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Waxing On A Bit More About Hot Waxing Chains (www.roadbikerider.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works to c/bicycles@lemmy.ca
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[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 weeks ago

The hot wax was gone from the chain in under 200 miles.

Wow, that makes it functionally useless imo. My current approach is really simple:

  1. Clean chain with a cleaning tool - 1-2 min
  2. Rinse and dry with a paper towel - 30s
  3. Add oil lube and dry with a towel - 30s

I do that whenever I remember (and check the chain stretch), and it seems to work pretty well. I keep a bottle of Simple Green for cleaner and dilute ~50/50, then lube with whatever my LBS sells. It seems to do a pretty good job...

[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I don't think they applied the wax right though, just hitting it with some WD40 isn't sufficient to completely clean off all the grease. Most people soak the chain in degreaser or even use one of those heated vibrating cleaners to really knock everything off and once it's completely clean/dry, then submerge it in a wax bath for at least a half hour to make sure it gets into everything.

[-] GrindingGears@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 weeks ago

Silca makes a pretty good degreaser that's one step and is pretty effective. It won't work as good if the chain is caked with crap and well used, but it's quite robust and will certainly do a good job with a newer chain. Anything more is overkill. It takes like 15 minutes too, start to finish, and if you do a good enough job you will only need to wash with hot water in the future.

[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

Not the first time I've heard praise about Silca's stuff...

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yeah, that could lead to pre-mature flaking of the wax. But the question is, is it closer to 200 miles, or the average time most people do between lubes (I do the shorter of 500 miles, every season, or if I went on a nasty wet ride).

[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago

Wow really? I lube like, every 300 miles with Tri Flow, is that excessive?

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago

Idk, it probably depends on where you ride. I mostly ride on dry bike paths, and I always store my bike inside. If I were riding on wet roads/muddy paths, I'd probably lube more often.

[-] plactagonic@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago

In my experience the drip on wax is enough. I put new chain in acetone, then alcohol (each bath about a day), just in mason jar nothing fancy.

After installation I apply drip on wax, which lasts about 100-150 km (it is based on really soft paraffin so doesn't last long).

this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2024
10 points (91.7% liked)

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