Originally Posted by
Wattsup
So now you're suggesting that a bare chain is better? Pretty hypothetical.
When did I say that a "bare chain" was better? Water isn't going to wash off wax. Water has a better chance of lifting oil off the surface than wax because of the dynamics of how oil and water interact. That would result in more of a "bare chain" than wax would. The action of the chain moving the wax away from the points of pressure may leave some bare spots and that could result in some squeaking but the question to ask is the squeak anything to worry about?
Look at it this way: Based on people's reports on chain wear and my own experience, a chain lubricated with oil lasts about 3500 miles and a chain lubricated with wax lasts about 3500 miles. The lubricant doesn't seem to matter. If oil were superior to wax in terms of lubrication, it would provide longer wear. The oil presents a maintenance nightmare while the wax doesn't. To me, since they are equivalent in mileage, the choice is between constant cleaning and not cleaning at all.
Honestly, I'm rather surprised by oil's inability to provide longer chain mileage. Theoretically, it should reduce where because of it's better lubricity. But I think there are two mechanisms at work here. With oil, the chain gathers grit which increases wear through abrasion. With wax, the higher likelihood of metal-on-metal contact increase wear but grit isn't a problem because it isn't gathered by the chain. The choice, again, comes down to maintenance.
I would like to address something you said above about applying White Lightning off the bike. I'm not even sure how you could do that but it
is better to apply it on the bike. The solvent carrier flushes the old lubricant through the chain and the lubricant stays in the chain better. If you were to do it on a bench or on a cloth on a bench, the solvent carrier is going to wick away from the chain and take the wax with it.
Originally Posted by
Wattsup
Just like your hypothesis that Squirt is inferior because it contains detergents.
I didn't say "inferior". I said that there is a possibility of it being more prone to washing off. When you put a detergent into a mixture so that you can dissolve a wax in water, that detergent doesn't just "go away" when the water evaporates. It is still there. Add water and the detergent does what it did originally. The wax
could wash off in situations where the chain is getting sprayed such as your recent ride.