Originally Posted by
cyccommute
This chain has been in use since April 2023. The bike is my kind of go to bike for riding around town but I do have a number of bikes to choose from which is why it has taken 2 years to get to around 1600 miles (2500 km). This is also a bike that doesn’t see a lot of bad weather riding. I haven’t had it out in rain in ages.
My touring bike, on the other hand, has endured many days of rain while on tour. I do reapply after rain but I would do that with an oil as well.
Although the factory lube is okay, I have found that it gets black and gunky if I don’t remove it first even with drip wax. I strip all my chains with mineral spirits (aka Stoddard solvent or naphtha) before I use drip wax. It just makes everything cleaner in the end. That stripping isn’t anywhere near a stringent as you’ll find people doing on-line. I put the chain in a wide mouthed Gatorade bottle, shake it for about 30 seconds or until my arm gets tired (whichever is less) and let it dry. No need for anything more elaborate than that. I have seen people suggest up to 10 step cleanings that are just a waste of time and completely unnecessary. Once the chain goes on, I flood it with the solvent wax and let it stand until the mineral spirits evaporates. Additionally, once the chain goes on it doesn’t come off for any cleaning. I take the chain off when it wears out or if I have to do some kind of maintenance that requires it but I don’t need to do anything else.
I don’t do melt wax because it is fiddly. I can’t be bothered with all the taking the chain off, waxing it, putting it back on, rinse and repeat. I could not imagine doing multiple chains per bike as I have 12 of my own, 5 for my wife, and, currently 2 for my daughter in Tucson. At just 2 chains each, that would require keeping track of 38 chains to keep track of. No thanks.
Gotcha, very clear.
I'm also not super interested in doing the melt wax in pot thing (tried it maybe 40 years ago) so what you do seems very reasonable to me, both getting the thick sticky factory lube off, and also not mucking about with multiple chains. We too have a bunch of bikes and I also only take a chain off when it's worn out or if a repair necessitates that.
Your chain life estimates also seem quite reasonable to me too, and as I know you are a rigorous person, I trust your mileage quotes. I'm a lot lighter than you and often get better mileage out of my chains than other riders a lot heavier and stronger than I am, so I'm fine with your projected chain lives using White Lightning.
thanks again.
(oh, and I've always relubed after riding a lot in rain, so no change there for me)