Hi all, I recently picked up a waxed chain second hand and rode it in torrential rain. Post the ride I degreased and applied wet lube. Can a waxed chain be used with wet lube?
Im thinking about going back to a waxed set up. The drivetrain seemed to quieter and more efficient.
nooooooo
the wax and oil do not mix, you gotta strip it and use one or the other.
I would suggest getting a drip wax lube like squirt or silca’s super secret chain lube, totally compatible with wax chains, and easy to apply as a drip lube.
You could re-wax with a hot melt wax as well, but for a quick touch up these do the job just fine. In fact I usually get a hot melt chain to start, then just use a drip wax from then on.
My experience with wax in rain is not good. I think if I rode a lot in the wet, I’d go with a wet lube on my chain.
A “waxed chain” stays waxed for only so long, as the wax wears off with riding. After riding for a while (even without degreasing) I’d bet you can begin using a wet lube and things will be fine - just stick with wet lube from then on.
That approach only works one way however - when switching back to wax, the chain needs to be fully degreased to pristine metal to allow the wax to adhere to the metal.
I’ve been riding waxed chains this past year, and TBH, it’s a little underwhelming on longevity. I get 6-10 hours max from a hot melt before my chain starts making noise, and I need to either re-wax (hot melt) or add drip wax. I do ride however in challenging conditions - dusty/sandy, and a lot of climbing where the chain is at an angle in the big cassette cogs vs having a straight chain line.
Wet lube is a liquid, so if it gets “scraped away” from a certain part of a pin/plate on a chain, with continued pedaling, it has the chance to flow back to where it’s needed. Wax is a solid, so once it’s gone, it’s gone. This is (one of the reasons) why wet lube is more forgiving than wax.
All-in, I’m going to stick with drip wax - as the chain maintenance is very quick and easy this way. The hot melts don’t last long enough to be worth the effort - except maybe before a big ride/race.
If you want to stick to wax lube, I’ve started using Squirt
People’s experiences vary with Squirt, I have used it for 3/4 years both as a top up up on a waxed chain and on its own. If using it on its own you have got to get the chain as clean as would for waxing for it to work successfully. As an aside I’ve been a bit surprised how long I have to ultra sound my chains to get them absolutely clean.
The nice thing is that you can easily clean the chain when it is waxed. I have one of the $60 sonic cleaners that I got off Ebay. Toss a dirty waxed chain in with some dish soap and let it run for 20 at about 50C or 120 degrees and it should be claen as a whistle. Put it back on with a quick link and luve it with something like the SuperSecret drip lube and you will be back in business.
Hi. I just started waxing my chain. Before this I used to used a muc off product called bike protect spray after washing my bike, it says it drives out water from components like derailleur and cassette etc and also gives a nice shine to the bike frame and some watery protection. My question is, is it safe to spray this on the cassette and chainrings and derailleur pulleys and then used a waxed chain? Or will any lubricants in the spray interfere with the wax in the chain links?
Cheers.
Saad