Originally Posted by
elcruxio
But the home made stuff very clearly isn't better than the big brand stuff.
Not looking for a fight, but curious.
Where is the actual data "clearly" showing this?
Originally Posted by
elcruxio
While the actual chain waxes may not offer five times the performance, they do offer better performance than home made waxes that contain either candle wax or food grade paraffin. With the more expensive product you get longer rewaxing intervals, better wear life for chains, better resistance against the elements, higher efficiency etc.
Not looking for a fight, but curious.
Where is the actual data "clearly" showing this?
Originally Posted by
elcruxio
And they're usually not environmentally harmful as none of the big brands I know of use microplastics.
How many use teflon or other additives ... and in what quantities ... and has any of this been scientifically proven to have a beneficial lubricating effect in real-world application, and/or a serious negative environmental impact? How much does a bike with a little teflon in the wax pollute per mile versus, say, a car?
Originally Posted by
elcruxio
Bang for buck home made stuff may take the win if that's all you care about. Personally the one thing I'm most interested in is rewaxing intervals in challenging conditions. And regular ol' paraffin isn't great there.
As has been mentioned, there is no actual Scientific data ... I am glad that Aussie guy made those videos, and I have been using his method with excellent effect for several years ... but a lot of the differences are marginal, and the overall impact unclear ... (for instance, wax with teflon is seen by some as an environmental evil but oil is okay?) Also, rewaxing intervals are only one metric ... show me the side-by-side tests with equivalent bikes with identical drivetrains and show which method causes less wear ... but you cannot use human operators of course ... you would need to hook both bikes to electric motors and shift at precisely coordinated intervals ...
And sicne no one really knows exactly what works best for each individual ... it is possible that using the expensive wax and taking that one extra ride, that extra forty or seventy miles, actually causes more wear than re-applying the cheap, home-made stuff one ride sooner .... or not.
None of the science would hold up in a masters' program ... glad people did what they did, and for me, homemade paraffin/teflon is just fine ... but really, none of us know. We are all just deciding what we like and doing it.