So, I joined the world of waxed chains. So far, it’s life changing. Quiet to the point that your think I’m running a belt drive, but more importantly, super clean and component preserving.
But, I was thinking earlier, if wax fills in the gaps between the parts the wear, how would you actually get a true chain wear measurement?
I’ve never heard of someone stripping the wax off to check for wear, and that would get incredibility wasteful to do it often.
Zero friction Cycling doesnt mention anything special in regards to checking a waxed chain.
So, would I go about checking the chain, waxed and all, and assume the numbers are pin point accurate?
Personally I wouldn’t think wax would add enough of a layer to change a chain checker’s reading. The wax layer is pretty thin.
But a chain’s wear is measured in fractions of a percent, so a very small layer could significantly throw off the reading.
An 11 speed chain should be replaced at 0.5%, for example.
Yes, but a chain checker is just putting a piece of metal between links. Its not like giving a readings of thousandths of an inch or anything, it’s lines on a piece of metal and you just eyeball it. The thin layer of wax won’t really affect the reading.
The chain checker also spans ten links, but only touches one link. The very small layer will not throw off the reading.
The chain checker also spans ten links, but only touches one link.
I was under the impression that all pins in the series add up to the measured wear, like in this image:
That’s exactly correct. The point that the wax could interfere with the measurement is only where the chain checker touches the chain. Waxed chains wear much slower than usual, though, so I wouldn’t be too worried about it.
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I think once you’ve ridden the bike for a few minutes the actual points of contact between the links will have worn down the wax at those points to a microscopic level. I’m not sure you would even be able to detect it.
This could be very true.
I think I’m going to contact Silca (the wax’ manufacturer), and see what their thoughts are.
I’ve never heard or read about waxed chains. What’s this about? what kind of wax?
Check ZFC too. They also sell pre-waxed chains if you don’t want to deal with stripping your original chain (which is the most annoying part of the process).
It’s paraffin wax. Here’s a good video:
It’s worth the extra work. I keep three chains in rotation and generally get about four weeks of riding out of each chain. That means I’m only having to get out the wax a few times a year.
My favorite part about it is that the chain is clean to touch. I don’t have to carry gloves in my saddle bag in case I have to touch my chain, and I don’t get black lines on my leg.
The biggest down side is the initial prep, but silca has some one step chain stripper that works great. You only have to do that once for the life of a chain, though, so it’s really not that big of a deal.
Check it before you wax/rewax not because it changes measurement but you could have do it for nothing.
I use some drip on wax and only positive is clean components not some longevity of chain and other parts.
