I think for many it is not so much about the gains, but to have a clean(er) drive train which needs less degreasing. (While I don’t wax my chains, cleaning my drivetrain is my least favorite cycling-related activity.)
For both of the reasons @RONDAL and @DaveQB have said.
You’d have to ask the manufacturers that. What I would say is that I reused the non reusable quick links many times before I started waxing and never had one fail. I have had couple (of the non reusable quick links) fail since I’ve been waxing chains - if I were to guess as to why I think that maybe I’ve been changing chains more regularly thus reusing them more often, and the repeated heating/cooling from the hot wax weakens the chain over time?
Once I’d used those links though I bought the reusable links and had no more issues as yet.
I’ve started this process of chain cleaning, and I have one more tip. (obvious in retrospect…)
When you use white spirit to clean the chain DON’T do it the pain cave, right next to your bike/trainer.
The industrial smell isn’t great when you train breathing it in…
Haven’t seen if someone addresses this without actually replying but I put my chains and cassette into a big zip lock bag and add simple green or whatever cleaner you’re using into that. You then drop that into the ultrasonic cleaner and fill the balance of the volume with near boiling water.
I’ll then run the cycle on the cleaner, sometimes pour out the cleaning fluid, rinse and repeat the whole process) but when it’s all done you have a dirty zip-lock you can toss and a shiny and clean ultrasonic cleaner.
I’m surprised I can’t find new chains without factory grease added for sale somewhere?
Should be cheaper to make as well!
Has anyone found any?
Who makes the best waxed chains that you can buy?
The chains themselves will just be ones you can ordinarily buy yourself that have been treated. In terms of the treatment it depends on how robust the process is. You can find some research and testing online but I can’t imagine there’s a huge difference in what’s available.
The difference between a waxed chain and a non waxed chain can be reasonable, between two different types of waxed chain probably not so much.
I’ve waxed my first chain - lots of cleaning on new chain and used molten speed wax.
It was a solid rod of links afterwards.
Quite hard to get the links to move again.
I seemed to get a lot of wax onto the chain in general
On the workstand it sounds noisy, almost squeaky, should I
- rewax again?
- run in and see what happens.?
Having to ‘break’ the links from the solid wax is normal. Run it in and it should be fine.
Thanks - it all looks very smooth on the chainrings etc, no skipping or anything else.
It’s too snowy for an outdoor test so that will just have to wait.
Yep! I have the FrictionFacts data. Molten Speed Wax is only a shade over 100 MILLI-Watts better than Squirt. That’s in the uber-controlled FrictionFacts test setup.
So let me just say this: If you are spending all this time, effort, equipment in the hopes of securing 100 milliwatts…stop it. 
Just go get some squirt & clean/lube your chain the way you always have. Spend the money you save on some beer. Spend the time you save drinking that beer.
The only caveat would be that wax and/or molten speed wax would be a better option in especially dirty/muddy conditions. But still, Squirt is pretty good there as well.
Debating whether or not to take the plunge here. Wife doesn’t like the fact that the drivetrain is greasy and we have little ones running around the house. Seems like a really good excuse for me to start waxing, nevermind that it’s faster (marginally so over Squirt).
I’m not terrific at cleaning my bike/drivetrain as frequently as I probably should, as I ride in dry conditions or indoors. I think maybe the waxing is a good way to compensate for that fact. Admittedly, the drive train cleaning is probably my least favorite thing to do on my bike. Would most of you who are waxing now say that you spend less time on the waxing process (perhaps by doing multiple chains at once) overall than you did cleaning the drivetrain frequently?
I ride probably 100 miles (or trainer equivalent) per week right now, so I think I’d get about two weeks out of each waxing, and I’d probably plan to wax two or three or four chains at once, swapping as necessary.
There’s probably not much in it overall for me. The difference however as you say is that I clean several chains over the course of a day rather than a single drive chain more frequently. Once you have the process down it might seem like it’s time consuming but it’s not like you need to be eagle eyed over it the whole time. Just pick a day you are doing other bits around the house and work your way through them.
I tend to spend a good amount of time (8-10-12 hours depending on the time of year) on the trainer and probably change the chain every 3-4 weeks.
Aside from performance though the cleanliness is the biggest advantage. My wife has similar opinions to yours, (despite the fact one of the bikes is hers!) and it’s a huge win to be able to work on the bikes without getting dirty oil on everything.
FrictionFacts did a good job testing lubes, but did you read the method? Jason submerged the chain in each lube, for a period, to ensure all parts of the chain was covered the same for each lube. Good to isolate the lubes for the testing. In reality, no one submerges their chain in Squirt. So a more fair comparison is dripping squirt on the outside of your chain vs submerging you chain in Molten Speed Wax. Doing this sees a much bigger difference. Squirt is a thicker lube than most, which is good in helping it stay around for a long time, but as a result takes about 1,000km to work into the chain and by then, people clean their bike/chain and start again. So most people never see the theoretical maximum performance from Squirt unlike people using Molten Speed wax. Don’t get me wrong, Squirt is great for longer, wet/muddy races where wax wears off before the end of the event, but for general use, wax is much better plus easier, cleaner and cheaper. How grease free your bike is on wax is the main motivator for me to move to waxing.
Oh an emphatic yes! I used to spend an hour cleaning my bike(s) in the backyard each fortnight, with most of the time spent cleaning the drive chain. Plus the cost of cleaning fluids, water etc etc. I moved to waxing in early Nov and I have spent 30 minutes, cleaning both bikes once, since then. Other times I have just used some something like this → https://www.bikebug.com/morgan-blue-carbon-cleaner-matt-aerosol-400cc-p-62815.html and a rag wiping down any spots of dirt I see on the frame. Takes a few minutes.
So in the 11 weeks since moving to waxing I have spent:
- fortnightly waxing that takes about 10-15minutes of labour = 60minutes
- 30 minute clean
- Maybe 5 times with a carbon spray and rag (non essential) = 25 minutes
= 115 minutes
Otherwise, on drip lube it would have been:
- 11*60minutes = 660 minutes
- 6 times with a carbon spray and rag (non essential) post wash polish = 30 minutes
= 690 minutes
I can’t be bothered working out dollar cost difference, but I think it would be even or maybe cheaper to wax when you consider the cost of cleaning solvents vs a bag of wax ($40) that lasts 4,500km, or approx 6 months for me.
HTH
Ref:
https://www.bikebug.com/morgan-blue-carbon-cleaner-matt-aerosol-400cc-p-62815.html
Thanks! Admittedly, I think @Jonathan would publicly shame me for my bike cleaning frequency and effort, so waxing might be great for me in a lot of ways. On a great note, wife fully approves of this and is wondering why I haven’t been doing it forever. That said probably because I haven’t mentioned the words “ultrasonic cleaner” to her yet. 
Not required unless you’re (re-)optimising race chains. I don’t have one. I just bought a 2nd crock pot though for race chains only. Process is, use the race chain for a race. Clean it several times in boiling water to melt off all wax and any contaminants that are stuck in the wax. Wax in the race crock pot. Store until the next important race. This keeps the race wax pristine.
The training crock pot just gets the chain thrown in straight off the bike. Fast and simple and good enough.
PS I get my new chains ultrasonic cleaned (factory grease is very stubborn) and waxed when I buy them. Zero Friction Cycling offer that service on any new chain purchase for $25.
Yup…started going straight from the hot wax to an ice water bath. Locks in the wax much better!
Add me to the list of happy Connex customers. Purchased one back in Aug of 2017. Many road Ks and waxings…it’s still holding strong!
I might get one anyway since my wife is a bit of a jewelry buff and has some nice stuff that’s more easily cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner. From what I’ve read, it’s pretty simple and I don’t think they’re exceedingly expensive.
Cool. Look for 70W-100W cleaning power (not power consumption).