Adventures in OCD: Today's Chain Waxing

[alex_cycles]

A few months into the waxing experiment. I now have three waxed chains rotating ~300km each on three bikes (9 waxed chains total). Outdoor and gravel haven't seen a lot of action yet, but the indoor trainer bike has now seen 2 iterations on each of three chains. I haven't bothered to measure for wear yet at just 460ish miles, but will do so next iteration. Not much point now I've rewaxed them - have to wait until they're "used". Overall though, I'm very happy with the performance and lack of griminess.

 

[wafter]

I've been waxing my chain this year, so far it's been very good, but dry summer rides only, not sure about winter.

I've waxed chains in past years, but not with the same amount of chain cleaning diligence before and after waxing.

I'm using this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325089309670
View attachment 657235

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Cool - although personally I steer well clear of PTFE on environmental grounds... will be interested to hear how you get on!

I'm not so sure that relying on gravity to take up all the wear on the pins/rollers is the best strategy - I'd be interested to see if there's any difference in the absolute and relative lengths with the lower ends weighted.

A good point that maybe I'll attempt to address if / when I get to repeat this test.. although from experience I'm not sure that adding mass to the end would make a lot of difference. Ideally I'd also have a brand new, unwaxed chain for the sake of comparison but it seems that on current forecasts what I have will last me more than a lifetime

A few months into the waxing experiment. I now have three waxed chains rotating ~300km each on three bikes (9 waxed chains total). Outdoor and gravel haven't seen a lot of action yet, but the indoor trainer bike has now seen 2 iterations on each of three chains. I haven't bothered to measure for wear yet at just 460ish miles, but will do so next iteration. Not much point now I've rewaxed them - have to wait until they're "used". Overall though, I'm very happy with the performance and lack of griminess.

Crikey - sounds like you're setup for life!

I'm certainly both very happy and pleasantly surprised by the performance of these treated chains so far.

By way of a totally unfair comparison, by the time the chain on my old 8sp Giant (which was only ever oiled and critically, shamefully never cleaned) got to a similar mileage it was well past its wear limit - possibly by a factor of two or more

 

[alex_cycles]

Crikey - sounds like you're setup for life!

I've done slightly over 8000 miles in 2022, half of it indoor. I would expect indoor chains to last quite a long time as the environment is very clean and dry. Outdoor, I'll just have to see how it works out. But if the three chains last me a couple of years worth of outdoor miles, I'll be pleased with that.

 

[Fab Foodie]

This is the perfect thread for cycling insomniacs 😉

 

[Ajax Bay]

I've done slightly over 8000 miles in 2022, half of it indoor. I would expect indoor chains to last quite a long time as the environment is very clean and dry. Outdoor, I'll just have to see how it works out. But if the three chains last me a couple of years worth of outdoor miles, I'll be pleased with that.

So, if I've got this right, you'll be pleased if these three chains give you 2 x 4000 miles (13,000km) outdoors.
Do you think the waxing will mean these chain's wear is significantly less than 'normal' lubrication (and why)?
I'd expect a chain to elongate beyond 100.6% in 2500km so getting 4300km would be great.

 

[alex_cycles]

So, if I've got this right, you'll be pleased if these three chains give you 2 x 4000 miles (13,000km) outdoors.
Do you think the waxing will mean these chain's wear is significantly less than 'normal' lubrication (and why)?
I'd expect a chain to elongate beyond 100.6% in 2500km so getting 4300km would be great.

So what I think I meant was if the outdoor chains give me 8000 miles worth of riding. That'd be 3 chains with 2666 miles each.
Previously I've had to change 11-spd road bike chains at between 900 and 2000 miles when they reach 0.5%
But even if there is no longevity improvement I still like the lack of mucky oil. The most onerous part of the whole process is the initial chain cleaning, but in theory you should NEVER have to do that again until it's time to rotate in a new set of chains, which I"m hoping will be at least 2 years.

I don't really know if there will be a longevity improvement or not. We'll have to see, with time.

 

[Sea of vapours]

I'd expect a chain to elongate beyond 100.6% in 2500km so getting 4300km would be great.

You've quoted that expectation before and I've been repeatedly taken aback by such a low figure. I generally retire chains at 0.5% wear after around 5,000, mixed weather, kilometres, quite often more, and I don't do anything terribly special beyond wiping down thoroughly after each ride and relubing each link with relatively normal lubricant. i.e. no off-bike cleaning or even any attempt at cleaning chain internals.

Apropos that, having just decided to give immersive waxing a go, partly inspired by this thread, and having prepared a couple of chains, I'm therefore hoping for 10K kilometres plus per chain :-)

 

[Ajax Bay]

You've quoted that expectation before and I've been repeatedly taken aback by such a low figure. I generally retire chains at 0.5% wear after around 5,000, mixed weather, kilometres, quite often more, and I don't do anything terribly special beyond wiping down thoroughly after each ride and relubing each link with relatively normal lubricant. i.e. no off-bike cleaning or even any attempt at cleaning chain internals.

6000km would be my expectation if I was aiming to run the chain and cassette to their end. But if trying to keep the cassette less worn I'd swap every 2,500km. @alex_cycles 3 chain rotation regime should minimise cassette wear irrespective of lubrication method.
Look forward to hearing how your experience is come Easter.

 

[alex_cycles]

6000km would be my expectation if I was aiming to run the chain and cassette to their end.

My cassettes last a very long time. It's possible my chain gauge has had me binning chains prematurely. I've started using my Mitutoyo calipers now for a really accurate measurement.

But if trying to keep the cassette less worn I'd swap every 2,500km. @alex_cycles 3 chain rotation regime should minimise cassette wear irrespective of lubrication method.

Yep. That's another plus for doing it this way.

Look forward to hearing how your experience is come Easter.

Should definitely have data on that for indoor by then.

 

[Sea of vapours]

6000km would be my expectation if I was aiming to run the chain and cassette to their end. But if trying to keep the cassette less worn I'd swap every 2,500km. @alex_cycles 3 chain rotation regime should minimise cassette wear irrespective of lubrication method.
Look forward to hearing how your experience is come Easter.

I'll certainly comment on my waxed chain(s) experience once I have done a worthwhile distance on them. As a starting point, however, given that I ride around 10,000km per annum and generally see 5,000km per chain and either 15 or 20,000km per cassette, it'll be a while before I'm able to do so, unless the waxed ones are quite considerably worse! That may of course be the case, since I'm far from convinced that wax is going to be the best choice for northern England winter riding. I'm doing this as an experiment to see what the overal approach is like / whether it works for me in general / for a bit of entertainment, since I like playing with new [to me] methods.

 

[Caperider]

I've used

this for years no problems and cleans nice nothing sticks to it like, oily chain lube

 

[alex_cycles]

Yesterday I swapped chains on the indoor Zwift setup and finally remembered to take a caliper measurement first.
Since starting the experiment in October on the indoor bike I've used each of the three chains three times for an average of ~650 miles. (I aim to swap ~200-230 miles)
No discernable wear so far. Measures very close to how it should be when new.

 

[wafter]

Thought it might be interesting to attack this from a different angle.. the Routier, complete with waxed chain has endured the entire winter outside (under a semi-waterproof cover).

It's not been out for many months and I recently took a peek under the cover to be greeted by a less-than-catastrophic scene. The chain has patches of relatively minor surface corrosion, but generally appears to have fared well considering the circumstances.

I've brought the chain home and dunked it in the pan; it'll be interesting to see how it fares with ongoing applications in this environment; although for the forseeable it's seen the worst to be expected until the winter sets in again.

Of course I'd rather store the bike somewhere more hospitable, but needs must and ultimately the chain is a consumable part. Rust isn't abrasive and it looks like the presence of wax within the links has prevented the chain from seizing, so a bit of oxide shouldn't affect the function of the chain.

The OD of the rollers have some corrosion, however this is to be expected since they're actually in contact with the chainrings / sprockets so probably lose their wax quite quickly... equally they'll probably polish up well with a bit of use. Likewise the side plates show a bit of rust but this should come off to an extent with use (unlike the sides of the inner links, for example), so shouldn't present any functional issues.

I plan to keep waxing the chain and it'll be interesting to see how it fares - below is as it stands post-today's wax:

 

[rockyroller]

FWIW - currently experimenting with spray & drip options of this product
DuPont Chain Saver-Saver - Wax Based Lubricant

 

[Sea of vapours]

Look forward to hearing how your experience is come Easter.

Whilst it's not Easter yet, it's not far off. Also, I thought I'd measure wear on the-waxed chain every three months, and it's now three months. It happens to coincide with [proper] seasons too, so this is the winter chain waxing experience. In summary: a very good result I think.

Over 2,250km. the chain has worn by between 0.5mm and 1mm over fifty links (nearly the full length of the chain, measured hanging up with a weight on the end). I'm calling it 0.75mm. Fifty links is 1,270mm, so that's 0.06% wear, near enough. Even being pessimistic and calling the wear 1mm over the 1,270mm (it's definitely less than 1mm), that would be 0.08%. On the basis of this more pessimistic figure, and given that the chain has been used for 2,250km it can be projected to reach 0.5% wear (my replacement point) in 2,250 *(0.5 / 0.08) = approx. 14,000km. The more realistic figure of 0.75mm wear gives approx. 19,000km projected lifespan.

I anticipate that wear will not be linear with cumulative distance, so the projected totals at the 0.5% wear point are probably a little high, though given that immersive waxing 'resets' the chain to being contamination free, or close to, each time it's done, I'm optimistic that it'll be towards that.

The chain has been used in the wet about 25% of the total distance, by which I mean that it rained for an hour or more on those rides. It being winter, it's been used in 'wintry dampness' pretty much all the time, say 75% of the distance (including the properly wet 25%). I have variously wiped the chain clean with alcohol or re-waxed it (immersively) after wet rides. In total, it's been immersively waxed five times during the 2,250km. The total 'work time' - i.e. me doing something rather than just waiting for wax to melt - for each immersive waxing is 5-7 minutes (remove chain, place on pot, turn pot on, wiggle chain a bit in melted wax, remove chain to hang up and set, replace chain). The elapsed time per waxing is a couple of hours. Oh - all roads, but many very much on the lane end of the spectrum and covered with winter mud.

So, that compares very favourably with my normal chain longevity (to 0.5% wear) of five or six thousand kilometres. More to the point, however, the whole drivetrain and the bike stays fabulously clean (even before wiping with isopropyl alcohol). So far, this is very good and well worth the few minutes 'work' involved in re-waxing every few hundred kilometres.

(If there are any calculation errors above, do please point them out; a decimal place in the wrong place would be ... unfortunate, in the overall calculation.)