Originally Posted by
Lombard
This is ridiculous. Wax lubes can be just as messy as oil-based lubes. The big difference is that oil is better at lubricating a chain than wax - yes, even hot wax. Used correctly, riders get over 10K miles out of their oil based lubed chains. Do you get over 10K miles out of your hot waxed chains?
The key to having any lube be less messy is to wipe the chain thoroughly after lubing, then wipe it again after the first post-lube ride. Mess will be minimal.
I'm really not sure how this is ridiculous. There is no scenario that a hot waxed chain will be even close to as messy as a drip lube. Even the drip lubes that claim to dry really don't ever dry hard like hot melt.That means there is no way to keep contaminants out which always ends up creating a lapping paste that grinds away metal into a black sludge. You would literally need to completely clean the chain after every ride and reapply drip lube to prevent this. Even then, the contaminants that end up inside the chain during the ride are still grinding away metal. This also means there is absolutely no way that these drip lubes compete in terms of chain wear. There is sooo much data out there that supports this so I'm sure it's even debatable at this point. Not to mention hot melt wax is such a simple process after the initial chain clean has been done. This initial chain clean really should be done before traditional drip lubes to work their best anyway. Most people don't do this chain clean first before applying drip lubes therefore end up with so much road grit sticking to their chain. Then it becomes even more difficult to get a fully cleaned chain. I hate to say that this hot melt wax chain lube method just isn't a debate anymore.