Originally Posted by
Wattsup
I've seen tests which purport to show drip-on waxes don't get into the rollers very easily, if at all. I've read on the same sites that waxed chains wear MUCH more slowly than wet oiled chains. I myself use hot Gulf Wax. I ride mostly gravel, sandy gravel, packed dirt. The chain stays clean. I might rewax every 100 miles or so. If the trail was wet, I'd rewax (or slap on a another waxed chain) after 30 miles or each ride. If I rode in the rain a lot, I'd just use oil and be done with it.
I disagree with those “tests”. Just from a physical chemistry stand point, if an oil based lubricant gets into the rollers, a solvent wax lubricant will do the same. Both are solutions of lubricant and solvent with about 75% solvent. Even WD-40 is about the same proportion. The solvent will penetrate into any place that hot wax will and carry whatever is dissolved with it. The solvent evaporates and leaves the lubricant behind.
I also dispute the idea that wax will make a chain wear MUCH more slowly. No lubricant significantly increase chain life over another. If there were, we would all be using it instead of the hundreds of different lubricants that we do. We also wouldn’t be having all these discussions about which lubricant is best.