Lubing a chain is always easy. But lubing doesn’t actually clean the chain, which is what contributes to worn components and an inefficient ride. That’s the absolute worst part if you’re using an oil based lube, because you pretty much have to use solvents or an ultrasonic cleaner to actually get the important parts of the chain clean.
Waxing is so much better in every way. 🤭
I use Rock N Roll 135816 Gold Chain Lubricant, it claims to clean and lube. My bike is cheap and I don’t ride a massive amount but in 4 years of using it I’ve only used this lube and never cleaned it otherwise, still works great.
Obviously cleaning it occasionally would be a good idea though
I don’t want to send you down a rabbit hole, but look up “zero friction cycling”. They test chain lube and offer a huge amount of data and insight into claims made by lube companies.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you 😬🤣
Depends how far you want to go into it too though. I know the guy at Halfords hasn’t even heard of wax and they don’t sell it.
Just looked it up and apparently need to rewax every time it gets wet? I live in the UK, that doesn’t sound practical at all.
I will check it out, thanks for the tip!
washing chains is the worst shit ever. I really want a belt bike.
Seriously, waxing my chains changed my life. They are always clean, and rewaxing is dead simple.
Obviously, there’s a small investment upfront for the wax, and something to melt it in, but it’s way cheaper in the long rung.
Call me insane but I’m using a mix of parafine + beeswax. No problems whatsoever yet - it’s been great.
Interestingly enough, immersion candle wax tests better than most wet lubes, and quite a few wax-based drip lubes. But the absolute best longevity and prevention of wear comes from the immersion waxes that have metal-protecting additives in with their wax.
Considering how cheap commercial bike wax products are (cheap for how many times you can wax the chains), I’ve never really had the desire to make a DIY mixture.
That’s the thing with wax, though. It’s nearly always going to be better than an oil-based wet lube, unless you’re in a 1000km event in pure mud, then you’re destroying your chain and components regardless. In that context, oil-based lubes can be applied on the bike during an event, so that’s the advantage there.
I have waxed chains on rotation but my commute is wet and muddy. I want to be able to just hose the damn thing off. Once I set up the air compressor I might just do that anyway and blow off the water with air though.
You can still hose it off after the ride, just as you would with an oil-based wet lube. Just don’t expect your chain to actually be clean! LOL
Re: wet and muddy, one game-changer for me was to extend my front fender to almost touching the ground, so NOTHING hits my BB or chainrings. The back wheel and cogs may get some splash down from the rear fender, but because nothing is actually sticking to the components, I almost feel like cleaning after a ride isn’t necessary (but I still do because of SALT).
I absolutely hated previous winters where I’d ruin entire microfiber cloths “cleaning” the black shit off of my chains. I was using the top performing chain lube (Silca Synergetic) and one from Wolf Tooth that claimed to “clean” as it lubes (tested by Zero Friction Cycling to be a lie).
Waxing sounds interesting to me, but I doubt I can actually make it work where I live, since I routinely have to bike in below freezing during winter and get lots of rain outside of winter. I tried using drip on wax, but it washed away basically immediately and ruined my chain in a hurry.
It’s a bit of a myth that waxed chains don’t do well during winter or in wet conditions. In fact, they perform significantly better in those conditions vs a wet lube.
The trick in those conditions is to simply wax multiple chains in rotation.
And go with immersion wax instead of drip. Drip can work as a too up, but not as good as true immersion.
Most people think it’s more work, especially in bad winter conditions, but that’s because they usually ignore actually cleaning inside their chains when using a wet line 😂
I’ve been using KMC rust buster chains + immersive wax all winter, and it’s been a dream! Cleaner than wet lube during dry summer months!
That’s why I’ve always just used those 3-in-one general lubricants. I completely soak the chain in it and then wipe it off with a rag. The lube displaces any water there may be while also flushing out the dirt which I then wipe off with the rag. I almost never wash my chain yet it’s always looking new and shiny. The only downside to this is that the lube is quite short lived so I need to repeat this every two weeks or so but as it only takes about 2 minutes I’m fine by that.
The problem with oil is that it holds onto dirt, grit, and dust. When those contaminants get into your chain, they act as a grinding paste.
And the chain still ends up being dirty to handle or touch.
With wax, you’re forming a layer of protection that doesn’t hold onto dirt, so chains see no to extremely low wear after thousands of km. This means the chainring and cassette also don’t wear out (and they don’t get dirty either 😀).
True, but they’ll wear out and need to be replaced eventually either way so I just don’t stress about it. Re-lubing it every few weeks and wiping it clean with a rag seems to flush out most of the dirt just fine. The chain never gets dirty to the point that you’d get your hands dirty from touching it. These general purpose oils are so thin that dust doesn’t seem to stick to it that much anyway compared to proper chain lube. I’ve been getting around 3 years of use from a chain this way and that’s good enough for me.
