I wanted to share my experience with waxing my bike chains.
I was resistant to waxing my chains because it seems that a lot of people felt it was “too much work”.
But having to constantly clean black shit off my chains after every ride, then spend time degreasing and re-lubing, I figured I’d try waxing when I got my gravel bike.
Now, thousands of KM later and having converted all three bikes to waxed, there’s no way I’d go back. The time saved could be measured in hours per month.
First, the biggest complaint is chain prep. Yeah, regardless if you’re waxing or not, you’ll need to prep a new chain by removing the factory grease. With waxed, you do this once, and no more worrying about degreasing ever again. Make like easy and get Silca’s chain stripper, and it’s a 10 minute, one-step process.
Ongoing chain maintenance couldn’t be easier. After every ride, give the chain a quick wipe (or not). My chain stays clean, even after a 200 km ride.
And if you ride in wet or dirty conditions? Guess what, you’re in for a LOT of work if you lube your chain. With waxed, keep a second (or third) chain ready to go, and you just swap it out (10 seconds of effort). Take the dirty chain, give it a wipe if it’s only been wet, or pour boiled water onto it if you want to “reset” the chain to bare metal. Then drop it into the waxing pot for a re-wax. You don’t have to stand at the pot, so there’s no real time commitment here. I’ve spent more time completely dirtying large microfiber cloths trying to get my chain “clean” when lubed (hint: it’s never clean if you use a wet lube, not without solvents and an ultrasonic cleaner).
For actual immersion wax, I do it every 1000 km (sooner than you need to), and use a drip wax every 200 - 250 km to keep things fresh.
Honestly, wax is easier, cleaner, and takes less time to maintain vs wet lube.
The only downsides? The initial cost to get started. But this is offset by not having to replace chains or other components prematurely. You actually save money in the long-term when using waxed chains.
Some might argue that “you can’t run waxed chains in muddy or constantly rainy conditions”. Well, at the same time, your wet lube isn’t really helping matters in those situations, either. Waxed is still better, and you can swap chains much faster than you can clean the grinding paste from a wet lubed chain.
Who would I not recommend waxed chains to? Someone who rarely uses their bike. Drip lube will be “good enough” in those cases. But anyone else would benefit from waxing their chain.
How do you melt the initial wax? Watching videos people use crockpots.
Doesn’t that ruin the pot? Do you have a dedicated pot for the wax?
Thrift stores are full of old crock pots. We used to get them for candle making.
If you use Silcas hot melt, then you can actually just boil the bag and put the chain in there. I haven’t used it like that, but instead just got an inexpensive slow cooker (most are <$25 or nearly free if second hand).
It doesn’t really “ruin” the pot, but I would dedicate it to wax only.
Interestingly enough, I’ve discovered wax melting pots designed specifically for melting waxes (i.e. for candle making), and while they might be a little more expensive than a slow cooker, they offer finer temperature control and may be slightly more convenient to use. With a cheap slow cooker, I’m quite happy!
I use a small wax heater for removing body hair. 20$ and gets the job done. If you plan to do more than one chain at a time though, it’s too small. I’ll probably buy a used crock pot or instant pot at some time to wax more than one chain at a time.
The time saved could be measured in hours per month.
Huh? I have two bikes I ride all year round – snow, rain, sun, on and off-road. Both of them pretty well maintained, if I say so myself. I’ve ridden over 5.5k km this year, and I think I’ve spent less than an hour total on cleaning and lubing my chains.
Make like easy and get Silca’s chain stripper, and it’s a 10 minute, one-step process.
10 minutes to degrease your chain with some fancy (and expensive, I presume) stripper? Damn, nobody’s got time and money for that. You can do that in less than two minutes of work, including taking the chain off and putting in back. Just put your dirty chain in a small plastic bottle with some gasoline and shake it well for a minute. After that, run it through a piece of cloth and hang outside to dry. Done.
Honestly, wax is easier, cleaner, and takes less time to maintain vs wet lube.
Yeah, sure. Not having to cook my chains every 1k km takes sooo much time xD
and I think I’ve spent less than an hour total on cleaning and lubing my chains.
Then you aren’t really cleaning them. The pins in your chain can’t be wiped clean from the outside. If you ride and wipe down the chain, it’s not clean.
10 minutes to degrease your chain with some fancy (and expensive, I presume) stripper? Damn, nobody’s got time and money for that.
For clarity, that’s done once with a new chain. And it’s a much safer product than solvents, which can be reused for years.
Just put your dirty chain in a small plastic bottle with some gasoline and shake it well for a minute.
You aren’t getting it clean if that’s how you do it. The grit isn’t being removed as well as you think. You can try that with an ultrasonic cleaner, but a used chain with need multiple baths, even with an ultrasonic cleaner.
After that, run it through a piece of cloth and hang outside to dry.
In below zero temps, this isn’t an option. And I’d prefer not to use gasoline in my home, either.
You do what works for you. I find waxing to be a far better process, but maybe you’re needs are different from mine.
Neat! I just blast that shit with some WD-40 which isn’t even lube and go on my merry way!
Wow, this is super insightful! Thanks! Been wondering about waxing chains. We’re getting into our wet season so this is definitely piquing my curiosity once again.
I just waxed the chain on my gravel bike and it’s going great so far. Maybe time to consider the mountain bikes. I do spend a lot of time lubing chains.
We’re getting into our wet season so this is definitely piquing my curiosity once again.
Winter here gets slushy and salty, and I burned through a few chains two winters ago, then invested in “rustproof” chains last year, which worked well, but keeping on top of cleaning the inside of the chain and relubing was a PITA.
This year, I’ll be rotating waxed chains.
You know what’s even easier? Forgetting to lube your chain for a while. Then avoid lubing it out of shame to face your failure. Then measuring the chain wear after a year to discover no significant degradation.*
* Might require extra strong ebike-specific chains like KMC X11e EPT
Then measuring the chain wear after a year to discover no significant degradation.
How many miles/km?
Yes, good chains last longer. But good waxed chains can outlive the life of some bikes (20,000km on a waxed chain is not unheard of). And it preserves the components at the same time.
Not too many, perhaps 2000km. Spring/summer/fall, no water or dirt riding. The cassette is SLX, derailleur and shifter are XT. I don’t ride a huge amount at the highest gears which suffer from higher wear due to the fewer teeth count. I recently lubed it with Silca Synerg-e and it’s bit quieter but the shifting performance was excellent before and after that. With all that said, I have no doubt I’ve worn it more than if I had properly maintained it. Perhaps significantly more. Nevertheless I was flabbergasted at the state of the drivetrain after this much mismaintenance. 😂
Yeah, with 2000km, I wouldn’t expect much wear from a high-end chain like that. Before waxing, I was using Synergetic, which does help to preserve components. But it was still dirty, and I just got tired of always seeing black when I wiped the chain!
Now, I can literally put a dropped chain back on my chainring, and don’t even have to wipe my hands. It’s wild how clean a chain can be after 1000km of low effort maintenance!
So you’re saying I’m the perfect target audience for waxing? 🤔
Unless you don’t ride your bike, you are the perfect target audience for waxing! LOL
Even easier is not caring or even knowing that you are supposed to do anything.
Ah, you must be one of those cyclists I can hear a mile away! SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK!! 😂
Or they are Dutch and have a fully-enclosed chain that never gets wet or dirty.
One thing I’ve done with my winter bike is added a front fender extender (DIY), which prevents any spray from hitting the front chainrings, chain, or down tube. Last year, it was a total game changer. The only thing I couldn’t really help with was spray from the rear fender, which drips downwards onto the chain and cassette.
I don’t even think a Dutch-style chain guard would help prevent contamination from the rear cassette getting drenched.
But the best “winter bike” is one with an internal gear hub, and a belt drive. And an aluminum frame. Unless you really abuse the hell out of it, there should be very little to worry about.
Another surprising thing for me is that at no point did it start making shameful noises.
Plot twist: You’re actually using a carbon belt drive. 😆
7 years and counting. Have never had any maintenance on my belt. The Alfine 11 has had an oil change though.
Sounds like a dream! I’m sure at some point I’ll go with a belt drive. For now, I’m quite content with a low-maintenance chain drivetrain. Especially for their ubiquity, lower cost, and ease of repair while out in the middle of nowhere. LOL
It’s been very easy. Although I will say my use case is a 9km urban commute. Any issues I can jump on a train to the local bike shop.
Changing a rear tyre on a split frame in the middle of no where would be beyond me.
I used to thin paraffin wax with xylene just enough to make a solution that stays liquid and apply it to the chain from an old chain oil dripper bottle. If applied liberally it flushes out what little dirt has accumulated on the chain and after a quick wipe you’re done. The xylene evaporates leaving you with a waxed chain.
I used dry lubes for a while too but found the homemade wax liquid the most trouble-free option.
Sounds like you made a DIY version of a commercial drip wax. I use Silca’s drip wax, and I’m getting really good value out of it, so I’m not motivated enough to try something homemade. But I’m glad it works for you, and no doubt is better than most other lubes!
Key and Peele would be proud of your use on the chain wax
The SILCA strip chip does a great job of eliminating the need for chain prep. Worth the extra cost, if you don’t want to mess around with harsh chemicals.
Waxed chains are the bees knees. I’ll never go back to using lube.
In my experience a lot of people are simply not aware of liquid chain wax like Squirt and think they have to put their chain in a heated pot or something.
Drip wax is better than wet lube, but not as good as immersion wax. You CAN use drip wax over a chain that has been immersion waxed for ongoing top-ups, but it also depends on what works for you.
I use the site zerofrictioncycling to see which methods are best.
Yeah but I’m lazy and imo it is good enough, especially with how easy it is to apply. I know a lot of people think similarly about that process, except they don’t know that there’s an easy waxing way too and it is still superior to regular lubes.
I really want to try waxing my chain but I commute on my bike and more than half the year it is wet and rainy so I had always read that it wouldn’t really be suitable due to the wetness. It is interesting to hear that this may not actually be as much of an issue as I was lead to believe by everything I had dead about it.
I generally keep on top of my maintainance and will wash the bike usually once a week including cleaning the filthy as fuck chain.
Think I may look into waxing again after reading this.
Unless your commutes are 150 km a day, wax will still be better than wet lube. Rotating among multiple chains would be the way to go.
The lower the speed count, the less expensive the chain, but you’ll save money in the long run, even with multiple 11 speed chains (which are way more expensive than something like a 7/8 speed chain).
I generally keep on top of my maintainance and will wash the bike usually once a week including cleaning the filthy as fuck chain.
I got tired of that. And realistically, you’ll never get a “clean” chain when using wet lube unless you use an ultrasonic cleaner + solvents (and run it through multiple cleaning cycles). You can clean the outside of the chain, but the wear happens around the pins, and you can’t wipe that clean.
Cheers for the info. I absolutely do not have the money to try this just yet but I will be keeping it in mind to do in the future as I’m sick of the black shit everywhere!
I prefer belt drive with a sealed internal geared hub. It’s not for everyone or every situation but it’s nice riding in the wet and just putting the bike away after without thinking about cleaning and lubrication
Counter-point: Here’s how I lube my chain.
Whenever the squeaking annoys me too much, I apply some lube.
Done.Be sure that you’re checking your chain for wear… and your cassette… and chainrings. That approach might work well for some, but squeaking is already a sign that wear has been occuring.
I don’t see why anyone would need to go thru all that when we’re talking about parts that will need to be replaced at some anyway point no matter how good care you take of them.
For me, my bike is to be used and abused. Yeah maybe my chain and cassette wears faster than with a proper maintenance but I also just keep riding way past that untill it effectively becomes unuseable. My chain is already stretched to the point I’m supposed to replace it and there’s several teeth missing on my rear cassette but I notice no difference in performance. The shifting is going to be more or less shit either way because a new derailleur stays straight on my use for about 3 days. I’ve already mastered the trail-side derailleur adjustment by grabbing it with bare hands and bending it straight(er)
I don’t see why anyone would need to go thru all that when we’re talking about parts that will need to be replaced at some anyway point no matter how good care you take of them.
Plenty of reasons, even when you acknowledge that parts will eventually need to be replaced:
- Convenience.
- Quieter ride.
- Cleaner.
- No solvents when you need to really clean the chain.
- Saves a LOT of money, especially when some newer cassettes are $300+, chains up to $100, etc. But even in my older bike, where the components are cheap, I’d rather not be spending money sooner and more often.
- As with the above point, components last significantly longer, and work better for longer (i.e. better shifting, no chain skipping, etc.).
- If you count watts, waxing will save them.
- Because you aren’t replacing components as often, this has environmental benefits, too.
I’m not a casual rider, so I want my bikes to run smoothly and with as little effort to maintain as possible. For me, waxing has been a blessing.
My chain checklist -
Have I put oil on the chain this decade? Y/N
Done!
Same. When it rusts I replace it
You lost me at 10-second chain swaps and boiling water.
Not sure if there is a lighter weight version, but I used to run wax on motorcyles, it came as a spray can and went on almost like a clear plastic coating. Game changer for chain maintenance
You lost me at 10-second chain swaps
Wipperman connex master links. No tools required. Can be reused “for the life of the chain”. Takes a second to remove and re-connect. 10 second chain swap!
and boiling water.
Unlike with traditional bike chain lube, which require some rather harsh solvents to remove. Wax can be boiled off the chain when needed. You can go back to bare metal on a waxed chain without any solvents.
Started with wet wax five years ago. Two years ago migrated to immersion waxing.
I do 5-10 chains at a time. It takes all of 15 minutes.
Then I wet wax between immersion waxing sessions.
Chains last a wildly long time and the time saved in between rides is incredible. Not to mention how clean all other parts stay.
I do 5-10 chains at a time.
For how many bikes??
Heheh. A few.
But I also do my partners bikes.
Most bikes have two active chains each. That way when I do it, it’s quite some time before I have to do it again.
Are you doing anything special to clean the chains before they get rewaxed in the immersion bath?
I’m a little OCD when it comes to worrying about contamination, but I hear a lot of people just wipe the outside of the chain and stick it in the wax without issues. You probably have more experience than most, considering how many chains you wax!
OCD checking in here too.
To clean the chains they go in an ultrasonic cleaner with heated water to get rid of the existing wax. This makes it easy to just put all the chains in at once and let them party.
Then a second ultrasonic session with some isopropyl for a final clean and repelling the water. I have mason jars that the chains go in, so it’s really quick and repeatable. By the isopropyl step they’re already quite clean so the isopropyl lasts a really long time.
I’ve got the workflow down - and lots of place to hang chains in the bike workshop.
The same process works well for stripping new chains - just with the hot water step switched out for a mineral spirits bath. It’s just as quick but needs a space with good ventilation.
I even use waxed chain through salt and snow. Hosed off once I get to work then compressed air to get the water off. Home side I hose it off then detach it and swish it in a tub of isopropyl and the next chain in the rotation goes on.
This will be my first winter with waxed chains. My only real concern is the drip wax treatments between immersion wax. Since I don’t bring my bikes inside where it’s warm, I think it would be too cold to apply drip wax. I think we have many below zero days, I’ll probably just keep rotating immersion waxed chains until it warms up.
