Originally Posted by cyccommute

You do realize that chemistry is the study of matter and its states don’t you? Have you ever actually looked at a block of wax? It is a solid. Yes, you can make it into a liquid by melting it but it is a solid at temperatures that we humans normally operate at. Even the hottest temperatures we humans regularly encounter, wax is still a solid with a melt point around 130°F to 150°F. It is plastic and can move around under pressure but that isn’t flow nor the material being liquid. But that plasticity works both ways. Physics says the wax is going to be forced out of the pressure points but there really isn’t anything driving the wax back in. In other words, the wind only blows one way.

As to how long the wax lasts, not all of the wax is going to be pushed out of the pressure points. A small amount…a few molecules thick…would linger for a long time. But that really is all the lubrication that is needed.

Yes, you could put a vapor deposition layer on the chain but that would probably be cost prohibitive.



I think these guys might disagree. So might these guys. And these guys. I could go on. That is works on chains isn’t counterintuitive at all. It’s been known to work on chains for decades. I experimented with hot wax before I had kids which is nearly 40 years ago now. About 10 years later after I gave up the hassle of waxing with hot wax, White Lightning hit the market and I’ve never looked back.



rosefarts is having problems with the longevity of his waxing. I don’t particularly see his procedure as complex. It’s mostly useless as water has no place in cleaning a chain for any reason…it’s that chemistry thing again. That’s when stripping off the factory lube or cleaning dust off the chain before waxing. It’s a useless step but then most cleaning procedures that have more than one step…washing with mineral spirits…are.

Two pots of wax is just as silly. There’s no need to clean the chain with wax even in dusty conditions. Dirt doesn’t stick to the wax that much. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.