Originally Posted by
scoho
Yeah
The picture angle exaggerates the effect a bit, but, you're right, it is
very steep. It was a little off-putting at first, but now I find the bike super comfortable and smooth--at slow speeds. It's not much for going fast, though, which is pretty odd considering its provenance.
Yeah it's like the saddle is almost directly over the crank.
I couldn't make that work for me because the only way I feel a healthy leg extension (strength and hip joint comfort) is way way way aft of KOPS.
Are you going to continue with the wax experimentation?
I discovered the shortcomings of waxed chains by using it to replace traditional wet lube on my motorcycles. I used a spray on wax "Specifically designed for racing applications". It had a solvent that carried the wax into all the important areas. I'd wipe off the excess after applying it and the chain was super clean. Once the wax set up it made the chain rotate like greased butter. Unbelievably quiet and smooth. You could literally feel a big difference when rotating the wheel by hand. The chain made this dull muted rumble as if it wasn't even made out of metal. And it didn't fling off and make a mess. It stayed on the chain. Very sanitary indeed.
You were supposed to lube and wait an hour or so before riding for the setting to occur. I always lubed the night before
every ride. The problem was that within an hour or so the solvent evaporated and only the wax remained.
When racing we always wore full faced helmets and high end ear plugs to deaden the LOUD wind noise and LOUDER exhaust sounds that were fairly punishing. One day we found a really remote stretch of pristine uphill highway. Middle of nowhere. We decided to take a break and take turns watching each other behave like juvenile delinquents riding wheelies up and down the hill. I sat roadside with a buddy with my helmet off and earplugs removed while other buddies did their hooligan shenanigans. When one of them went past us his drive train was making this HELLACIOUS noise. It sounded like raw metal sawing raw metal. I said to my buddy sitting next to me, "WTF is that? Thank goodness my bike doesn't sound like that." My buddy said to me, "It does."
When I got home I put the bike on the stand and spun the rear wheel. That delicious flannel pillow case silence had been replaced with a vile scratchy sound. Stupidly, I used that stuff for a few more rides. Long enough to discover my chain became toast in 1/10th it's normal lifespan, taking my expensive and sexy Renthal sprocket with it to the graveyard.
Well, at least it was good to know I got my money's worth out of those earplugs.
After that I began researching that product and waxing chains in general more closely. That's when I found the article claiming that wax was not a good idea. His explanation made too much sense to ignore and aligned with my experience as well.
Plus, Sheldon Brown said wax sucks. So there's that too...
