Originally Posted by
TromboneAl
I put on a new chain on 4/22/13 and rode with regular chain oil for 275 miles.
I switched to paraffin lube on 5/17/13, and rode 801 miles.
I cannot detect any elongation with the tape measure. My chain check tool of course shows everything is OK.
I could tell you when it elongates enough to be replaced, but I don't think that's going to tell you anything. The elongation depends on riding style, environment, road grit type, etc, and there are wide variations even among riders who use the same lube.
My 8-speed chain only costs about $20, so improvements in chain life aren't as important to me as convenience, lack of chain tattoos, and looks.
The wear comparison, as you note, is a pretty individual thing and there is wide variance between riders. The only real basis for comparison would be lifetime of the a chain before and after on the same bike with the same rider in total miles.
I will say this though, there is a wide variance in lubes and the effect on chain wear. I used to get about 1500 miles out of a chain using Dumonde tech lube. With Chain L, I get nearly twice that so it's not a fluke and the lube matters. I'd also go a bit out on a limb here and say that a more persistent lube is going to do better for chain wear than a less persistent one - and that may be the benefit.
As far as the cleaning of the paraffin goes, I think that once you go paraffin on a chain you probably need to stay there. I don't see any way that a substance like paraffin is going to be easily cleaned out from the inside of the links and off the surfaces of the rollers. I would also think that it would make a mess if you tried to clean it, didn't get it all off (hard to see how that would happen) and then lubed with something else.
J.