Chain Lube - Oil vs Wax

lischoux · #1 03-26.-2004

Howdy.

Question: I read somewhere an interesting article about lubing your chain in wax. You need to remove the chain, clean it of any oil and dip it in hot, molten wax, then replace it. This would lube the chainlinks as well as oil and would actually work better because the "waxed" chain would pick up less dirt. Upside may also be a longer life of the chain, rings and cassette.

Downside: you need to take it off the bike to lube it.

Question... Has anyone ever tried this and are there any neg/pos comments available? I "may" be willing to give it a try on my Trek 1200.

Thx.

shokhead12 · #2 03-26.-2004

No. Wax comes in a liquid just as lube and you do clean the chain of all other lube but you dont need to take it off. Dont use oil,it will just keep dirt like glue. I used wax and it was ok but now i use prolink and its the best if you follow the directions.

daveornee · #3 03-26.-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by lischoux
Howdy.

Question: I read somewhere an interesting article about lubing your chain in wax. You need to remove the chain, clean it of any oil and dip it in hot, molten wax, then replace it. This would lube the chainlinks as well as oil and would actually work better because the "waxed" chain would pick up less dirt. Upside may also be a longer life of the chain, rings and cassette.

Downside: you need to take it off the bike to lube it.

Question... Has anyone ever tried this and are there any neg/pos comments available? I "may" be willing to give it a try on my Trek 1200.

Thx.

http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html
I have tried many methods in the last 50 years.
I am back to oil, wiping off the chain after every ride, and washing it about every 1,000 to 2,000 miles.

neil0502 · #4 03-26.-2004

I notice that threads about chain lubrication and cleaning come up _all_ the time (no disrespect to any poster intended).

I had a couple of friends in college who were automotive engineers. In terms of cars, they said, "use motor oil from a reputable manufacturer, stay with that brand, and change it consistently at the lowest manufacturer-indicated interval."

In terms of drivetrain life, friction, losses in energy tranfer, shifting, etc., etc., is it just that simple? Keep it clean, use a decent lube, and ride, or are there serious gains to be made (or losses to be avoided) by more fastidious maintenance, high tech lubes/waxes, solvent soaking at very short intervals.....?

In other words, will you get 90% of the benefit by simple mainentance with inexpensive but reputable products, and--for those to whom hundredths of a second are everything--understand that there are significant diminishing returns in the incremental cost and effort?

TIA...

Neil

shokhead12 · #5 03-27.-2004

Its more about chain life then being faster.

Cipher · #6 03-27.-2004

I use to remove my chain and wax it. Other than being time consuming, a little messy, and a fire hazard (you don't want molten wax, it just needs to attain a liquid state) I guess it worked. In my opinion you definitely got the lubrication were it belong but the convince of all these high tech lubes available now are the way to go in my book...

Randybaker99 · #7 03-27.-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by lischoux
Howdy.

Question: I read somewhere an interesting article about lubing your chain in wax. You need to remove the chain, clean it of any oil and dip it in hot, molten wax, then replace it. This would lube the chainlinks as well as oil and would actually work better because the "waxed" chain would pick up less dirt. Upside may also be a longer life of the chain, rings and cassette.

Downside: you need to take it off the bike to lube it.

Question... Has anyone ever tried this and are there any neg/pos comments available? I "may" be willing to give it a try on my Trek 1200.

Thx.

Way back about 16 years ago, my brothers and I heard about dipping the chain into hot, liquid paraffin. We gave it a go for a few months, but didn't take the chain off the bike. Instead, we melted the paraffin in a coffee can (you need to put it in an old pan with boiling water, as the wax will seep out the coffee can) then we put the bike on a repair stand and took the back wheel off and on hooked the chain from the chainrings so that the chain was hanging off the rear derailleur. There was enough chain free to dip at least half of it at a time.

The results were mixed. The chain did stay pretty darned clean, because parrafin is a hard wax and grime doesn't much stick to it. On the other hand, after a couple of rides, the chain got pretty noisy, because paraffin is a pretty hard wax and doesn't much stick to a metal chain! We didn't do it long enough to determine how chain wear was affected, but I suspect chain life may be shortened.

These days, I find that by using a good wax based lubricant and cleaning the chain every so often, I am getting pretty much the same results, with less effort.

For my winter/commuter bike, I just started using Pedro's Ice Wax and it is pretty nice as it cleans and lubricates at the same time. I was having problems with rust on the chain and cogs last winter, I think the Ice Wax would have prevented that. I probably won't use it on my road bike though because it is a bit messy and is more designed for wet weather conditions.

Ralph Ray · #8 03-27.-2004

I have been using "chainwax" for about 13 years now. It comes in a can and is pink in color. I have a master link on my chain so it's a piece of cake to remove the chain. I have a small parts washer that I wash the chain in and then rinse it with soapy water with a high pressure sprayer and then blow it dry with compressed air. Then you heat can of wax in pan on stove submersed in water until wax melts and chain fall to bottom of can. It really does not take that long when you have the equipment and I find it does not attract dirt like oil does. Also if you have to pull chain off when serviceing a flat on the road, your hands hardly get messy.