I have 2800 miles on my stock chain and gears, only cleaned a few times on the bike with degreaser and relube? seems to be ok ? Am I doing it wrong?

Not even turtle wax?

Absolutely not, we’ve been doing it that way for “forever”. It just doesn’t last as long and is messy. What happens is that the oily stuff attracts dirt and it turns into sort of a grinding paste causing the chain parts to very very slightly wear multiplied by every chain part and that is what causes chain “stretch” which in turn starts to wear the gears to match the larger chain spaces.

The wax completely fills the spaces in the chain links and being dry doesn’t allow dirt inside to wear the chain; therefore making everything last longer.

Online testing also shows a couple watts of power savings- but for most of us, we would never know.

I regularly ride three bikes (four if you count my literal grocery-getter) between 3500 and 4500 miles a year and even here in rainy PDX, I've been able to maintenance the three drivetrains in a way that strikes a balance between cost and effort that works for me. I also lube my chains a drop at a time, link by link; it takes a couple of minutes more, but it means my bike or rear wheel isn't covered in greasy slop and I don't like to ride a filthy bike; I wash my bikes when they're dirty, check and wipe the chains before each ride, I hot tank/ultrasonic my drive trains twice a year - at the end of the summer season and at the end of the winter season. It takes about three hours of shop time for all three bikes; a very pleasant morning in the garage. The parts last a long time using this method.

My friend Steve just bought a brand new Santa Cruz Stigmata gravel bike; he also bought and freshly waxed 2 brand new chains which he'll rotate to learn for himself what all the hubbub is about.

I have 5500 miles on my Specialized Turbo Vado ebike with the original chain that I wax every 150 miles. No chain stretch.

The turtles don't like that wax...they never got one red cent for the use of their pic on the containers. :confused:

operation "recycle filthy kerosene" in full swing!

Couple of thoughts.
1. Kerosene is expensive. $38 for 5 gallons (I got some today).
2. Made a funnel, spent very little time on it. Two minutes tops. I attached a fuel filter to the bottom of an off the shelf oil funnel.
3. Only bad news- Kerosene is so full of garbage, fuel filter gets clogged too quick- , slowing to a drip, so it took a while, but, it did get the kerosene pretty clean.

Dirty kerosene goes in the funnel-

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1691961910.jpg

Clean (ish) kerosene comes out.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1691961184.JPG

I dump bike chains, etc right in the cup as not to have to clean the whole ultrasonic cleaner. I test cleaned an already waxed chain. STILL a bunch of crap came off in the ultrasonic. I think if you put me in an ultrasonic cleaner, I would completely come apart. Once the crap was gone, There would be nothing of me left.

^^^ My first full-time job in the early 70's was in a parts plant where I used a oven-sized vat to dip parts in for cleaning.
The vat contained heated carbon tetrachloride and it looked like a thick white cloud wafting back and forth.
I would use a chain-fall with a basket of greasy parts and lower it in and raise it out without stopping. All parts came out looking like new. It was incredible how well it worked.

About 2 years later they shut the cleaning vat down....liver and kidney damage was found.

(I have deliberately stayed out of this thread)

Chain waxing is a great if implemented correctly for Pros. That doesn't mean amateurs shouldn't do it but just regular chain cleaning and maintenance is all that's needed IMO. It's easy and simple. The trick is to do it often. Why do we always make things more complicated?

I do it cause I enjoy it. Therapeutic perhaps.
Now... I do know this guy on the internet who cast his own headset lock nuts and machines them from scratch... but that's just crazy talk! :D:D:D
Just kidding Otto- really it is an amazing job!
Today's ultrasonic haul. Screw the reusing funnel. New cleaner all the way. Life's too short. About three more drivetrains to go and my cogs will be clean. Chain's cooling off right now.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1692051132.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1692051073.JPG

Gunk from the first chain go around in the cleaner. I don't do this every time, but this guy needed it.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1692051305.JPG

A great way to kill time until taco dinner with the family tonight!

And pulley wheels are the worst! ;)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1692051580.JPG

When I was riding a lot, I would clean my chain at least weekly. If it rained Saturday, I'd clean it on Saturday night as well. The secret is "Missing Links". These are little links that allow a chain to be removed, whenever. It is good to have a couple of extra links with you on the rides, just in case.

But with the easy removal and dropping in an ultrasonic cleaner, the chain becomes really clean every time. I used a "dry" lube, which was a dissolved wax. I only used "wet" lube on days it was raining. I had it down to cleaning the chain, rear sprockets and chain ring every week. This was when I was doing 120-150 miles per week.

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^^^I use the heck out of those. I don't have that fancy tool either, I just hold the chain together against itself with the link exposed at the top, use a set of channel locks to grab the edges of each link piece and compress. Takes seconds.

I love Park Tools. And yes, I have one of those!

Time for an update!

It’s been over a year now riding on the waxed chain. I’m sold. I rode about 3,000 miles last year, mostly because I ended up with a foster dog and have been running as well, so my riding is less than I expected.

Switching between 4 chains and I did that 3 times, which means my missing links hit their manufacturers reuse number and I put news ones in the mix.

Couple changes after watching a couple videos: I stopped boiling the old wax off; just wiped them down with a microfiber cloth, now using just the low heat setting on the crockpot and finally not doing a cool down before removing from the pot- the cooler temp means less run off. Both of these saves more time and makes it even easier.

Another bonus benefit of the wax chain is that when I had a flat last summer, my hands stayed pretty clean, so the patch didn’t get greased up and stuck much better- hard to keep a patch clean out in the middle of nowhere when dealing with a tire and rim covered in an oil film.

I also found these link pliers- not as well made as the Park ones, but they have three fingers, which means that installing the link can also be done by squeezing the handles together instead of needing both hands to pull the handles apart. I like to hold the link together while squeezing the pliers as the wax can add some thickness making it hard to join.

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Master-Link-Pliers-Trident/dp/B007E8YO7Q/ref=sr_1_58?crid=2WLPQXGR01XG1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pL dmAtSjazhEIiwCHcINmrkuV9GjiPr2rFRntJShBFtYDBHxGbVA ke9bsr86Bmmxm6ZpiEp-JB-_7LJlOii1obwihVJ385bMOjSsspbahnklHk5nsPYaiRWEwWlrX MFI6Zy1BiAP407o7d3b70pszSgJSB7_55tvidNufNP_zdrrSfr bVpw8HnBqm0vUK7wQ8M8TXmoiMN0JKZmx13WD_-h9q7pOJlEnerWLgvN77ekRVtqUOGp90_NI4las5J7Yjnmz2vm5 8cYkaU7w8VIjIKq0ivD44-PL-Rc_8UTt1O4.lDqvvC_jo-Gcwu5ZZqjOTO9rpKXatVDPcUZtfPX8B_M&dib_tag=se&keywo rds=bike+chain+pliers&qid=1719699349&sprefix=Chain +pliers%2Caps%2C481&sr=8-58

I can see how that would help. I never had trouble connecting them. But a spreader as well as a clincher would be nice.

Run the chain so the quick link is "on top", hold the rear wheel and crank down hard on the drive side pedal. Snaps in place. And they make a quick link plier that is small enough to fit in the seat bag and it also holds a couple of links.

KMC makes a set of tire levers that interlock to make a quick link plier- bought them, but haven’t tried them yet.

I have the tool you posted above, its "is" the shimano tool that is considerably more-made by the folks that make it for shimano. I really like it; previously did the "top of chain and stomp" method but the tool is easier.

So here’s something sort of cool: automatic chain waxing machine! Still in development, but apparently being tested during the Tour by one team.

https://www.cyclowax.com/pages/the-next-generation-of-chain-waxing

Any guesses to cost? I’m thinking $800 or more.

To me, the actual removal, waxing and installation isn’t too much work. The biggest pain and time suck was the initial degreasing, but once done, you never have to do it again unless you get another chain. I did 4 chains, so hopefully I have many years until I need to redo my drivetrain.

It would have to be cheaper than a quicklink to attract me.

I had one of those plastic chain cleaners early on. It really only cleaned the surface. When I was seriously cycling (80-150 miles per week), as I said above, I would remove my chain, rear and front sprockets and drive train and clean it in an ultrasonic tank, every Friday night. If it rained, I would do it Saturday and/or Sunday night too. I'd remount everything and lubricate each link, individually. I had it down to less than an hour of work each week. I had a "go/no-go" measuring tool for chain stretch and would replace at 1/2 stretch. I'm a lower rpm "masher" and this is hard on chains.

Update time!

I just did my fifth re-waxing of all 4 chains this afternoon. I’m still sold on waxing and just love having a clean bike on every ride. Not missing the oil film all over the rear wheel and having to use degreaser to clean my bike.

I came home from a 50+ mile ride which put me over my ideal re-wax mileage, but the chain was smooth and quiet, so the wax hadn’t worn out yet.

I got my Crockpot out of the cabinet, set it on my table saw, plugged it in, set two chains on top of the solid wax, took a shower, put a pizza in the oven, ate the pizza, put some laundry in and checked the chains.

The wax was just about melted, so I let the chains soak a bit more then hung them on a nail board to dry and put the other two chains in and let them soak for twenty minutes to make sure they were as hot as the wax, then pulled them out and hung them up.

Such a simple process and since Crockpots are designed to run all day cooking pulled pork or whatever, the chains could sit in them until I got around to it, no rush or clock watching.

I just can’t come up with a downside in my situation.

Rutager

I need to go redo some chains right now- infact, I rode today and was thinking about needing to get out the crockpot!

That said, I have only felt one drawback with the waxing- rain. If things get wet, about a week or so later things go squeaky. Not a bad thing, but, something I need to stay on top of.

Recently, I took a bike on a century, got rained/poured on, needed to take it out again, but it was needing some attention so I just tri-flowed it to get to the ride, but it made a mess and now I need to clean it all back off to get back to the waxed way of life.

The "triflow mess" meaning how I got through the first 40 years of my biking life.

Somebody even noticed the dirty drivetrain and commented- which was odd b/c I'm about the only one who goes through the trouble of waxing my goods! :)

I was thinking "Why are you singling me out? I usually have the cleanest drivetrains here, and in a world going to hell in a handbasket, why notice my triflow?" :D:D:D

In my current setup, a desnap the chain, fill a "7-11 big gulp cup" full of kerosene, drop in the chain in the 7--1 cup into the ultrasonic of dirty kerosene (good for the chainrings) and let it clean. It's about down to a science, and takes little time at all. The longest time is letting the chain cool down before I can grab it to reinstall without burning myself!

Try Boeshield T9 Chain Lube. It's a kind of wax-oil for a lot of applications.

Clean chain with solvent to remove grease, dry, carefully thoroughly coat, immediately wipe off excess, let sit a day or more to harden up and spin a few times meanwhile. Lasts a long time and you can probably Triflow over it if ever needed. It's very difficult to remove any built up later on..which is a good sign.

https://boeshield.com/bike/
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/1242174-warning-boeshield-t9.html
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/my-review-of-boeshield-t9-chain-lube.187322/

On the Zero Friction website testing, the Boeshield ended up in the middle of the pack even in the wet, the immersive waxes did better.

In real wet weather, you are likely better off using a real good oil type lubricant, but your drivetrain will suffer and have a much shorter life due to all the grit it attracts.

I didn’t ride much in hard rain, so a wipe down with a microfiber cloth after the ride was all I needed to do.

Turtle Wax...

I bought four chains when I started this whole wax thing, so I usually have a fresh one that’s not hot out of the pot!

I hear that’s slow!

Before you rely on Zero Friction, read this https://www.hambini.com/the-murky-world-of-zfc-zero-friction-cycling-botched-testing-frigged-results/

I know Hambini is a character, but he's an aerospace engineer and he makes valid points.

Fact is, I could care less about wattage gains etc. Waxing is just so much cleaner than wet lube, and it does attract less abrasive grit, which is why I do it.

I found Zero Friction after I had done all my waxing, so it was just another data point to make me feel good about my choice.

Same for me, my Jersey is a bit loose, my handlebars are too wide and my riding position is hardly aero. Watt savings have no bearing on my choice, the cleanliness and just as importantly longevity on my drivetrain are why I have been waxing now for over a year.

I’m running mid 2000’s Campagnolo 10 speed record and the parts are getting hard to find and are very expensive, so if I can get the gears to outlast the rest of the bike, I’ll be very happy.

Time for another update.

I just waxed all four chains again yesterday and looked at my mileage totals and drivetrain wear- chain checkers shows no discernible wear, but to be fair, my mileage is 4,600, so around 1,000 per chain.

More importantly, there has been a little springtime slop and all I had to do was put some automotive detailer spray on a microfiber towel and wipe down the bike to make it real pretty!

Oh, and I can grab my chain anytime and my hand will be clean or at worst, a few speckles of dust/dirt that wipes right off on my shorts- try that with an oiled chain after a long ride.