This is what people don’t seem to get. “Oh, wax is a lot of faff, I can just wipe down my chain and reapply wet lube.” Accurate… if you want a chain full of grinding paste, but if not you’re spending longer using loads of harsh chemicals to get near wax. Even without cleaning some of the drip waxes will transport contamination out of the chain due to setting solid then shedding from the inside of the chain, taking the dirt with it.
For me this isn’t as hard as it seems to some. Get home, wipe the chain down, maybe add some more lube - no worries.
Setting aside performance considerations you have to consider how much riding people do. Chains aren’t THAT expensive so if you just keep on top of checking for chain wear to minimize cassette and chainring wear then I can see the argument for many people who just want to lube their chain and go ride. They don’t want to setup a “system” of rotating chains.
That’d come back to the last sentence of my previous post then, IMO - even if riding regularly in bad weather
I can’t see a downside unless you’re storing a bike outside in the elements, or like black marks on all your trousers
Ironically, the specific drip wax this thread is about is one of the worse (in terms of ZFC testing, of the modern drip waxes) for the above use case - by the numbers I’d almost default to Flower Power in most situations requiring longevity and little cleaning.
Tried it for the first time and after the ride I have gunk on my chain, cassette, chainring and jockey wheels. Any tips on getting it off? Been trying rags, and plastic bristle brushes but not having much luck
How long did you ride? I find any residue just wears off on a longer ride.
I’m using the technique now that Silca/Josh showed in the recent video of applying the lube to each link with the chain crosschained and then shifting up and down the cassette a few times to get a little Super Secret on the cassette. On my 4 or 5 hour weekend long rides things are super quiet, but will then reapply the following week again. I do wipe the chain down with a clean microfiber between applications.
I still tend to use RockNRoll Gold on my XC bike although I got bored the other night and did ultrasound clean my XC chain and waxed it with Silca hot wax. Ffor long events like Leadville, I’ll use a new chain and hot wax it.
I have been using Super Secret, and occasionally immersion wax, on my road bike for a few years now, and also on my gravel bike this year. The way the weather has been this spring with so much rain, the majority of my miles have been coming on the road bike.
Also, with Super Secret you really have to let it dry. I never put it on the day of the ride, always at least the night before.
It is excess wax. Wax is the lubricant you want. Dirt has a much harder time sticking to it. Unlike wet lubes, that buildup won’t hurt anything. Just looks like it will. Once a month I will take a q-tip and clean it off my jockey wheels. With the wheel off you can wipe off the cassette and run a folded rag between sprockets. Tossing the chain in boiling water will remove some wax and any dirt. Then hot wax again.
It just flakes off. Nbd. Jockey wheels collect a lot offer a season but still nbd.
Yknow I have been saying all year that I want to go back to trad lube and use synergistic. But having used a new chain on the road a few times going thru some wet and omg I truly forgot how dirty an oil chain can get. I think I’m back on the wax train for good!
probably not, but if the flaking off bugs you, then use a microfiber cloth or something similar to wipe the outer parts of the chain, this is the most likely source of flaking and does nothing to lube the chain. The only time the flaking bugs me and then very little is on the trainer, and the flakes can be vacuumed up.
I wish they had a video on YouTube actually showing how to use it. There’s like 3 videos that are called how to apply it, but they’re all just people talking about it. none actually show you
