2manyoranges
Senior Retro Guru
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I am using wet weather muc off chain wax once I get chains clean - what regime are you using, it would be good to have detail up here….anything which increases chain life is good for us and the planet…
Anyone used ultrasound cleaner for chains?
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sminchnz
Dirt Disciple
Righty-ho, I’ll try to keep this reasonably short 
I’ll start with a link that’ll answer the OP’s question:
This is a solid summary of the main ways to clean your chain, from the simple and lazy to complex and slightly bonkers.
However, I would say that if you want a clean chain this isn’t what you should be looking for.
To take a slight detour, wet lube is the source of all evil in your drivetrain. The problem is that, as we all know, dust and grit and filth sticks to wet lube. A brand new chain turns into a black, greasy mess after a few hundred Ks. You can clean it the best you can, but as we’ve all seen once you relube it and run it through a clean cloth that lube will have drawn out old lube and grit from inside the rollers and it’s suddenly not as clean as you’d thought.
That grit and dust sticks to the lube and is transported inside the chain, into the rollers. It’s this that wears the chain - it’s basically grinding paste, right? And a worn chain then ‘stretches’, which wears your cassette and chainrings. Ergo, wet lube destroys your drivetrain.
Time for another link to a CyclingTips article:
If you aren’t racing you aren’t too worried about losing a few Watts, I hope, but those lost Watts are going to one place and one place only - friction, which = wear, which = a worn drivetrain.
Now, there is a solution to all of this: wax.
cyclingtips.com
Wax is a brilliant lubricant for your chain because at any sensible temperature for riding it’s a solid, so it’s sit inside the rollers of your chain and be a great lube, but it won’t absorb dust and grit, it doesn’t move into and out of the rollers like wet lube does so any dust and grit that lands on the chain won’t be transported inside it anyway, and because it’s dry and, er, waxy it stays clean. No filth on your chain, no filth on your cassette or chainrings, a spotless derailleur, and no chainring tattoos.
So to answer the question above, how does this waxing thing work? This is a great in-depth piece:
I’ll give a short summary.
1: Clean your chain until it’s spotless. Ideally start with a new chain fresh from the box, and strip it back to bare metal. I have five jars of solvents, stepping through meths, turps, and acetone getting cleaner with each step. By the end of this it’s spotless.
2: Get some wax. I use Molten Speed Wax, but as far as I know just paraffin will do the job. The fancy stuff has Teflon etc which may or may not make any difference. I also got some nice stickers. YMMV.
3. Get a slow cooker, crock pot, or whatever you call it in your neck of the woods. This will prevent you from burning your house down. Wax + heat = fire risk. I got mine for like $5 from a second hand store.
4. Melt the wax, stir in your chain, simmer gently, then pluck it out and hang it up to cool.
5. Put your chain on your bike, ride, smile, feel virtuous, tell everyone about how you now wax your chain.
6. When you need to re-wax your chain, whip it off, rinse off any dirt that’s on it, let it dry, and dump it back in the melted wax. Sorted.
I have three chains that I wax, and I rotate them - so I’ll wax them all at once as that takes no longer than just doing one, then have the others as spares so I can swap them out as required. Swapping a chain with a quick link takes less time than a squirt of wet lube so once you’ve up and running this is pretty quick and easy.
So that’s my spiel. Waxing is far and away the cleanest way to lube your chain that I know of, it’s really low maintenance, and reduces wear significantly.
And on a slightly unrelated note, not all chains are the same and more expensive chains can last a hell of a lot longer:
cyclingtips.com
Any questions? Fire away!
Stephen
I’ll start with a link that’ll answer the OP’s question:
This is a solid summary of the main ways to clean your chain, from the simple and lazy to complex and slightly bonkers.
However, I would say that if you want a clean chain this isn’t what you should be looking for.
To take a slight detour, wet lube is the source of all evil in your drivetrain. The problem is that, as we all know, dust and grit and filth sticks to wet lube. A brand new chain turns into a black, greasy mess after a few hundred Ks. You can clean it the best you can, but as we’ve all seen once you relube it and run it through a clean cloth that lube will have drawn out old lube and grit from inside the rollers and it’s suddenly not as clean as you’d thought.
That grit and dust sticks to the lube and is transported inside the chain, into the rollers. It’s this that wears the chain - it’s basically grinding paste, right? And a worn chain then ‘stretches’, which wears your cassette and chainrings. Ergo, wet lube destroys your drivetrain.
Time for another link to a CyclingTips article:
If you aren’t racing you aren’t too worried about losing a few Watts, I hope, but those lost Watts are going to one place and one place only - friction, which = wear, which = a worn drivetrain.
Now, there is a solution to all of this: wax.
Seeking the holy grail: A fast chain lube that saves you money - CyclingTips
If you’re one that likes your bike running like a finely tuned machine, you’ll likely already know that chains often need to be replaced as often as your rear tyre. But have you ever considered what’s causing this rapid wear? Simply, it’s friction. Yep, the same friction that’s costing you those...
cyclingtips.com
Wax is a brilliant lubricant for your chain because at any sensible temperature for riding it’s a solid, so it’s sit inside the rollers of your chain and be a great lube, but it won’t absorb dust and grit, it doesn’t move into and out of the rollers like wet lube does so any dust and grit that lands on the chain won’t be transported inside it anyway, and because it’s dry and, er, waxy it stays clean. No filth on your chain, no filth on your cassette or chainrings, a spotless derailleur, and no chainring tattoos.
So to answer the question above, how does this waxing thing work? This is a great in-depth piece:
I’ll give a short summary.
1: Clean your chain until it’s spotless. Ideally start with a new chain fresh from the box, and strip it back to bare metal. I have five jars of solvents, stepping through meths, turps, and acetone getting cleaner with each step. By the end of this it’s spotless.
2: Get some wax. I use Molten Speed Wax, but as far as I know just paraffin will do the job. The fancy stuff has Teflon etc which may or may not make any difference. I also got some nice stickers. YMMV.
3. Get a slow cooker, crock pot, or whatever you call it in your neck of the woods. This will prevent you from burning your house down. Wax + heat = fire risk. I got mine for like $5 from a second hand store.
4. Melt the wax, stir in your chain, simmer gently, then pluck it out and hang it up to cool.
5. Put your chain on your bike, ride, smile, feel virtuous, tell everyone about how you now wax your chain.
6. When you need to re-wax your chain, whip it off, rinse off any dirt that’s on it, let it dry, and dump it back in the melted wax. Sorted.
I have three chains that I wax, and I rotate them - so I’ll wax them all at once as that takes no longer than just doing one, then have the others as spares so I can swap them out as required. Swapping a chain with a quick link takes less time than a squirt of wet lube so once you’ve up and running this is pretty quick and easy.
So that’s my spiel. Waxing is far and away the cleanest way to lube your chain that I know of, it’s really low maintenance, and reduces wear significantly.
And on a slightly unrelated note, not all chains are the same and more expensive chains can last a hell of a lot longer:
Finding the best bicycle chain: What over 3,000 hours of testing revealed - CyclingTips
Want to know which 11- and 12-speed chains offer the best durability and performance? With exclusive test data from Zero Friction Cycling and CeramicSpeed, we dive deep to find out.
cyclingtips.com
Any questions? Fire away!
Stephen
Last edited:
sminchnz
Dirt Disciple
I do it for both.
The only issue I've run into is wet weather riding - the wax doesn't adhere to the outside of the chain that well and will flake off, unlike a slick of oil that will stay put. This means you can get surface rust unless you dry the chain after rising. I rotate my chains pretty often in winter to keep them waxy.
Some people top up a waxed chain with a bottle of wax lube to help with this.
The only issue I've run into is wet weather riding - the wax doesn't adhere to the outside of the chain that well and will flake off, unlike a slick of oil that will stay put. This means you can get surface rust unless you dry the chain after rising. I rotate my chains pretty often in winter to keep them waxy.
Some people top up a waxed chain with a bottle of wax lube to help with this.
Graham_hkr
Specialized Fan
It cleans them very well indeed, but always best to get the thick off first.
The ultrasonic method just breaks down the more stubborn contaminants that can't be reached.
As for lubrication, I'm definitely gonna give the waxing method a try, I watched a youtube vid years ago about waxing & then totally forgot about it
novocaine
Old School Grand Master
you can't clean a chain without completely stripping it. everybody knows that.
here's a good guide.
here's a good guide.
2manyoranges
Senior Retro Guru
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The old ones are always the best ones ...
Ive always waxed my chains, but then i got that from my dad. This is hardly a "new" thing.....i think the wax tin i use is 60 years old, if its a day! It came from my dads days riding speedway.....he stopped in the late 60's!
Clean in a jam jar several times, i prefer paraffin.
When it runs clear, final dip in meths.
Wait till dry then put it in the "castrol" chain wax tin and heat on the camping stove. My dad used mums hob! Bit stinky, but they do seem to last. I try to do a few at a time.
Really then i just pop on a few drops of lube every 200 miles or so. Oil goes a long way....put a drop on your hands and rub it in to see!
I think most people just put far far too much of whatever it is on. It then gets claggy and nasty faster.
I think keeping the grinding paste of crap off chains far extends the life of them and the surrounding drive train rather than £30 magic snake oils.
Clean in a jam jar several times, i prefer paraffin.
When it runs clear, final dip in meths.
Wait till dry then put it in the "castrol" chain wax tin and heat on the camping stove. My dad used mums hob! Bit stinky, but they do seem to last. I try to do a few at a time.
Really then i just pop on a few drops of lube every 200 miles or so. Oil goes a long way....put a drop on your hands and rub it in to see!
I think most people just put far far too much of whatever it is on. It then gets claggy and nasty faster.
I think keeping the grinding paste of crap off chains far extends the life of them and the surrounding drive train rather than £30 magic snake oils.
2manyoranges
Senior Retro Guru
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I have a few bottles of Magic Snake Oils, each bought from when I left enough time to forget that the previous one didn't work either. All of them have a habit of forming black grinding pace after 30 mins of riding. But they have been useful in other applications, like a dry Pabst motor on a turntable, which had been in store for 25 years and needed a helping lube in the phosphor bronze bottom bearing.
Graham_hkr
Specialized Fan
