I have been going through the thougjt process of whether the Speed Chip and/or Endurance Chip make sense for me. I have two Silca crockpots, one with standard Super Secret and one with Hot Wax -X. With Hot wax-X touted to last longer this was what I planned to use for long events like Unbound. However then i found out that Hot wax-X was going away as there were concerns with weather performance.
So now I’m thinking maybe replacing the Hot Wax-X crockpot with Super Secret plus Endurance chip as the longer lasting option. However that would really be just for a few events a year. I guess I could use that pot for regular riding too. For training I normal wax, and then use Super Secret drip lube a number of times before i ultrasound clean the chain and rewax.
The speed chip seems less appealing. I dont tend to do stuff less than 100 miles so i dont think dedicating a bag of wax to speed chip treatment makes sense.
From a cost standpoint the chips seem expensive. I would have rather seen them make a Super Secret Endurance blend, but understand that Silca is in this for profit.
I think for a lot of people just sticking to the standard Super Secret wax is probably going to make the most sense.
I bought a Crock-pot brand 2-quart which was perfect for the whole Silca Secret bag. I dropped in a Strip Chip, melted fully, and tossed the chain in for a couple hours, checking and stirring as the time went by. I used a coat hanger for the holder, and that’s where it started to go comically wrong. The chain largely slipped off the wire. I had put 2 90-degree bends in it, one at the ‘handle’ and the other to attempt to hold the chain on, but it didn’t go to plan. I had wax all over the top of the crock, and some on the worktable, and even some on my shorts and shoes. It was a mess, but at least it cleans off the hard surfaces with a hard plastic scraper. The hanger idea obviously needs some more though. Other than that, I think it worked pretty well, for a first try.
Just thinking I’ll use a ziptie next time, or put a more acute bend in the end of the hanger. When it all solidified, it looks like a vortex in the wax, which is a pretty cool effect.
Yes! The Strip Chips plus shipping are a hard act to swallow if that’s all you are ordering. I’d suggest they lower the shipping for people that just order the chips? They certainly don’t weigh all that much…
Sounds silly, perhaps, but anyone got a picture of a coat hanger holder/restrainer that worked for them? Wax on!!
Mine’s a lot taller as I hang it from a floor joist in the cellar over a crockpot on a workbench.
The other trick to no mess is reduce temp to 75C which is right before the wax begins to skin over. Then slowly remove the chain from the pot.
I can hang one now without a single drip.
I just bent a piece of welding rod into a triangle and have not had issues with it falling off… I think just a triangle, which I should know since I waxed a chain last night. Will snap a pic tonight if I get a chance.
Silca is selling their updated chain holder thing for like 10 bucks, doesn’t seem terrible if you are ordering other things.
Was contemplating if I wanted to try the endurance chip on a ride this morning, don’t think I would do the speed chip. Right now I’m racing like one time a year so whatever loss in watts the endurance might have would probably not matter to me. If I decided i cared just get a second pot.
The Speed Chip is putting the “marginal” back in marginal gains. 0.5% savings = 1 watt at 200 watt power… and is probably within the margin of error for testing.
The Endurance Chip could possibly be useful in very specific conditions, but it seems most ultra-distance stuff in the US is off-road, and so water/dirt would likely still reduce the longevity of the treatment.
TBH I feel like the Endurance-treated wax would be preferable for nearly everyone. I’d be very happy to double the time between hot waxing for an immeasurably tiny performance penalty. And the cost is minimal, given how long 250g of wax will last…
Maybe. I was trying to remember how long I left it. It was at least a half hour, but more likely an hour, or more. It’s been an interesting week. Being married to a physician is great most of the time, but she got the latest covid variant and now I have it. It’s been a weird week. This has been a weird experience. I don’t have the usual symptoms, but the ones I’ve had are enough. It seems everyone can get something out of a grab bag of possible symptoms. I have read that I need to ‘agitate’ the chain in the pot, and was so bizarre I lost track of time, and didn’t 'agitate so I figured I’d leave it in a little longer: Something like an hour or so.
The problem with my ‘holder’ is the end of the hanger to hold the chain clearly wasn’t long enough. Thanks for the tips on how to do it better. I still have somewhat of a mess to cleanup, but it shouldn’t be such a mess next time.
Oh, also, is it still beneficial to do an OEM greased chain that’s been ridden for 50 or 60 miles, and not waxed? I’ll have to de-grease it, but I assume it would be worth doing it? (Would I have to de-grease it, or just deep clean it, and then wax it?)
HAH! Looking at that page gave me the idea that the bend to hold it on the wire was too shallow. I used a ‘pants’ hanger, with the cardboard tube, and didn’t have enough wire to make it big enough live and learn…
USE LOTS OF WIRE! Make that hook bigger. Thanks all…
This video would have saved me a lot of heartache a few years ago when I started waxing. I was waxing rainbow coated chains on high temp crock pot setting and wondering why it didn’t have longevity
So I ended up getting the Silca hot pot thing. To be honest, it’s not worth the money. Re-dipping a chain that has already been waxed and used is really a pain. The bowl is far too small for a slightly stiff chain to be bent up and dunked in, and doing multiple chains is really a drag because the wire I used was too stiff to get a chain folded into the pot. Medium crockpot on medium with the top vented and a temp gun is the way for me. Also, Hambini ( not really a fan) made some valid points about Zero Frinction and their testing protocols. I like wax for its cleanliness, not wattage gains.
I was wondering about that… it seemed like the bowl was awfully small. I liked the idea of better temp control and the chain hanger is also nice compared to by homebrew solution.
Haven’t watched that Hambini vid yet. He gets a bit old since everything he discusses is ‘crap.’ Adam questioned Hambini vs Enduro BB bearing recomendations way back, so Hambini probably has an axe to grind. ZFC may not be perfect, but it’s also the best source of independent info we have. I don’t think we can tell how Silca compares MSW, Rex, etc. from ZFC, but you can at least determine immersive > drip > wet with some outliers (e.g. Halo).
EDIT: I read the Hambini blog post. The concerns in 4.1 are valid, but not sure if significant. CeramicSpeed shows a Sram crank arm on their test rig too. Margin of error is likely greater than we assume. 4.2/4.3 also has some valid points, but it would very difficult for anyone to test across all gearing scenarios. “Both representatives emphasized that maintaining chain cleanliness is the single most crucial factor in achieving low friction and optimal performance.” “They noted that any potential benefits of wax are largely negated by the inconvenience of frequently removing the chain for immersion – a cumbersome and time-consuming process that most cyclists are unlikely to undertake.” So, clean is better. And wax is bad because it’s time consuming so people won’t do it. They also mention wax flaking off, but it’s the wax between roller and pin that matters. Wax will not combine with dirt/grime like any oil-based lubricant. To thoroughly clean a chain, “they advocated for deeper cleaning methods, including ultrasonic cleaning and the use of specialized solvents designed to thoroughly remove contaminants from every part of the chain without attacking or corroding the metal”… and those cyclists who won’t immersive wax will regularly do this? 4.4 is also true but it friction will cause wear, so it makes sense that less wear indicates less friction. The biggest issue is the measurement issue that Hambini points out. It would appear Adam can only measure chain wear in increments of .01mm or 1.5% of wear (vs 100% wear which is 5% elongation). Obviously, the ZFC data has numbers the claim to be more accurate than that.
I have bikes with both wax and wet lube. Waxed chains last longer, no doubt… and properly maintaining a waxed chain is no harder than PROPERLY maintaining a wet lube chain. It’s just easier to kinda-sorta maintain a wet lube chain and replace it when it dies.
I just got the Silca crock pot today and used a strip chip to strip a new T-Type chain. Hard to believe that chip works as well as the whole ultrasonic chemical bath thing, but if it does - man was the time saved worth it! I like that it has precise temp control. I feel like I was probably cooking my wax before and then waiting for it to cool before removing the chain was a pain in the ass.
I just accidentally left my Molten Speed Wax in my cheap crockpot on high for too long. It registered 105C when I came back. MSW say to heat it to 93C. As far as I can see they don’t specify if there’s issues with overheating, but I’m sure before I started waxing I read something about the properties of the wax changing/being ruined if you go too hot.
I carried on and waxed anyway, but not ridden them yet.
Do you think I need to bin the wax and start afresh? Or is it actually No Big Deal?
I just purchased that recently and waxed my first chain. Went great with the strip chip, such a breeze. How is your LCD screen? Mine seems a bit hard to read, like some of the lcd bars are not working properly. The bottom of the first digit doesn’t seem to work, and I can’t really tell if this is 65 or 85 as that bar appears light. 75
I think the buong) burning point is higher, around 130 or more so I wouldn’t worry about it. I’d also not use high without a temp control sensor, low gets the wax to pretty much the perfect temp and can’t overheat it
I’ve owned the Silca unit for 4-5 months now and the temp readings on mine have always been very easy to read. I would reach out to Silca, looks like yours should be replaced.
live and learn…
4.4 is also true but it friction will cause wear, so it makes sense that less wear indicates less friction. The biggest issue is the measurement issue that Hambini points out. It would appear Adam can only measure chain wear in increments of .01mm or 1.5% of wear (vs 100% wear which is 5% elongation). Obviously, the ZFC data has numbers the claim to be more accurate than that.
