Totally cool. Silca actually designed theirs to be separate products but also to work together as a treatment and maintenance pair
I got a KMC DLC11 chain with the blue highlighting a couple years ago, and I found that the blue paint began to flake off after a couple cleanings. Does anybody have experience on how to effectively clean those chains for waxing without taking the paint off?
I put a freshly waxed chain on the night prior to Unbound gravel. At the first check point everything was ok, about mile 125 it started to make noise when i went into my 42. Mile 155 I put some squirt lube on the chain and never had an issue the rest of the ride.
Conditions were dusty, 5 creek crossing and I ended up with some mud on the wheels, I was pleased with the product after 205 miles.
After listening to the latest LT100 podcast, I’m on the wax train again - besides Icefriction, are there any shops that sell race-ready waxed chains?
Got a 12sp SRAM on my XC MTB, but they said that the Campagnolo Record would work as well, so hoping to find that one waxed somewhere.
I have experimented with various levels of post-drip-lube wiping/cleaning of the drive train. From “mostly clean looking” to “anyone on the planet would consider this excessive”… as in: I’m trying to get every last bit of lube and grime off any external surface, including spinning the chain for 100+ revolutions while wiping with clean rags.
I notice that there is a point where more wiping actually results in a very slightly louder chain. Not grinding or clicking, just that the rollers can be more audibly heard contacting the casette and pully wheels, as compared to “pretty darn clean, but not excessive” level wiping, post-drip-lube-application.
Have you experienced this?
Is it supposed to sound like that? My inclination is no, because sound means impact and impact means higher friction… in my small brain.
Thoughts?
I have some questions on @Jonathan’s original post that I haven’t seen addressed. If anyone could answer I’d be appreciative!
If using half a jar of mineral spirits per bath, and using 6-8 baths per chain, am I understanding that you’re using upwards of half a gallon of mineral spirits per chain, per stripping?
The cheapest mineral spirits I can find are $12.44 / gallon. This appears to be quite costly over the life of a chain. Am I doing something wrong? (I did multiple chains at once in a sequence of 6 jars with positive results, but it still seems like I’m burning money on mineral spirits if I’ll be doing this often.
I could be wrong but mineral spirits aren’t water soluble, at least by my hand-rinsing attempt. What is the purpose and effect of the water rinse?
How do you dry the chain after rinsing with water? Any concern for rust or do you get it dry pretty quickly? If so, how!? (I live in the PNW some of the year and it seems like even in my house a wet chain could stay wet long enough to rust if I don’t have a direct source of air flow on it, or crank up the furnace to uncomfy-warm.
ZFC
Seems excessive, but to each their own. 2 or 3 baths usually does it to my satisfaction. And I try not to use much more solvent than required to cover the chain. I will let them soak for a while (hours; days if I’m lazy)
Gasoline is cheaper and plenty effective in my experience.
I might be misunderstanding, but you only strip the oem grease when the chain is brand new. Also, if you give it time to settle you can usually reuse the solvent. This would be a problem if you do a lot of chains all at once, but if you can stretch it out over a few weeks, say 1 chain/wk. If you’re feeling frisky 
and have a centrifuge the separation can happen much faster.
Right, not sure if there’s a point in rinsing – unless you proceed to ultrasonic-clean the chain. That means some kind of water-based bath.
I recommend an air compressor to blow the water out/off. This won’t dry it 100, but good enough as I’ll usually proceed to waxing after this.
Otherwise, outside in the heat/sun outside will finish it off. Or else, bring it inside maybe wrapped in a towel overnight. Rust is always a concern, but its generally very very superficial as long as it dries fairly quickly. Its chain that are wet for days where you get problems.
No need for water-washing the chain for that - just keep it in a jar of solvent, put the jar into the ultrasonic bath, filled with water.
Agree it’s superficial, but I’ve had a chain rust in less than two hours, one of which was the drive home from a race (with the bike on top of the car, so plenty of air). So now, if it’s that wet, I just wipe the chain as dry as I can, and re-lube with squirt instantely.
For full dryness, you could put the chain in front of a fan, or in the oven (though maybe not if it’s full of solvents).
Yes, same experience. Wet lube means attracting dirt/sand for MTB which that’s worse than noise. It’s a mechanical device, the drivetrain, so although we may like/want a silent chain it may not be practical. Especially considering MTB and duration. As long as the chain is as clean as you can get it and lubed we’re really getting down to the marginal of marginal gains, so best not to obsess over it.
That’s a hard sell for me! (said self-satirically, but also seriously)
Not for my bikes. But for my wife who trains 15-30h/wk. And I’m about as inquisitive as it gets. (to a fault, but also advantageous sometimes)
For MTB, for now, you’re totally right for us. Could care less about a watt here or there and just want to preserve drive train longevity. I’m using squirt on MTB. It’s awesome.
But for my wife’s road & TT bikes competing a nationals, would you have a different answer? (using NFS lube in the past, and concerned primarily with race performance).
Have had a similar experience. Left a wet bike on a car roof overnight (~40 deg F & >90% humidity) and the chain looked like it had been rusting for months.
The rookie mistake the next week after the same late evening race was leaving the bike & chain in front of a heater indoor to avoid rust. Rear tube popped from overinflation. You can imagine my chagrin after thinking “okay, I’m going to be prudent and take care of my bike this time!”
Okay cool. No rinse after mineral spirits stripping.
How do I get the mineral spirits out/off the stripped chain before applying lube or wax? I left it overnight in a warm well-ventilated garage and it looked like this:
Looks dry
But if picked up and dropped, clearly is not:
I think I remember reading something about a final bath with rubbing alcohol, but can’t remember and can’t find it.
Maybe this?
Would 70% rubbing alcohol work the same as denatured alcohol / methylated spirits? I have the former but not the latter.
I do a final rinse in 91% Isopropanol and then let it dry out in the sun or hang it up in the garage overnight. If I had 70% on hand I wouldn’t hesitate to use it that but I always keep a couple of bottles of the high test stuff around.
Just picked up a MTB last week with a Sram GX drivetrain an have been debating whether to wax the chain on it. I’ve really become accustomed to the not getting tattoos on my calves and being able to change a flat with only getting my hands slightly dirty. It never rains around here and if it does I’m not riding so it wouldn’t have to deal with any wet conditions. Might try it on the chain that came on the bike and if I like it I’ll pick up a couple more chains to put into rotation.
Turns out that using 70% isopropyl alcohol in 2 sequential baths with 1-min agitation, no wipe-down between did not get all OMS off the chains. Almost all of it but there was still a very small amount in the rollers, which came out only when I quickly ran the chain through the hole in that table.
Good news! I found a quart of denatured alcohol and one bath of that did the trick.
Okay I’m the worst, I know. I have more questions.
Did you mean “don’t let it sit in the 70% too long, or dry with air OR wax right away?”
Is it safe to let chain sit in denatured alcohol for a while?
Really naive question here: is rust possible/likely on chains when being hung in open air in a dry climate?
(Assume denatured alcohol was the final bath and they truly become dry, outside of the moisture in the air. Humidity is 37% in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho right now).
I think part of the “other 30%” of 70% isopropyl is at least part water so I don’t think you want to let it sit in 70% isopropyl. Just a quick rinse or two then right into the wax, the alcohol and water (or whatever the “other 30%” is) will boil right off and not even make a mess.
You pay for surface treatment in your race chains, I see no reason to tempt rust. Strip, rinse, and right into wax I think is the best. Short on time? Leave it in mineral spirits until you can get it into the wax.
Joe
Roger that! Helpful, thank you.
Now put the chains in the oven for 15 mins at 350 deg and then put it in the wax. Now you only have to put in the oven before each wax.
How many miles or how long at what average power does a new chain need to be ridden for proper break-in? Looking for peak race day performance.
Ballpark answers helpful!
Follow up:
I cleaned and dried 2 new chains. They were indeed very clean and dry. 6 washes mineral spirits, 2 washes 70% isopropyl alcohol, 1 wash denatured alcohol.
Hung dry in 75 degree low humidity environment for 12 hrs.
I mounted on bike with freshly cleaned drivetrain.
I applied squirt per Squirt directions.
Chain A, I wiped off excess.
Chain B, I did not wipe off excess. (Forgot!)
I let dry for 36 hrs in high air flow, 70-85 degree environment (inside RV, high cfm fan running, windows open, dry climate).
Both chains had that post-wax feel of needing to break apart links. (Cool maybe i did it right!)
I rode chain B for 30min at 220W 90rpm on kickr and shifted maybe 20 times. I did not sweat on chain. It never got better than a “gummy” feel and once taken off the bike still has a bit of a tactile resistance to articulation about each pin/roller.
This seems like serious power eating inefficiency for an A race. Is it something I should expect to get better if it’s ridden for another X amount of time?
(I have since wiped off excess on outside of chain)
Chain A, I rode for 40min at AP 230W, NP 255W, about 100rpm and shifted upwards of 300 times, most under load.
It now has a much less, but still slightly gummy feel. Is this something that I should expect to get better with more ride time?
Certainly this can’t be the feel of the ultra low friction Squirt lube when it’s working properly… right?!?
Help!
Context… my wife races the USAC Pro National TT tomorrow, the crit Friday, and RR Sunday. Both her bikes have used chains on them. The TT bike chain is under 500 miles was never degreased, just wiped and had NFS lube applied during routine maintenance. The road bike is closer to 1000 miles on the chain and similar maintenance. I have Squirt and NFS at my disposal in my motel. I would need to purchase any solvent and jars if needed. What would you do?
hmmmm i never had a great experience with Squirt (personally did not like, will never use again)
I am in the hot wax dip camp 1000% or (wet and muddy riding) Rock and Roll Gold
If I was in your shoes, I would clean the chains on the bikes with a towel and use NFS Lube for Friday and Sunday (nothing new in races)