Not sure where you are at but in the USA there is an eBay listing right now for a card of 6 YBN for $21 including shipping. Amazon has the Connex Link for $24.95 with free shipping.
Excuse my question but the connex link will work for shimano 11 speed chains correct? Also how many times can you reuse them?
I have around 10 shimano quick links but was wondering for future reference.
Thank you.
Yes. Be sure to buy the 11s one. There is also a 10s version, and I wouldn’t mix-n-match. It can be reused infinitely because the locking mechanism does not degrade. That said, I’d replace it on some schedule with your chains; eg once per year, or every 2 chains yo go through – something like that.
Thanks and will try it out on my shimano ultegra chains. Been doing the chain wax for a month now and after initial setup super easy. Had to figure out the quick link thing as I normally did the bolts
Edit @gcarver : is this the one your are referring to??
Eric - that is it! I’ve got both 11 speed and 10 speed. I would guess that my 10 speed Connex Link has 10 seasons on it and its kicking.
Mike
Thanks and will get one down the line after my shimano ones are used up.
Seriously? Connex can be reused so much?
Yes. There’s no “clicking” involved, so nothing to be worn out.
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So, did my first waxing. Chain seems really stiff while rotating the cranks. I left the chain in the wax till the wax had started to form a film at the top. Should I have taken it out earlier so that less wax would remain on the chain?
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You’re fine – and congrats on the wax!! You’ll soon be a convert for life. Run a mile or two in the little ring in the front and little cog in the back. Wipe off the cumbles from your chainstay, and it’ll be ready to rock!
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p.s. you use the little ring + little cog so the chain makes the most angular movements and busts up the excess wax the quickest.
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Some advice please Guys. Water bath for wax? My wife has let me have a 4L slow cooker (so she can get a posh new one). However, that means I will
a) have a lot of wax in it simply to cover the chain and
b) I’ll still need another one for race chain vs training chain.
So I was thinking put the wax in something like a 2L ice cream tub and put that in the slow cooker in a water bath. However I understand the wax needs to be at 94C, ((see MSW instructions) MSPEEDWAX | Molten Speed Wax - Waxing Your Chain and I was not sure this approach would reach that temperature.
However i also understand Paraffin wax melts at between 46 and 68 °C (so i am ppuzzled why MSW needs to be so high. Unless it is the impruities that raises the melting point (the other ingredients).
This way I can have two or three ice cream tubs, with different wax at different cleanliness, or a race wax, and I do not need three slow cookers. (and it keeps the slow cooker clean). (It also means I can bring it up to temperature quicker by starting with boiling water in the water bath.
Has anyone else tried this and does it work?
Thanks
In the future pull the chain out when the wax is hot and let it drip back into the wax. There is no harm in what you did but it is wasting a ton of wax and you have more wax to clean up. The wax you need is what’s in the rollers. Everything on the outer plates is going to flake off so might as well let it run off when it is liquid. The chain will be “rough” until the excess flakes off, don’t adjust your rear derailleur trying to fix it just run the chain in and it will clear up.
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Why are you wanting different wax for race day than regular days?
I would recommend the same wax all the time. The wax stays pretty clean if you rinse your used waxed chain with boiling water before rewaxing. I been waxing regularly for 6 months and the current wax is still pretty clean. Also an debris in the wax tends to sink to the bottom any way.
MSW is nice - it already has PTFE included - Paraffin wax is great as well - I am sure the difference is minor. A $20 bag of MSW will last you all year or more so I wouldn’t overthink it, pick one and go with it full time.
The three tub idea would also take a lot of time. Coordinating the timing to heat the boiling water, not spilling it, storing the tubs, and cleaning up after waxes. I just drop my chain in, the crock pot melts the wax, I stop bye once in a while, swish the chain around. I just leave wax it in the old crockpot till the next time you need to wax. Way less time, and easy. I think I will go throw a chain in now.
Me… over think this stuff… surely not… 
Actually I though I read somewhere (Zerofrictionfacts I think) to have a new one for racing and a dirtier one that was for training… that way you containinate one over time, then move refresh it.
But you are probably right. Just MSW it and leave it at that. Thanks @MikeMckinney
But I am still puzzled by the melting point. Is it really that high for MSW (Over thinking again you see…)
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I will put my used chain through a mineral spirit then denatured alcohol bath before they take another swim in wax, that way my wax lasts alot longer as the chains going in are clean of road debris.
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Wax is cheap (well, maybe not msw), but you really should get an appropriately sized pot. A race vs training pot is overkill for most. Wax definitely gets dirtier dip after dip, but unless you’ve been doing some offroad mud riding, it’s probably fine to skip the exhaustive chain process, just every once in a while toss the wax when its really dirty. Using an appropriately sized pot makes this easier to justify. I think I paid $10 for mine and it has barely more room than the chain. If you insist on a race vs training setup this is a very minor expense.
As to the melting point, it’s way under 93C. There may be something to getting optimal bonding of the wax to the metal, but it can’t really be a big deal as long as you’re in the ballpark (which it is on HI for most slow cookers) and leave the chain in long enough to get up to temp.
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Thanks @gcarver & @drh329. bothe comments helpful…
(now wondering why I bought wax and PTFE as well as MSW.) Doh!
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The interesting thing with msw is it already looks dirty to me! Obviously it’s not initially, it’s just the additives. But without a pure wax to compare it to you’d never know and might end up using it way too long.
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I got 18 months out of 1/2 a bag riding 5 days a week rotating two chains. I ended up throwing out the other half of the bag as it wasn’t workable, just bought another bag and will use the entire bag in the pot this time. I expect it’ll last me another 18 months or so.
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