Quick question: I have just waxed my chain for the first time, and I’m curious to know how long the wax coat lasts indoors. After how many hours of riding will I need to re-wax my chain?
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I don’t know the answer, but I’m curious, and it’s a serious question. Why would you bother?
My story so far:
Waxed a brand new chain, but it was fairly noisy from day 1. Used it for about 8-9 hours and decided to take it off, clean with boiling water, degreaser, spirits, and isopropyl. Re-waxed, as I had my second chain that I cleaned with a similar protocol, and now it is much quieter! I’ve read estimates of 200-300 miles outdoors, so I assume at least that inside (which to me translates to 15-20 hours or 2-3 weeks in erg mode).
As to why do it? For me, it comes down to the cleanliness. I like being able to work on the bike and not have to wear gloves or have dirty greasy fingers. When riding outside, especially when dry, this is even more of an issue as the wax should attract and trap far less dirt. Indoors, the efficiency gains are irrelevant to me, but will become more of a bonus once outside and especially once racing.
I get anywhere from 300-500 miles on waxed chain with mostly indoor riding.
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Fair question. I have a small apartment, and I need to keep my trainer in the living room. I also have a toddler who loves playing with my bike. A bunch of her shirts are already ruined by chain grease, so I thought I’d switch to wax.
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Thanks. Does that jive with everyone else’s experience?
@Turboenterprise
Does that translate to 20-30 hours in your case? I have a dumb trainer, so I get no distance measurements with each of my training rides.
For me N=1, and I use the same chain indoors and (road) outdoors. I rewax every 300 km or so or every 10-12 hours. For indoor only usage where you won’t pick up dirt, mud, sand, etc. as much, you would probably be looking towards 20 hours.
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I probably don’t change it as often as I should, but once a month or so of ~8hrs per week. I’m rarely shifting, which is where tighter tolerances will matter. Since this bike lives on the trainer, I have several cheap chains and I wax in batches. I’ve only killed 1 chain (stretch) in 2years of TR… The first one I used inside for a long while before I got a larger collection.
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I change mine around once per month with indoor riding on a mid volume plan. It will leave a wax mess for the first few days on your floor but is great for the rest of the month.
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Well, the chain needs lubrication.
Indoors, a waxed chain lasts me about 30 hours before it needs to be re-waxed. During that time, the chain and the rest of the drivetrain remain clean. No regular maintenance, no grease from messing with the bike, no need to clean the mechanics.
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Note that you should clean the excess wax off before having the bike over carpet. It will embed itself in the carpet.
I usually wax and then maintain with a bit of dry lube.
Well, I have little ones running around. They grab the waxed chain and make no mess. And when I go outside, bike is all ready.
I get about 3-4 weeks of MV out of mine, probably 25-30 hrs on the trainer.
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