indyfabz

I find it to be a waste of time. Let’s call the whole thing off.

indyfabz

That’s why I bought a house without a garage. Safety first!

msu2001la

Of course a chain is disposable and a few drops of oil is all that's needed to keep the parts moving, but dropping oil onto chains alone means that it eventually turns itself and everything it touches into a gunky, greasy disgusting mess that attracts dirt and requires solvents to clean.

Waxing solves all of that. It's super clean. I don't really care about longevity or a few phantom watts of horsepower or whatever other silly claims people want to make. I'm just happy to not have to scrub grime off of every metal part on my bike anymore.

mackgoo

I started waxing around the beginning of the year. I think it's great. For me it's the easiest way to maintain the drive train.

PeteHski

I find drip wax requires less maintenance/cleaning than oil based lubes. Especially on mountain bikes.

veganbikes

How so?

A fad is something that comes and goes, people having been waxing chains for a long time. Our mechanic who had worked for the company over 30 years had been waxing his chains for probably about close to that same amount of time. It was never a fad for him but a good way to keep his chain clean and ready for his daily commute.

I get that it has gotten more popular these days but I have always known it as an old school chain care routine not some fad that is here today, gone tomorrow. Mostly I have always heard about old school mechanics from back in the day doing it.

SpedFast

big john

The last chain wax thread was up to, what, 900 posts? You guys really want to do it all over again?

spelger

Always better the second time. Or third, or fourth, or...

spelger

And that thread actually aint dead yet, it rears its ugly head from time to time. I die a little inside when I see it.

big john

I know. Somewhere in that thread I linked a bunch of other chain wax threads, to no avail. Maybe I should have linked that thread for the OP.

Troul 

redundancy is essential.

Troul 

sometimes...

smd4

That’s just a sign of someone that has no clue on how to properly lubricate their chain.

big john

Immersive waxing / it should be more popular - Bike Forums

msu2001la

I would love for you to educate me on how chain lubrication works in this thread. Be as passive aggressive as possible in your response.

Russ Roth

He's not wrong, if your chain becomes a nasty, gunky mess from using chain lube you're doing it wrong. I've also seen drip waxing done wrong where the rear of the frame and the drivetrain were just covered in a mass of sticky wax. Learning how to lightly drip on a good lube, let it soak for a minute and then wipe off the extra will keep your drivetrain fairly clean.

I started using wax back at the start of the year, mostly cause of the claimed performance advantage though I admittedly have no power meter to test if it helps.
On our track bikes its been just fine, the chain isn't any noisier, the wax has lasted all summer, and mess is in no way an issue. But track stops when the rain starts.
MTBs and road have been decent, though a bit of a mixed bag. After a 350 mile drive through off and on pouring rain on the hitch rack the chains on the road bikes were a mess and rusting badly. Of course I didn't bring the crock pot of wax, not carrying that on vacation. Likewise, two mtb rides in the mud resulted in the chains starting to corrode. The road bikes are using higher end KMC chains while the mtbs are using XT 11sp chains. With the MTB I hadn't gotten around to waxing all the chains, and the ones still using pro gold didn't rust and looked decent after. Without a doubt the wax is cleaner than pro gold but I've stuck with the brand because when used properly pro gold leaves very little residue behind and doesn't make a real mess either. Its now hitting cross season, mine and my oldest's bikes are waxed, wife's and the other two kids' are lubed, it'll be interesting to see some comparisons between the 5 bikes at the end of some races. Right now, its looking like wax on the track bikes will continue but I'm fence sitting on the road and mtb.

seypat

Some say that lubing a chain doesn't hold a candle to waxing a chain.

Troul 

wicked to say such a dirty thing.

smd4

You sound like one of those people who have no clue on how to properly lubricate your chain with oil. But don't worry, you're not alone, as evidenced by many, many photos posted here. And your sincere quest for knowledge is touching. But Russ Roth did a pretty good job explaining the process.

msu2001la

Here's the process:
I get it... add light amount of lube, wait a minute, wipe off excess. This describes the exact chain lubrication process that I've been using for 30 years, but you're skipping the part where I also clean the chain and cassette with solvents (either by removing and soaking, or scrubbing them on the bike) every few weeks.

Wet lube attracts dirt. If all you're doing is adding more wet lube (even assuming a proper amount and wiping off the excess), it's dirty from the start. Look at the rag you use to wipe off the excess from your "clean" chain. It's dirty. A wet lubed chain will continue to attract more dirt as you ride, and it'll stick to the cassette, chain ring and pully gears as well. Adding more lube doesn't clean any of that off, so you'll eventually need to clean it. How often depends on how diligent you are about wiping off the excess (and wiping down your chain after every ride), but if you repeat this process of re-lubing and wiping over and over without cleaning it'll eventually become a problem. Pretending that there is some magical process that avoids this is silly.

100% agree.

Steel Charlie

21st Century petroleum industry lubrication products are inferior to wax? But then, I'm still using TriFlo and have been since it was TriFlon.

smd4

I can pull my chain through a white paper towel and get no residue. And I have done so.

Polaris OBark

I thought we were talking about bicycle chains.

ofajen

It was a thing some people did when I was reading books and teaching myself bike maintenance fifty years ago.

Otto