Chain strategy
 

Hi fellow folder users! I have started using a folder for commuting to work(mu uno), I fold it up when I get to work and carry it inside to store. The chain is now nice and clean, being new, but I wonder if it will become a problem as it wears and gets dirty. I've considered a chain guard, but wonder if anyone else has found one useful/necessary. I work in a hospital, so cleanliness is a concern.
Thanks, Mike

Convert to paraffin wax. No more dirty chain grease, ever. The only regret I have is not finding out about this sooner. I have about 6 months ago converted all our bike chains to wax, and what a difference!

A bike that (1) is a single speed or has an internal hub gear, (2) has no chain tensioner and (3) has at least 17 teeth on the smallest cog, may be able to use the Biologic FreeDrive. See: Biologic (scroll down a little more than half-way on the page).

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

As a rather pricey alternative to the above two suggestions, the Mu is a perfect candidate for a belt drive.

Jur, are you talking about the full chain dunk in the wax technique? Have you compared that with dry (wax based) lubes? I've had some good success with a couple dry lubes, so haven't been super motivated to try the wax dunk, but have heard some very impressive results about it.

I bought one of thesehttp://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=473038
I run 2 or 3 chains per bike. One chain is ready to go, waxed, the other is in use on the bike. When the wax runs out (about 600km dry, 200km wet weather), I take it off and put the ready-to-go chain on. The other is dunked in the wax.

From time to time I suck the black metal particles out of the wax with a neodimium magnet.

This regime is far less time-consuming than anything else I have used. The waxpot is a double-wall heater so not much danger of catching fire. Beauty salons can leave theirs on permanently.

Jur,

Interesting, what wax do you use? Same as the hair removal???

Thanks,
Yan

Nifty stuff there Jur. My last experience with wax was making candles on a single burner stove, with the associated disaster zone of wax splatter. That looks like a great solution.

I got a big pack of those little tea candles made from pressed paraffin wax particles from the local hardware store, very cheap, a few $ for a huge pack. Very easy to pop them out of their little aluminium containers and extract the piece of burner rope. I have used maybe 1/5th so far. I understand you can get blocks of paraffin wax in the states.

Here's a quick demo of how clean the wax is:

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There are some very slight black bits on my hands after gripping the chain. The chain wax is mixed with graphite powder, I thought that would improve friction, but not sure I would do that again.

That slight black residue comes off with some light rubbing of my hands together, it falls off.

Been using the hot wax (paraffin) method for over 40 years on my single bikes and tandem.
Get a minimum of 3,000 miles between re-waxing. Oh yes, the wax is re-usable!
No 'mark of the chain' ever.

3,000 miles! That is impressive. I rewax when I hear the chain.

A cheaper way to go to melt the wax is use a dedicated crockpot found in a goodwill, salvation army or what have you thrift store. Mine is a very small one used to heat dip like queso. cost $3.00. In the fall, one can find blocks of wax in the grocery store as it is used for canning produce. It takes a couple of hours to get up to heat and I leave the chain in there for a while to insure complete wax penetration.I redo mine as Jur says, when it gets a little noisy. You can stretch it out a little by applying white lightning lube which is also wax based. If you throw new chains in there the bit of grease they come with helps keep the wax stick to the chain and the the wax pretty much displaces the factory grease.

wipe off the outside of the chain , even with liquid chain lubes you only really need to have it

on the pins and bushings and the inside of the roller, which is the parts that wear-'stretch' .

There is WD-40 wax spray for motorcycles with many good reviews on Amazon.

Thanks for the ideas. I run a 48-16, so the biologic chain guard apparently wouldn't work. I've always been curious about hot wax, perhaps now is a good time to try.

[QUOTE=Nightdiver;18106386]As a rather pricey alternative to the above two suggestions, the Mu is a perfect candidate for a belt drive.

Regarding Nightdiver's suggestion, I run a belt drive on my Mu and really like it. It is so nice not to worry about grease & grim or lubing the chain. The other day I was reminded how much I like belt drive when I had a flat on the rear of one of my chain drive bikes. Even though I tend to keep my chains wiped down and clean, plus carry disposable gloves, it was a little messy repairing the flat along side the trail. Compared that to a few weeks earlier when I had a rear flat on my Mu and had no greasy chain to deal with.

not to mention the added bonus of being able to keep your own under-carriage nice and tidy with a bi-monthly (or, in some cases, quarterly) Brazilian wax.

Just ordered a wax pot and a 1 lb. brick of paraffin from Amazon for 28 bucks. It's about to get real up in here :)
So convenient that the chain can be removed from the mu without disconnecting.

The only time I ever clean a chain is when it is brand new, before I install it. Then it is this stuff available from Walmart.

DuPont Teflon Chain Saver - DuPont Teflon Chain Lube - webBikeWorld

FYI,all that is,is a length of wire conduit. You can buy it at any Home Depot/Lowe's. A couple friends used it to cover their drivetrains for bike polo(for safety,not cleanliness).

Yep I have been thinking in that direction too, but not arrived at that concrete thought... Do the ends need to be joined, or does it stay put as is?

I think the polo guys just cut them to where the ends touched. I don't think they connected them in any way.

good info, dynaryder. thanks.

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