UFO Clean to strip a chain, and then UFO Drip wax. Every couple weeks use UFO Clean while washing the bike. So easy.
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Ceramic speed do some things right, these are definitely two of them.
Interested to try ufo drip wet in the winter based on that.
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Can’t seem to find it but how many wax applications do you get out of a bag of Silca Secret?
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It’s a good question. I’ve used it four times and just leave the wax in a spare instant pot insert and it doesn’t seem like I’ve used any.
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It depends.
On how dirty your chains are when you put them in, which in turn depends on what kind of riding you do. Fair weather riding on dry roads requires minimal cleaning before waxing. Wet mountain biking requires a lot of cleaning before hand, unless you want to drag generous amounts of forest into your wax. Over time, the wax get dirtier and dirtier and in the end, it won’t stick to the chain very well. How many times and how much dirt is too much? Hard to quantify. I err on the side of cleaning well before waxing (hot water rinse in my case). In general, but also because I do ride in the forest in the wet.
A simple test: Clean the chain throughly (e.g. in several agitated baths of hot water until water is clear). All “stuff” rinsed out of chain, would otherwise go into the wax.
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How often do you deep clean the chain? That seems like a lot. For my road bike (which lives in mostly dry conditions), I just wipe and re-wax.
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A lot. Seriously, I don’t know. I am still on original bag from last year. I bought a second bag on sale for when I need it, but I don’t know when that will be.
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There’s a 5L option for GBP 78 which I might invest in, given the 500ml bottle is retailing for GBP 23
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From where? The rrp is 130 for that 
Saw that as well, good thing I bought on sale so it was only 1GBP per litre extra that I paid for the 1L bottles. 5L is probably perfect for long term 
Hmm, so I ride around 4-5 hours per wax application. And then around 15-20 hours before I deep clean the bike, and with that, I spray the chain with UFO, let sit, brush it, then rinse, then spray again, brush, rinse etc.
And thats maybe every second week?
I only remove the chain to clean when I change chain…
But thats for our road bikes, then we have 2 gravel bikes which runs wax also, and that we commute with.
So keeping 4 bikes in good conditioning have us run through some UFO Clean 
But the chains and other stuff lasts FOREVER with a good waxing and cleaning properly every 2 weeks.
We also exclusively run the new Effetto Mariposa FlowerPower wax now, super happy with it, both performance and ease of application.
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Bikeinn although shipping takes it to GBP 90
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Oh wow, thanks! When I originally looked into waxing a while back I was thinking 1 bag = 1 application, glad that’s not the case!
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Anyone tried Bio Drivetrain Cleaner | Bicycle Chain Cleaning | Muc-Off UK instead of Ufo Clean?
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I’m doing around 8-10 hours per UFO Drip waxing. And maybe 20-30 hours before a proper bike wash with UFO Clean and the chain in a scrub brush sandwich. Around here its dry and low humidity.
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This is very similar to the technique I’ve been using since the mid 90’s. I knew waxing was better back then, but caught a lot of $hit from my friends and online groups for doing it. It was really cool to find out someone proved I was right. Back then the Speedlink III was the only quality quick chain connector. I use an old electric fryer with thermostat and used a candy making thermometer to dial the temp. But once you dial your thermostat, you just mark the spot and don’t have to do that again. I mounted a short piece of copper pipe over a dowel into the wall that is directly over my fryer on the floor. I use Kelly’s (surgical tool, like a giant hemostat) to pull the chain out of the wax and loop it over the pipe above it. I do my chains in batches to save time and drape all of them over the pipe so any extra wax will drip back into the fryer. Once they are cool, I roll the chains back and forth using the pipe over the dowel to loosen them. Much easier and faster than what is described above. I can loosen all the chains in less than a minute. Also, the chips that come off fall into the fryer to save wax. When I rejoin the chain, I don’t wax the connector. I use 100% Teflon to lube the quick link. Don’t know if that’s better than waxing it, just what I’ve always done.
One other thing that may or may not be a good idea. I boost my wax with recycled snowboard wax scrapings. I use Hertel high fluoro snowboard wax so I always thought it would be slippery on the chain as well. Seems to work well mixed in with dedicated chain wax and graphite powder.
One other thing, odorless mineral spirits is nasty stuff. But it’s what you need to cut the new chain grease. I use a large thick rectangular Nalgene bottle for that task. Once the mineral spirits is used, it’s poured into an old mineral spirits can that’s well marked as “old”. This solution can be decanted after it sits for a few days to wks so that you can really make that nasty stuff go a long way. Just carefully pour off until it starts to look cloudy then stop.
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This is the epitome of biking geeky nerdness and I love it. 5 years and 1500 posts on having a smooth easy to clean bike chain. I’ve read every one of the posts and enjoy reading more. I think we are crazy.
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yup, saw the email this morning. Best thing I ever did was start using UFO Clean and UFO Lube. I’ve got another bottle of both on the shelf, and these last me a long long time so it will be 18-ish months before I give Silca a try.
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I’m over 18 months on my first bottle of UFO Lube and its starting to feel low. Going to try lubing more often like @Dubadai is doing.
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Ok so i’m a total noob when it comes to bike maintenance and such, but i’m interested in starting waxing my chain so bear with me while i ask some questions…
1- So i have a Sram Red Flatop chain. When i remove my chain can i reuse the quick link? Or do i have to use a brand new one everytime i wax my chain?
2- Can i use isopropyl alcohol instead of denatured alcohol? Since i have isopropyl alcohol already at my home…
3- So i’m planning to use MSW. So i put it in the slow cooker, stir the chain,etc,etc… Then what? i just leave the wax to solidify in the slow cooker for when i need to use it again? Or do i store it somewhere else?
4- I’m planning on rotating 2 chains. 1 every week. Where do i need to store the chain that i won’t be using during that week? Can it just sit there in the open air? Or do i need to store it in a container of some sort?
5- If i go out in the rain, when i get home i usually clean my bike. Is it alright if i wash my bike with the chain on? Or do i need to remove the chain when washing the bike? And if i do go out in the rain, is the chain good to go on the next day? Or do i need to wax it again?
And this is all i can remember for now…
Thank you very much in advance for your help.
I’ve only been waxing my chains for a few months now, but I’ll try my best to answer your questions.
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I have Shimano chains and use reusable links by YBN. Apparently, they are also compatible with SRAM 11-speed chains. You can find them here for example: YBN QR Safety Links CHain Link 11-speed 1 Pair Chain - Accessories | Bike-Discount
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Here I am not sure, maybe someone else can answer the question.
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I also use MSW. After waxing my chains, I let the wax solidify and then close the lid of the slow cooker to store it for future use. So far, I haven’t encountered any problems. So I do just as you described.
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I store my pre-waxed chains and the ones I’ve used before re-waxing inside paper bags typically used for sandwiches. I label each bag with the name of the bike to which the chain belongs and place them in a plastic box along with other tools used for chain waxing. I had these sandwich bags lying around, so it was a matter of convenience more than anything else. I believe the most important aspect is to store the chains in a dry place since wax doesn’t provide the same level of rust protection as oil-based lubricants.
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After a rainy ride, I remove the chain from the bike and clean it with hot water. Once thoroughly dried, I re-wax it. While the wax with the chain on top of it is melting, I clean the rest of the bike. It works like a charm. Concerning the question of re-using the chain after a rainy ride: I think it mostly depends on the amount of water. If it was just a light shower, you could simply wipe the chain dry and you’re good to go. However, if you’ve been riding in heavy rain for hours, it’s always a good idea to re-wax. As mentioned earlier, to the best of my knowledge, wax isn’t the most effective rust protection so once the chain has been thoroughly wet it best to completely re-wax.
As shared here before, this link also provides a great source of information on chain waxing: https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/waxing-how-to-zen-master-guide-v2.pdf
I hope I was able to help! 