Anyone try the Dupont wax with teflon chain lube
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Anyone try the Dupont wax with teflon chain lube
I bought a squeeze bottle today at Lowes for 4.00...its the yellow container and its says chain lube..it dries to a waxy film...I thought it may be good for this time of year riding my hybrid when its wet roads that have been salted...if its wet I still hose my bike off when I get home but if the roads are dry I just wipe it off with a rag
#2
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It depends upon the chain. I've been wrenching on bikes for 35-years starting with an after-school part-time job in high-school. Then 10-years straight in professional shoppe. Along with 10-years of racing (6.5 in cat1-2-pro). I have tried every single combination of chain lubes and processes available over the years, with a large database of experience in this arena.
Back to my "it depends upon the chain" comment. Waxes and hydrocarbon-chain based lubes worked great back in the days of bushing chains and large contact surface-areas. Nowadays with bushingless-chains, the contact-area between the side-plates and pin is miniscule with much higher pressure in the contact areas. Chain-life and durability depends more upon the extreme-pressure/extreme-heat additive than on the hydrocarbon-film (chains don't get pressurized lubrication-system like car-engines).
The lube you use and the procedure you employ depends upon your goal of chain-maintenance time and durability. Some people are perfectly satisfied with 3000-mile chain-life and 1-hour maintenance per month. Personally, most of my cycling experience has been from the starving-student budget side where I'd rather trade time versus spending money on new chains (Dura-ace chains only cost $27 mail-order back in the '80s). For me, the product and process that gives me the longest chain-durability when riding through inclement weather has been:
1. immediately after ride, scrub chain with mineral spirits (hosing with water will be OK, but need more follow-up later)
2. repeat with clean mineral-spirits until drip-off is clear
3. scrub with acetone, this dissolves both the mineral-spirits and water and gets them out of your chain
4. hit with hair-dryer to ensure all liquids are gone from inside the chain
5. drip a drop of Chain-L lube on each link and spin around for 2-minutes to work into chain
Going through rainy 45-minutes commutes to the shop, I was able to get +6000 miles out of a Dura-ace chain using this procedure & lube. In good weather +8000 miles. Again, there is no one "best" solution, it comes down to your personal requirements in chain-life and maintenance-time. Start a log, try different things, and see what give you the best bang-for-the-buck/time-per-dollar-spent ratio.
Back to my "it depends upon the chain" comment. Waxes and hydrocarbon-chain based lubes worked great back in the days of bushing chains and large contact surface-areas. Nowadays with bushingless-chains, the contact-area between the side-plates and pin is miniscule with much higher pressure in the contact areas. Chain-life and durability depends more upon the extreme-pressure/extreme-heat additive than on the hydrocarbon-film (chains don't get pressurized lubrication-system like car-engines).
The lube you use and the procedure you employ depends upon your goal of chain-maintenance time and durability. Some people are perfectly satisfied with 3000-mile chain-life and 1-hour maintenance per month. Personally, most of my cycling experience has been from the starving-student budget side where I'd rather trade time versus spending money on new chains (Dura-ace chains only cost $27 mail-order back in the '80s). For me, the product and process that gives me the longest chain-durability when riding through inclement weather has been:
1. immediately after ride, scrub chain with mineral spirits (hosing with water will be OK, but need more follow-up later)
2. repeat with clean mineral-spirits until drip-off is clear
3. scrub with acetone, this dissolves both the mineral-spirits and water and gets them out of your chain
4. hit with hair-dryer to ensure all liquids are gone from inside the chain
5. drip a drop of Chain-L lube on each link and spin around for 2-minutes to work into chain
Going through rainy 45-minutes commutes to the shop, I was able to get +6000 miles out of a Dura-ace chain using this procedure & lube. In good weather +8000 miles. Again, there is no one "best" solution, it comes down to your personal requirements in chain-life and maintenance-time. Start a log, try different things, and see what give you the best bang-for-the-buck/time-per-dollar-spent ratio.
Last edited by DannoXYZ; 12-26-12 at 04:46 PM.
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I used it for awhile. Works reasonably well in the dry and OK in the wet. Has the same type of clean chain qualities as most waxes and seems to last a little bit longer and provide a little better lubrication than the other waxes but the big complaint I had with it is that it builds up on everything and is really difficult to clean off needing a long soak in mineral spirits or kerosene. Switched to Chain-L No5 and can't see any reason to use anything else. Your results may vary. Try the Dupont and let us know what you think.
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I tried it and didn't like it. It seems to lay on the surface of the chain rather than penetrating into it. What I did like should be on the shelf right next to it, Dupont silicone lube with teflon in the blue bottle. The Dupont penetrating lubricant with teflon also works great if you are a little slow on the maintenance and your chain needs a bit of rehab.
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No experience with this specific lube, but in my experience with dry lubes in general, they are good for external cosmetics but less good at preventing chain wear because once pressure and motion displaces it from an area where it's needed to provide lubrication, that's it, whereas wet/oil type lubes can run back and continue to provide lubrication. I find I can go longer between applications of wet lube and chains last longer as well.
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I decided to give it a try awhile back. I had previously tried White Lightning which, as a lube, was OK but gum would eventually accumulate in the cassette and derailleur.
The first problem with the DuPont product is overspray, so you need to hold a rag behind the chain to keep it from getting all over everything else. Spraying also wastes a lot of the product, so I put some into an ear drop type container to apply more precisely.
Overall I'm happy with it and will buy another can when I run out.
The first problem with the DuPont product is overspray, so you need to hold a rag behind the chain to keep it from getting all over everything else. Spraying also wastes a lot of the product, so I put some into an ear drop type container to apply more precisely.
Overall I'm happy with it and will buy another can when I run out.
Last edited by Eric S.; 12-27-12 at 11:01 AM. Reason: bad grammar
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