Alternative to wet lube

[Alex321]

out of interest, why not wax?

Wax lubes are a lot more trouble to apply. The chain needs to be completely clean, to the extent that even a brand new chain will need thorough cleaning before applying the lube.

They really aren't sensible for everyday use, they are designed and intended for highly performance-oriented cyclists.

 

[Twilkes]

The folk on Reddit who extol wax are rewaxing every 200-300km, which is often. It's possible with multiple chains I guess but having to keep a hotpot and the wax maintained is never going to happen in our house! Even the cost savings of a strict cleaning regime would never quite outweigh the labour involved for me, rag and lubing is about my limit.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I gave this a bit of thought a while ago. My chain is generally gritty and mucky when I come to clean it, especially after riding in wet/muddy conditions. Should I be using something that particles of muck don't stick to so much?

I came to the conclusion after a bit of reading that dry lubes are mainly for nice weather anyway. So that didn't really address my problem. I have to admit I've never actually tried it. I just decided that it didn't address the problem I had (chain mucky in bad weather)

I do have a small pot of "dry lube" that I got as a freebie from somewhere. Perhaps I'll give it a go ... in the summer.

 

[T4tomo]

They really aren't sensible for everyday use, they are designed and intended for highly performance-oriented cyclists.

In the winter and for commuting etc then wet lube rules,

In the summer on my best road bike I use wax based lube, once the factory lube has all but gone off a new chain. "Squirt" is good.

The key is to do any cleaning post ride and reapply the wax so it dries before you head out next. It doesn't need to be food grade factory clean, just thoroughly mickled before reapplying wax lube.

 

[fossyant]

Wax lubes are a lot more trouble to apply. The chain needs to be completely clean, to the extent that even a brand new chain will need thorough cleaning before applying the lube.

They really aren't sensible for everyday use, they are designed and intended for highly performance-oriented cyclists.

You mean easily 'sold' a magic potion.

 

[T4tomo]

You mean easily 'sold' a magic potion.

They are branded "ceramic lube"

 

[Alex321]

They are branded "ceramic lube"

No, ceramic lubes and wax lubes are very different beasts.

Though there seems to be little real evidence to support some of the claims made for ceramic lubes either. I did buy both wet and dry ceramic lubes from Muc-Off, but I'm not really sure how much better they are.

 

[nlmkiii]

Wax lubes are a lot more trouble to apply. The chain needs to be completely clean, to the extent that even a brand new chain will need thorough cleaning before applying the lube.

They really aren't sensible for everyday use, they are designed and intended for highly performance-oriented cyclists.

I ask as I'm about to shift to waxing my chain. It seems like a bit of a faff on day 1, but actually the cleaning part really isn't a major difficulty. After that initial prep it probably takes less upkeep if anything, as the chain is more completely lubed there will be less dirt ingress so it takes less upkeep. Probably a full rewax every 1500-2000km, with 6-7 drip wax top ups in between.

I may change my mind after having done it for 10000km, but for now it seems like it's not that big a difference in labour overall, and big increases to drivetrain longevity, and some increase to performance.

I won't be waxing the commuter bike chain. But for the nice summer bike it just seems like a worthwhile extra hour every couple of months. Maybe I'm wrong!

 

[Twilkes]

I ask as I'm about to shift to waxing my chain. It seems like a bit of a faff on day 1, but actually the cleaning part really isn't a major difficulty. After that initial prep it probably takes less upkeep if anything, as the chain is more completely lubed there will be less dirt ingress so it takes less upkeep. Probably a full rewax every 1500-2000km, with 6-7 drip wax top ups in between.

I may change my mind after having done it for 10000km, but for now it seems like it's not that big a difference in labour overall, and big increases to drivetrain longevity, and some increase to performance.

I won't be waxing the commuter bike chain. But for the nice summer bike it just seems like a worthwhile extra hour every couple of months. Maybe I'm wrong!

How are you 'topping up' the wax? Only thing I've ever read is taking the again off and immersing it, that's why people rotate multiple chains.

 

[T4tomo]

No, ceramic lubes and wax lubes are very different beasts.

Though there seems to be little real evidence to support some of the claims made for ceramic lubes either. I did buy both wet and dry ceramic lubes from Muc-Off, but I'm not really sure how much better they are

My point was ceramic lubes = magic potion.

(not the muc-off one) can be hugely expensive and no different to regular dry lube.

 

[Alex321]

My point was ceramic lubes = magic potion.

(not the muc-off one) can be hugely expensive and no different to regular dry lube.

Fair enough. Just a bit confusing, as the post you were responding to was discussing wax lubes, not ceramic.

 

[nlmkiii]

How are you 'topping up' the wax? Only thing I've ever read is taking the again off and immersing it, that's why people rotate multiple chains.

I'll be using Silca Hot Melt to wax it, and then Silca Secret Chain Lube to top it up. Silca have recommended this method.

I'm sure there will be some people saying "Silca suggest you buy more product? surprise!", but I think that's just a bit too cynical. I've found that at the high-end specialist price point companies tend to be genuinely interested in offering the best advice. And Josh Poertner, the guy who started Silca just seems to live and breath bike efficiency, he cares more about that than anything. He was happily bigging up some Ceramic Speed chaps the other day, even though they are very much a direct competitor

Obviously this isn't quite as optimal as rewaxing every 200km, but it's not far off it.

 

[PpPete]

I used ProGold very happily for a number of years, seemed to keep chain quiet & reasonably clean for a good length of time. I'd say about 500km in summer / dry conditions but only 200km max in winter / wet conditions.
No cleaning between re-applications needed, just thorough wiping and the next treatment seems to wash any crap out.
I never got on with any wet lubes, even with thorough wiping they just seemed to gunk up chain, cassette and chainrings, and the resulting grinding paste destroyed chains far quicker.
However, with a family fleet of 20 bikes to maintain ProGold became prohibitively expensive, and I now use a homemade paraffin wax & PTFE powder mix. An application lasts about 200km summer or winter, and the process is a bit of a faff but it works out incredibly cheap (even factoring in the one-time cost of a 2nd hand slow cooker for melting) and the cleanliness of the chain is utterly amazing. Basically forget about dirty hands after working on the drive chain. Quiet too.
Recipe & instructions here. I don't have any hard evidence either way but he claims to have data to show drive train friction is as good or better than any oil based product.
There are some eye-wateringly expensive commercial wax products out there - but whilst I'm sure some are very good, I've always held to the view that expensive snake oil is still only snake oil, just with more marketing cost....

 

[PaulSB]

I can't say I've ever found a lube difficult to apply. Over the years I've tried a variety of wet and dry lubes all of which seem to end up a gunky, black mess and I'm very particular about chain cleaning, wiping off excess, etc.

The two I've found which really do keep the chain clean and free of gunk are "Chain Juice Ceramic" lube and "Squirt" lube.

Squirt is my favourite and keeps the chain very clean all year round. I have a friend who swears by waxing, a huge faff in my view, and I find Squirt a much easier wax alternative.

 

[nlmkiii]

I use Squirt on commuters / kids bikes etc, it's good stuff. But it doesn't work as well in the real world as it does in tests, as tests it is fully immersed and the lube forced into every last crack. The problem with drip lubes is that they often don't actually get in to all the places you want them to, so their tested performance is miles away from real performance. I still highly recommend Squirt to people, but it is still just a drip lube.

There are some eye-wateringly expensive commercial wax products out there - but whilst I'm sure some are very good, I've always held to the view that expensive snake oil is still only snake oil, just with more marketing cost....

This is probably true for some of them, but others the waxes have additives that make significant differences to lubrication. The reason I'll be using Silca is that it has Titanium Disulphide in it. It is an expensive additive, which is what makes the wax expensive, but the properties are mind blowing. That being that it literally bonds into the rough surface and smooths it making the chain lower friction, and also able to last far longer. It is basically magic.

I don't think Silca is the eye wateringly expensive side though. It's £40 for 500g, which is a chunk, but that's enough to last forever basically.

Silca do a podcast called the Marginal Gains podcast which explains a lot about it. Obviously they are biased, it's their product, but it doesn't make it not true either! Listening to conversations with people like the founders of Zero Friction Cycling etc is enlightening. I am a big Silca fanboy!