Q) What is the difference between candle wax / cheap paraffin online vs MSpeedwax? I know Mspeedwax has some go fast additives in it but it costs a lot more?

A) Candles / cheap paraffin have a very high mineral oil content of typically around 7%. This means it will get quite gunky quite quickly, and this gunky part will gather more contamination more quickly, so the wax in the pot will become contaminated much more quickly as well. The base wax in Mspeedwax is the highest lab grade paraffin available which is refined down to practically zero mineral oil content. You can literally eat this base paraffin with no ill effects. This lab grade paraffin is expensive, I have looked at this lab grade paraffin from Norco chemical supplies in aus, and 1 lb bag of just the paraffin costs more than a 1lb bag of Mspeedwax.

Over the years I have had A LOT of home waxers using candles / cheap paraffin try mspeedwax. The fact they keep ordering mspeedwax shows me they don’t go back to the cheap stuff. I have also seen many home wax chains, and most are not a good look. If you listened to a recent Nerd Alert podcast on Cycling Tips – their go to mechanic Zac was anti wax because he had just seen too many “waxed” drive trains so gummed up they wouldn’t even shift gears or be able to shift into the 11t cog etc.

A lot of the voodoo and poor miss-conceptions re waxing come from the cheap backyard wax methods that one see’s on you tube etc, and overall it can give waxing a bad rap which leads to many people being turned off and missing out on saving a veritable shipload of friction and wear every ride, as well as all the maintenance savings.
Make no mistake, the difference between the majority of home blends & Mspeedwax is night and day.