this is perfect, used it on holiday in Majorca and didint even need to bring lube for the 400km i had done that week. Recommend doing it for sure!
I DIYed my home waxing setup and it was just as fast and easy as that Silca kit. A $12 crock pot, an easy to make agitator (with end loops fitted through a rod or dowel that rests on the pot edge so it doesn't fall in), and one of those simple $15 portable bike stands with 2 hooks to initially hold up the waxed chain as it hardens. Didn't have to fashion anything other than the agitator, which took a couple of minutes and a diagonal cutter. I later found out that a couple of rare earth magnets attached to a metal door frame was strong enough to suspend several chains without falling (hopefully magnetized chains aren't bad).
I get the appeal of an all in one kit, but I prefer to DIY it. It's actually half the fun. And I saved way more than $54 because you overpriced a basic small crock pot, I already had a candy/oil thermometer and some isopropyl alcohol (which I assume most people do), and used existing items to agitate and hang the chain. Aside from the cost of the wax which is the same no matter which way you go, it cost me a total of $22, $12 for the pot and $10 for the spirits. And even the spirits ended up not costing me anything because I got it on Amazon and the product page misrepresented the size so they comped it to me. So, $12, and a bit of time.
I call that a bargain, if not quite the best I ever had.
My DIY setup costed me less than 25 EUR. To degrease a chain i bought 2 liters of mineral spirits and 1 liter of acetone (still have leftovers), used 2 jars to do 2 baths of mineral spirits and 1 rinse with acetone. For wax i used regular 2 liter pot with a lid for 10 EUR. Melted wax on the electric stove on the lowest setting which took 10 minutes to melt. Prepared batch of 5 chains, because i can't be bothered to re-wax frequently. When wax solidified in the pot, put the rest of the chains in, closed the lid ans stashed it away till the next chain change or re-wax.
Been waxing my chains for several years now, mountain, gravel, touring, road and urban. It works well for me and i have converted several of my friends.
What we really need is chain manufactures offering factory waxed chains. So far the only ones i know about is Connex.
Great and funny video as usual!
Cheers!
First rule of tv, don’t wear stripes, it strobes!
I get 5000 miles from a chain by using biodegradable degreaser on it when I wash my bike. Dry it off with compressed air re-lube with Muc-off ceramic lube and it adds about 2 mins to your bike wash process and costs £15 ($16) every 7,000 miles for lube and £1.20 ($1.50) for degreaser for about 20washes.
The lube just washes off so when your bike needs washing the chain does too.
Nothing beats a waxed chain. I've ran different dry lubes, they all attract dirt, and you might wash your bike religiously, but that dirt is still there the duration of your ride. On my bikes I can ride like 100mi and the chain is clean still unless I ride in pancake batter mud. It has a lot less wear on the drivetrain. Wax is hard to beat. I get that it's easy to just degrease and relube, but I don't have to do that pretty much ever. There is no grease, the chain, cassette, and chain ring just stay clean. Every so often I'll use drip wax emulsion to rewax the chain, every other month I'll take the chain off dip it in boiling water, throw it in the hot wax, and I'm off. It's awesome.
@@ov3rcl0cked I was hooked on GRAX until I tried Silca. No more nasty cassette cleaning and I can touch the chain etc when putting the bike into my car if I am not using the rack. Super clean cassette and chain makes it worth it alone!
I tried the DIY method and finally gave up on it and just use a bottle of Smoove lube. Similar to Squirt. The wax submersion method only got me about 70 miles of trail riding on my mt bike, so wasn't worth the effort. With Smoove, my chain is lasting forever and the drivetrain is quieter than with the submersion method.
How does wax hold up in very wet conditions?
The wax itself holds up fine. But it won't protect against corrosion as well as oil does, so if you're using wax, you want to also have a nicer chain with anti-corrosion coating.
Okay... questions. What do you do with the melted wax in the melter when you are done with the job? Wait for it to solidify and use again? Throw away? How do you clean out a melter? If you can continue to reuse the wax...how many times? How often do you need to purchase wax pellets for $40?
I'm doing a few very dusty gravel races this year and have strongly considered this. Just want to know what I'm getting myself into.
Just store the wax in the melter. and re use it when its time to wax chain again! Get more wax when it starts to get low. so simple(thank gwad).
I tried waxing several times. A lot of hassle and worse than a liquid wax treatment like Squirt, Silca wax lube, or Rock n Roll.
Non crock pot method. I utilise an Oz Cycle UA-cam recipe made of paraffin wax , shellite (petrol), and PTFE (Teflon) . Mixed and shaken in a sauce bottle. I hold a paper towel under the chain to catch the excess, then clean the chain with the paper towel that has the excess wax in it. Quietest, smoothest and cleanest chain I have ever used. As the wax recipe has shellite in it, it also cleans the chain when I apply it.
I used gasoline as a first step in degreasing my chain. After chain was degreased I used a bent coat hanger as a dipper to put the chain in a crock pot. The coat hanger tool was long enough to stick out of the pot. After chain was waxed I hung the chain vertically from a nail in the shed. After chain cooled I ran the chain around the handle of my bench vice to remove all kinks. I also completely disassembled my cassette and degreased for the first wax application. Also degreased my chain rings and rear derailleur wheels. I only degreased cassette, derailleur, and chain rings once for the initial wax job. I am now on my third year of waxed chains. I generally use the crock pot twice a year to wax chain. In between wax jobs I use a wax based lubricant such as Squirt if I hear any noise from the chain.
Instant pot ist best for waxing. 3qt model is nice and small. Makes for a good rice cooker too! Heats the wax in a few minutes (saute on low).
Silca recommends getting another pot for it, so you can do deep cleanings in water. Zero friction uses 2 pots of wax with the 1st meant to do the deep cleaning. You can put the chain wet (in fact its ideal). As soon as water dries, surface rust can form. The molten wax will displace the water and coat the chain in the same process. The water will also evaporate. This will bubble like a new chain, letting you know when the chain is fully waxed.
An ultrasonic cleaner is the best was to easily deep clean any chain. After the chain is waxed all you need is water to get a deep clean!
Now i also wash my bike with dish soap. 2tbsp of dawn in a 32oz spray bottle. I only use dawn as many professional products call specifically for it. A couple drops in a 5 gallon bucket works wonders wiping epoxy grout!
I wax the chains on both my most ridden bikes. It's awesome. Shifts better, quieter, cleaner, actually less maintenance. Silca sells a drip wax emulsion you can use to easily re-lube without having to fully rewax. The stripchain is actually meant for new chains only. They also sell a chain stripper which is what I've been using to clean chains prior to waxing. I don't know if I'll go over to the strip chip because I like their boil in a bag method which apparently doesn't get hot enough for the strip chip to work effectively. There are some bikes I don't wax the chain on, the bike that goes on my trainer gets wet lube, because chain wax flakes off over time and this creates a mess. My bike packing bike doesn't use wax cause I need a lube that I can apply on the trail, it also gets wet lube since wet lube lasts a long time and doesn't need to dry. I like rock'n'roll holy cow wet lube, it seems to run pretty clean for a wet lube.
“pour boiling water over the chain” in order to rewax….. just use a heatGun. The wax will flow out of the links and wipe off with cotton cloth. Can be done on the bike when you wanna add wax between dipping. HairDryers aren’t hot enough and a plumbers torch can easily get too hot for some.
Heat Gun is a great suggestion!!
I put my wax in a tin on the BBQ.
When it’s melted it’s ready!
While that’s going I clean the chain in a bucket of boiling water and scrub the cassette with the same.
All takes about 20 min.
Also, to free the waxed chain - loop it over a metal bar and with a hand on each free end pull the chain left/right so it flicks the excess wax off.
Rice cooker from local Chinese grocery store: $15
Digital meat thermometer $10
Old wire coat hanger (for threading chain to dip into wax (doesn't fall into pot either!) $0
Old piece of pipe $0 (roll your chain over it to loosen the links)
5L jug of 95% alcohol $10 (now 15 waxes in still have half of it left)
I just hang the hot chain on a pedal of a hanging bike...
$35 dollars for the setup
I don't count degreaser as I use that for other stuff too. Microfiber towel works great. Put some alcohol on it and it's just as good as the fancy gear wipes.
I also use Silca's drip on wax between hot melts because 500 miles is barely two weeks, this way I can just drip on some waxy goodness and keep going. And yes you are 100% you can can hear when it's getting noisey, which actually means it's just no longer silent. Now other people's bikes annoy me.
Stolen Brazilian wax from your wife....priceless.
been using wax on chains for years. I don't use wax anymore with these super narrow chains as I clean and Teflon them regularly, I think it works better on todays design
Over the years i have found drying the chain after waxing to be far better than letting it drip dry. After all, wax on the outside of the chain is of no use at all. Just dump the chain into an old rag and wipe it dry. Wear gloves. It will be very hot. Also dramatically improves initial articulation of the links.
For me, the principal benefit is how clean it all stays, not reduced chain wear or imaginary performance gains.
Been waxing my chain for years. I started using Molton Speed Wax but switched to Silca 10000 miles ago. With almost 11K on my chain and cassette, I can say wax is definitely the way to go.
I have four electric bikes that I did the chain waxing on. Electric bikes are much harder on chains and cassettes and front chain rings. I broke down and bought new chains for the older bikes two chains for each bike. I waxed everything at one time. Are usually change out the chains every 250 300 miles. Most expensive component is a cassette where sometimes they cost as much as 450 bucks. I did this about five years ago and I haven’t replaced a chain or cassette yet. When I measure Stretch I haven’t gone over .025.Track my chains in Garman so I know when to replace the input on the other chain. I live in the San Francisco Bay area so I don’t have the water that you guys have in Portland. Attempt to loosen up the links is to take a 2 inch dowel, clamp it in your bike stand and pull the chain back-and-forth over the round part of the Dowel, As usual great video.
Bill so much good stuff here.
I was also thinking this would be ideal for eBike (partly because the one I has the chain is hard to clean with no spinning the cranks and chain backwards)
Great tip on the dowel.
I had the same thought after I had put the chain back on. Next time critical move.
Thank you!
This was very helpful and good to know. As a fellow Portlander my chains are always dirty and I think this would help preserve them in all the foul weather we have. Now I know the cost and time, I might have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing great content.
Hey everyone - DIY is way cheaper, than Dustin suggested, in my honest opinion.
I‘m using simple, cheap paraffin wax. It melts in 20 min on medium heat in an old pan on my stove top.
To securely handle the chain I’m using a slightly modified coat hanger, like the ones you get from the dry cleaner.
You can get paraffin in small pallets just like the branded stuff Dustin used but for way less - about 10€/kg.
jar 🫙 0€
old pan 🍳 0-5€
1kg paraffin wax 10-15€
stovetop 0€
coat hanger from dry cleaning 0€
+ degreaser and spirits, like Dustin mentioned
I have been doing this since about two years. Works like a charm and has no harmful PTFE like most other pricey branded wax products.
PTFE contaminates our environment and should not be treated carelessly. Although it is used in many bike related products - I‘d avoid this stuff as much as possible. In my opinion it’s a marketing BS ingredient to make you believe you can save 0.5 Watts.
Lately I’ve been experimenting with mixing in small amounts of carnauba wax, which is way harder than paraffin… I’d imagine this improves longevity as the wax should stay on the chain for longer.
Best
FYI on the DIY...this can be done right in the wax bag, you can just put the chain into the bag of wax pellets and then put them into a pot of boiling water...no crock necessary...the silca strips are a nice way to avoid the thinner/acetone bath on a new chain so ill def be looking into those.
Don't let the water boil because it takes the wax to too high a temp (see comment o silca website), but otherwise you're bang on.
So how much better is this than products like Rock and Roll Blue? I soaked my chain in diesel overnight and put on rock and roll and I think it done a pretty good job and the cost was like $15
To fully cover the drive chain options, have you considered evaluating the Gates belt drive system? To be honest, it seems like the logical place bikes should be headed towards. Why have an exposed gearing system that can get all yuck when an enclosed transmission system is available? Thoughts?
we won't see this option for our "go fast" bikes because of efficiency losses. and the manufacturers don't want to entertain this idea, even though for majority of their customers are not racers and never will race. so hub gearing and carbon belt drives will potentially be as much benefit to road bikes for some people as much as that commuter bike.
I recommend for degreasing , first step : PETROLEUM wash , blow out with compressed air , second step : nitro paint thinner wash , compressed air , third step : a second nitro paint thinner wash - compressed air ... for waxing i use an old fashion milk boiler , witch its a double wall container and filled with water
Good vid. Please give a long term update. Have used it. PROs: quiet, clean, more enviro friendly than forever chem lube. CONs: Tedious, Lasted about 150-200mi before needing either Silca drip wax which lasts about 4 rides or redo the full immersion wax. This is for mountain biking in So. Cal. on mostly dry dirt conditions, some winter mud, big hills.
Yeah, this is so much easier than just simply oiling my chain after every ride.
😂
If you're just oiling a dirty chain then you're just shortening its life and maybe the rest of your drivetrain. Ask me how I know. The amount of effort it takes to properly maintain a chain that's oil lubed is actually more than the effort it takes to wax one, unless you only ride indoors or on clean velodromes. It's just that most of the effort is up-front.
Wax is more than fine, but in cold, wet weather, aint last. I prefer thinned gear oil and cleaning with diesel every long drive. Cheaper and easier than anything else.
Why oil beat wax? Wax has close to no protection against rust. Oiled chain will never rust if maintained.
To break the stiff links, just pull the chain back and forth a few times over something round, like a (firmly secured) dowel or wooden handle. The chain will gouge wood, so don't use something near and dear.
I'm on team wax. Rain degrades the wax within a ride. It's better than wet lube, but the downside is having to rewax after wet rides. Otherwise the chain starts to rust, etc.
Degrease your chain, then use a drip wax like Squirt, Smoove, Silca, whatever. When you clean your bike and drivetrain, which you should be doing at least weekly if you do some serious distance, then reapply the drip wax. Simple, super cheap, clean, your drivetrain will last for a LONG time.
i've used candle wax on a dirty chain. let it settle then repeated a few times. I actually think that waxing a chain is a good way to clean the chain.. but it just doesn't last.. 500km.. so every two weeks. nope
11:05 $2 dollar store cookie tin and cookies. $3 candle. if you say candle wax isn't good enough... OK THERE BUD!!!!
for $164... nope
get an ultrasonic cleaner and the dry lube teflon clean the entire cassette and hub.
A. DIY chain dipping tool made from a bent coat hanger doesn't fall into the wax and hang it from a nail in the wall over the pot B. A wax Pot on Amazon is 29 bucks and heats fast. C. Whack the chain on a counter to get the excess wax out of the hollow pins D. Use a hair dryer or heat gun to loosen up the wax before you put it on your bike. The new degreasing product looks cool, but how long have you been biking and not tries wax? This is the first DK video that felt shilly.
My biggest upgrade was shifting from external gear drives into protected internal ones, and switching from a lubricated chain to a lubeless more durable Gates Carbon Belt drive. No I have zero drive train maintenance.
Really excellent video!!
Great video. Love the comparison to DIY (effort, cost time) and the conclusion that it's really taking a lot of "little maintenance and consolidating it".
On the cheap. Used saucepan, paraffin wax, piece of wire coat hanger, mineral spirits and isopropyl alcohol. A thermometer is a good idea, do not exceed 130 degrees Fahrenheit. About $15-25
fun fact , parrafin wax will act like a solvent and dissovle and homogenise with pretty much most greases you would find on a chain
i use a double boiler method , a pot of wax in a pot of water . making my own wax i used parrafin candles and molybdenum disulfide oil additive , re melting the wax also literally takes 10 mins once the water is at a boil
Pretty interesting. I read about chain waxing years ago, and early on in biking I think it was the only way people lubed their chains. The old way sounded too messy, but the Silca setup looks slick with the dedicated pot.
I use a drip on wax and it's good but i live in the UK so it's just constantly wet and rubbish so fully waxing isn't worth it for me I'd say
I’m curious what the difference between the 2 are?
@@EverythingsBeenDone not sure, I just ride too much a week (500km+) really to be waxing every few days
How does a waxed chain handle muddy conditions?
I use a Silca waxed chain. Last year at Gravel Worlds it was very muddy. I don't know if it was because of a waxed chain or not, but other friends had their deraileur jam up. I rode a 50k in mud with no issues. It did get a little noisy by the end, but when i finished i wiped the water and mud off. When i got home i used the Silca bio-degreaser, which is safe for the wax, to clean the drive train. Then used Silca Super Secret to refresh the wax. It all worked out well.
A waxed chain handles muddy conditions better than oil-based lubes because the wax is hydrophobic so the mud won't get in between the pins and rollers... cleaning a waxed chain is easy as pouring a kettle full of boiling water over it
To be fair, most DIY wax (or other brands) is in a block (or at least pieces) where as that Silca wax is already in tiny pieces which would aid in that quicker melting time using their pot or a thrift store crockpot. I've been waxing my chains for a few y ears now and will never go back to traditional chain oils. I am going to have to try the Silca Strip Chips though, that seems like more of a time saver than anything else.
My longest chain was 6000km with silca, I crashed my bike before the chain wore out... It was around .2 wear (so about 25% worn). Waxing is the way. You can just drop wax to top up.
DIY will take less if you do a bunch of chains at the same time in a large crock pot. I do 6-8 chains at a time and only have to do it every 6-10 weeks.
The strip chip is better used on new chains with factory grease from what I got from silca's video, it converts grease into wax by emulsion apparently 😊
I like most DIY chain cleaning cyclists started with the Park thing a magig attachment to the chain while on the bike soon learn: it is not very good at deep cleaning the chain. So, I saw a UA-cam video on using an ultrasonic cleaner. I tried different degreasers. and found they all required like five soakings. When I was a bike racer in the late 1970's and early 80's, my brother and I used gasoline. Yep. That flammable stuff. It worked very well. So, I used gasoline again. and Voila! I only needed 2 soakings for a very clean chain. The time to remove the chain, wipe it down well with a rag, put into the jar to soak in gasoline, and place into the Ultrasonic cleaner (twice), a rinse in the sink to remove that gasoline residue, and wipe one more time with a rag, place back on the bike, and oil the chain, takes just under an hour. Your wax method is much too cumbersome, especially having to break each link. I don't record how many miles I ride before cleaning but it is definitely more than 500, or so. I learned a lot from your presentation about waxing chains. Where did you buy that stiped jacket? It is so cool.
I just melt a couple of block of canning paraffin in a lg coffee can & add a bit of graphite key lock powder. Then clean & dip. about $3 worth does 10 to 16 chains.
DIY chain hanger: a wire hanger and a nail above the crock pot. Works a treat.
Getting a quick link that is specifically designed for reuse is also important, I've noticed general quick links can start to feel a little loose after a few waxes.
Check out the Mickle method for keeping a clean chain. All this new fangle stuff… all you need to do is wipe and lube…
I’ve not tried the new Silca chips, but I still do the “DIY” cleaning to truly get all the grit out
I'm currently in the process of moving out of a house and into an apartment (no readily available hose for bike washes). Something tells me I'm about to get a little Silca crockpot and convert all my bikes to chain wax.
This is a brilliant idea for apartment life.
Smart move and thank you for sharing it. I hope this move can help others as well.
if space is an issue you can just leave the wax in the bag it comes in and boil it, they advertise this. I put it in a mason jar instead of leaving it in the bag.
@@caffeineTX Yeah my friend who shares an apartment does this. Keeps it relatively clean and easy w/o getting wax all over the kitchen.
Smoooooth. Convenience will save a horrendous mess in your bike shed. I learned the hard/messy way...😅
dat thumbnail
According to the Silca website, the wax lasts up to 500 km, not miles, so up to 300 miles, and the key words here are "UP TO", but they recommend rewaxing it every 150 miles.
After looking at their website, it would be a lot less work and time if you simply buy their Pre-waxed (Dura Ace) Race Chain for $99, and then buy their Super Secret Chain Lube for $16, then every 150 miles relube the chain using a simple drip bottle method. Wham Bam thank you, ma'am. And if that pre-waxed chain lasts 3 times longer than a normally lubed $50 DA chain, you're still saving money over replacing a chain every 5,000 miles and doing a lot less work.
The problem with all of what I mentioned above, is that according to Zero Friction Cycling tests that they ran showed FLOWERPOWER WAX - BICYCLE CHAIN LUBE wore out far fewer chains than did the Silca system. All that was required was to clean off the factory lube, drip the FlowerPower wax on, and wait 12 hours to ride.
The only question I have is how good of a testing protocol does Zero Friction Cycling use.
Or even cheaper diy is using induction hob, old pot and a thermometer. Works very well.
So the trick to improve the longevity of your chain is basically just to... clean your chain? Do I have that right, or is waxing it necessary? If wax is necessary, wouldn't a good clean and some $12 surf wax accomplish the same result for significantly less money?
Not trying to be a jerk, I'm just always skeptical of companies these days that make outrageous claims and overcharge for basic stuff like this.
I'm keen on trying this out. I have one concern: Will you strip off the wax when cleaning the rest of the bike? I read a waxed setup is not ideal for wet conditions, and cleaning the bike is quite a wet affair.
11:00 erm, nmo you dont. You can get a kg of candle wax for like 15 bucks, add some graphite if you feel like it but it doesnt make a big difference. You dont need a thermometer and you also dont need a crock pot, but a basic pot and your kitchen hotplate. Once its liquid, you reached temperatur
Funny timing cause i finally bought mineral spirits yesterday to clean my chain for silca super secret i picked up a while back. Might try the full shebang down the road
Everyone that does chain waxing properly knows the most important first step is stripping the chain down to bare steel so the hot wax (and your favourite flavour of additive) can bond to the pins and rollers... the outer and inner plates are much less important. The end goal isn't so much increased efficiency or cleanliness - it's the increased longevity of your drivetrain. 10, 000 kilometres per chain isn't uncommon for gravel bikes ridden in all conditions and if it's common to replace a cassette after every third chain (30K km) and the chainrings after every second cassette (60K km) then you can do the math to understand how much waxing saves over oil-based lubes.
Easier yes. Cleaner yes. BUT at what cost?! I might have to spend more time with my family. If they ever learn that I don’t have to spend hours cleaning and maintaining my bike it could get ugly. Sitting around not spending time with my bikes kind of ugly.
🤣😂😭
Your secret will be safe with us 🤐