The first hard interval session after waxing the chain on my direct-drive trainer mounted bike, I set some new power PRs (+5% or so) at the same HR. I attribute it entirely to the improved efficiency of the drivetrain. These days, I have a crank mounted power meter, so having a more efficient waxed chain doesn’t really make a difference, other than less frequent need for lube.
More power going to the rear wheel is good regardless of where your
power meter is 
I’ve just waxed my chain but I’ve also got access to an older bike with a normal lubed chain. The waxed chain bike feels harder and to test more I’ve done the same 30 mins workout (tunnabora-5) back to back on each, and my HR is higher for same watts. (I’ve also done 30 x2) on lube bike.
Cranks/gearing/position/pedals are the same on each. I’m now starting to wonder if the Bottom Bracket on the waxed chain bike is more worn.
Has anyone ever had a waxed chain make it harder with more friction rather than less?
I waxed a new chain, with MSW as per cleaning protocol.
Just out of interest I de- waxed one of my chains this even, waxed from from a couple of weeks ago. It’s been in a bag in my garage. It was new and cleaned well before MSW waxing. It seems to have rust! Does this mean it wasn’t totally dry before waxing? They were left overnight in garage after final clean with meths, but I now wonder if I should have used a hairdryer/brought indoorss before waxing?
If you are looking for a crock pot, use coupon code “lunch” and add 3 of them for $33 with free shipping: https://www.crock-pot.com/crock-pot/crock-pot-lunch-crock-food-warmer-red/SCCPLC200-R-NP.html
$11 each and seems to be big enough to hold a chain.
I just grabbed a crock pot from Goodwill for $10. They’ve got tons of 'em to choose from. That’s US though.
@CrunchyGears good point goodwill works for that
I bought one of these last week. They were on sale for $7.95 at local Target. Works great, plenty of room for one chain.
Also check Craig’s List or OfferUp here in the states. Tons of people selling tons of Crock Pots. Like anything else, people have an inflated sense of what their used stuff is worth, and with the above linked crock pot, there’s no reason to spend more than $10 for this.
It’s possible. One of the steps that Jonathon’s tutorial did not include but which was included in the Zero Friction Cycling guide is rinsing with methylated spirits, (a.k.a. denatured alcohol) twice, followed by the blow dryer. The purpose of this step is to ensure all of the Mineral Spirits are removed by a solvent that evaporates extremely quickly. Mineral Spirits, on the other hand, do not evaporate quickly at all.
It’s possible that leaving them out overnight to dry locked in some moisture with the mineral spirits, which likely would not have evaporated by the time you waxed the chain. That could cause surface rust after some time with moisture being locked in against the metal surface of the chain.
With the denatured alcohol and blow dryer steps, you’re assured of waxing a totally dry chain. Might be something to consider and try.
I did do the methylated spirit steps, but not the blow dryer (yet)…
Could also warm in an oven, given that it is so clean!
Depending on your climate if you strip metal you may expose it to surface rusting if left out for extended period of time. If you’re on the coast or in a wet climate this is more likely than if you’re inland or its -35*C and the air you breathe is currently freezing…
If you are in a more humid climate try and minimize the time between stripping and then waxing.
I moved over to it about a year ago and haven’t looked back. I’m convinced that poor reviews are down to poor application.
The chain needs to be stripped clean first. For refreshing and rewaxing the weird cleaning stuff they sell is surprisingly decent for this and you won’t need to get the meths out.
Apply it as they do about 1/2 way through this video (can do rubber side down though…): WEND Bike Chain Wax - YouTube Take it slower though, make sure it’s in deep in the rollers. Then I use my fingers and massage it in to them. This is all sounding a bit dodgy…
Give the outside of the chain a quick wipe and you’re good to go. I usually get about 300km out of an application. Extremely wet/grit proof compared to any lube. I was in Sweden for 3 days doing gravel last autumn in the rain, did not need to reapply and my friend’s lubed bike was screeching by the second day.
Question as I’m considering moving to the full waxing process over Wend wax:
Why does everyone say to use a crock pot? Why can’t I just use an old pot on my stove to heat the wax etc?
I can’t
comment on a pot on the stove but I did ask Adam from Zero
Friction Cycling about using a rice cooker as they look like a
similar device and were cheaper. He said “no way”, as rice
cookers heat up way too fast and will burn the wax. So
applying that information, the key would be to not have the
stove too hot and let the wax melt slowly. What
temperature…I have no idea.
From
memory, the first chain waxing was done with a pot on a stove.
Thanks, so sounds like melting slowly is important. Pretty sure I could do that on the small ring on my gas hob. Just don’t want to shell out on a slow cooker unnecessarily!
A dedicated crock pot (cheap from a thrift store) is easy and self contained. Heating wax directly on a stove top, especially over a gas burner is potentially hazardous because it is flammable. If it has to be done on the stove, it should be done in a double boiler.
Has anyone tried other wax mixtures such as what Oz Cycle suggests about using wax and paraffin oil (aka kerosene, I think?) to soften the wax?
I apologize if this was already mentioned in the thread. I tried to read everything but might have missed something while skimming the quick link discussions.
I’ve dropped some paraffin oil into my wax, and it indeed helps the chain “un-break” prior to installing on your bike. No issues so far. Next step is to drop in some PFTE powder into the hot wax mix, instead of brushing onto the chain after installed.
You’ll need to get something pretty solid to blend the mixture otherwise it doesn’t mix in easily. I ended up using a cheap hand blender which works pretty well.
you use a electronic frother that you use for coffee or milk.