Why Every Cyclist is Talking About This 1 Upgrade
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- čas přidán 21. 02. 2024
- Discover the transformative bike upgrade everyone's talking about, promising a quieter, cleaner, and more efficient ride.
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This video delves into a groundbreaking cycling upgrade that's capturing the attention of the biking community for its ability to significantly enhance drivetrain longevity, reduce noise, and maintain cleanliness. We'll explore the cost, ease of implementation, and whether it's a worthwhile addition to your cycling gear, focusing on a popular choice among enthusiasts: the Silca chain wax system. Learn the steps to achieve this upgrade and hear firsthand experiences to decide if it's right for you. - Sport
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Just FYI, Chain driven drive trains are 98-99 percent efficient. So anyone claiming a more then 1% increase in efficiency at the drivetrain HAS to be lying, according to math and science and reality.
It's literally moronic to pretend this video has any value with a super glued derailleur cage...wtf bro??
$140 for a bag of Silca wax and their pot - you don't add any Strip Chips for a used chain. Strip Chips only work on the new chain's factory grease - not on clean or old lubed chains. Use Silca's Chain Stripper or your own choice of cleaner to prep your chain for waxing. And a quick way to 'break in' a freshly-waxed chain is to wrap it around something like a length of PVC conduit or pipe and pull the ends of your chain backwards and forwards. Then only the last few links need 'manual' breaking.
but, without grease marks on my leg, how will they know I'm really good at bikes?
😂🤣❤️
And the chainring scar ! 👍🏽
You can get grease marks tattooed on your legs
@@MoonMoon-rm2vg guilty
The old B-grad mark.
The delight I get from this kind of content is inversely proportional to the delight I get from maintaining my bikes. I'm more into spray the degreaser from a safe distance, brush if I have to, dry poorly, few drops of chanel n. 5 and hope for the best. You do stuff so I don't have to, this subscription is the best money I ever spent on the internet, hands down!
You just made my day Alessandro!
🤜❤️🤛
Tip: Use automotive brake cleaner, the non-chlorinated type to degrease and clean your chain. It's cheap, works really good, won't harm the finish on you bike or components, and dries fast. I have been using the Autozone brand version because they usually have it on sale, sometimes 2 for $5.99-7.99, which is tons cheaper than the Finish Line brand cleaner.
This is what I was looking for.
I knew there would be some alternative option but had no clue what it would be.
Great tip!
@DustinKlein_ Just be sure it's the non-chlorinated version whatever brand you use. And you're welcome. 😊
I had good results with mineral spirits (charcoal lighter fluid is the same thing if you're in CA) and isopropyl alcohol. I tried acetone instead of isopropyl the first time around and ended up with a horrific headache from inhaling the acetone fumes. Would advise avoiding acetone unless you have a vent hood or a respirator. Brake cleaner sounds like a good option, I'll have to give that a try for my next chain.
I clean everything on my bikes with brake cleaner…….
Thanks for the hack. I have been using the White Lightning Clean Streak degreaser, which comes in a little bigger 23oz, a little bigger than Finish Line (I think) and comes in at about $18. It's magic and I love it. I'll try the AutoZone non-chlorinated and compare.
My wax setup is a bent wire clothes hanger and a $7 mini crocpot from Kohl's. For stripping/cleaning chains before waxing, I have a medium/large (28 or 32 oz) gatorade bottle, some heavy duty degreaser (I like the purple Dawn stuff or Totally Awesome) and small tin of mineral spirits. Just throw the chain in the bottle with 4-5oz (100ml) of spirits and shake the crap out of it until the solvent turns black. Dump the solvent and switch to degreaser, shake, dump again. Alternate until the spirits stop turning black. My nasty chain took like 7-8 rounds, and a new chain takes like 2-3 rounds. The problem with brake cleaner is that you wind up spraying most of it past the chain. It's formulated to flash off quickly which isn't what you want to do. You want all the oils and grease to dissolve and stay in solution, and the cleaner step removes the dirt and everything else that the oils let go.
All the equipment I use was still cheaper than the massive bag of silca wax that I had to buy, but still cheaper over time than buying chain lube. I've only used like 10% of the bag because my cheap crocpot is so small. You only need enough to submerge the chain. I only ride road on nice days, so I don't see rain dirt or other adverse conditions. I've only rewaxed once so far and it's been 18 months or so. Less maintenance than my unibrow.
edit: I did all this because I transport my bike inside my car which has a light-colored interior. The cleanliness aspect was more important to me than friction or efficiency or any of that other bullshit. Try to keep the waxing to the garage or away from the inside of your house if you can help it. Rolling your bike along will cause the chain to flake and you'll have little Tungsten disulfide grey flecks all over your floor. If you try to wipe it up or mop it, the soft wax smudges instead of staying solid so it's a real pain in the ass to clean. But that's better than greasing up your calves and everything else you accidentally touch forever and ever.
SILCA sais that STRIP CHIP is only for factory greased new chain. STRIP CHIP is for "neutralisation" factory grease so the grease would not make wax too soft. Soft wax - short lifespan of the wax on the chain.
Yeah that is something hardly anybody mention... How many factory greased chains are you stripping for waxing a year? On the other hand their chain stripper... Hmmm... Might give it a try and stop pissing my Missus off with "that weird annoying noise making machine" xD
@@ivanjednobiegowiec7656Silca also makes a chain stripper, it's basically a degreaser they designed for stripping new chains without all the chemicals. Strip chip still seems easier, but you gotta get it to the right temp or it won't work.
Correct.
Solution looking for a problem, which is Silca’s business model. They take routine objects, like pumps or Allen keys, and make them more expensive than necessary. Yes, they are objects of art to some extent but their pumps are not significantly better than a $30 pump, for example.
And of course there’s an after ride wipe that you need to buy from them. ! Just gets some NixFrixShun lube.
Yeah, this is so much easier than just simply oiling my chain after every ride.
You don't need all that stuff in the DIY method (like the crock pot etc) - I just melt mine in a pan on the stove.
Me too! An old pot and meat thermometer works perfect! And propably quicker than the crock pot, even though I raise the heat very careful.👌
Yeah I was gonna say. Gotta be super careful with that. Definitely don't want the wax to get too hot or combust god forbid. I like the crock pot because you don't have to babysit.
IMO the smallest crockpot you can find is super easy. No need to monitor temperature, you can literally leave the chain hooked onto an old spoke on-top of the wax and leave it there to melt as long as you want. The crock pot wont ever get hot enough to smoke the wax or ignite like a pan could. I just set it up in the corner of my kitchen counter while i make dinner and forget about it until after we eat, hang the chain up under a shelf and then put it back on the bike the next morning. No effort or active attention required.
This is the way. We have a pot with graphite enhanced wax we use all the time. Zero effort, just pop the chain every once in a while.@@Max-xl3ml
Silca ships their wax in a bag that you can just boil. You put the bag in boiling water for 10min, take the bag out, drop the chain in for a few minutes, and you're done. You'll never burn the wax since boiling water won't exceed boiling temperature. The pan is basically clean after because it was just boiling water, and you don't have a crockpot or pan dedicated to chain wax.
Bro you glued your derailleur
😂
$164? That is like 8-10 chains on sale. My chains last 4-5k miles. I ride 5-8k miles a year. I take chain off once a month degrease & re-lube. I probably lube again once a month if rainy. For myself I think I will stick with simple green & T-9 Lube 😉 Good video though Thanks!
$ilca
Spot on, more unnecessary work and waste of money.
T-9 is paraffin wax based already.
@@drill_fiend1097 Thanks have used it for years & really like it. Didn't know that about the wax. No wonder it works so well even in wet
Exactly. I don't get the fuss... Chains are meant to be changed...
Love it! I've been waxing my chains with the crock pot and yes it takes a long time to melt the wax. But there are other things you can do while it's melting like clean the house cut the lawn....... As far a dripping I jus have my chain on a shirt hanger and pull it out and hold a piece of paper underneath . Removing wax , I just roll the chain over a 2x4 / my handrail and it frees up the chain. As far as the wax, I use paraffin wax with a little Teflon. BAM!!!
a crock pot makes no sense to use
Agree, a crock pot is much too slow@@timtaylor9590
Also, I can fit about 6-8 chains in my crock pot, unlike one in silca. Silca is nice solution if you have one bike and one chain, anything other than that I'd stick with crockpot.
@@Pav_1983 takes too long
D. One suggestion for the tribe - don't use a crock pot. Get an old rice cooker, which will melt the wax way faster. Literally 5-10 minutes.
Also, the DIY approach can be a lot cheaper than you might think. I use wax from a bag of crushed ikea tea light candles. I don't think I'm losing very many watts.
My degreaseing regimen involves a jam jar and a 50-100 millilitres of petrol - shaken not stirred!
The entire set up cost me about US$10. And the running costs are close to zero.
Worth thinking about before taking the plunge.
Cheers
Even quicker get an old pan and put it on medium on your stove. The petrol is the cheapest and fastest cleaning way to go. I used to wax 5 chains at a time for convenience. It eventually got old doing this.
Now I just use Muc Off dry lube and buy it in Liter size to save money.
I've been using Squirt chain wax. Clean the chain initially then just Squirt every 200miles, job done.
I do the same, this whole removing and waxing the chain every two weeks seems like too much hassle.
I still feel this whole hot waxing process is inconvenient and expensive and keep wondering about the environmental cost of all this. I'm using the effetto mariposa flowerpower drip wax and it's super simple and effective to use while being ecofriendly as much as possible. And top rated by zero friction cycling, which says a lot about it.
Me too! I don't see any substantial cost savings by going to immersive waxing (investing in the waxing equipment, electricity costs, ...) - plus the time taken is under 60 seconds versus 15-30 min. For me, the Flower Power wax is the obvious choice among the drip waxes. Might be marginally cheaper to buy 5-10kg of paraffin wax plus some friction modifiers like WS2... but not a huge gain to be made for me at least...)
Exactly, and according to friction tests Flowerpower had less friction and made the chain last 3.5 times longer than Silca Super Secret wax did, the Flowerpower Wax lasted longer between applications, and was a whole lot less money and hassle, the only hassle there is, you have to clean the chain of all the factory grease before using Flowerpower which is typical of any lube you might use.
If you use the Super Secret every 100 or so miles you don't have to reset your chain as often. I usually go a total of 800 to 1000 miles between resettings as directed by Silca.
Haven’t tried the new strip chips but have used the recently released silca chain stripper which you soak a chain in for about 5 minutes or so, then clean with water and then wax. It’s amazing and left me super clean waxed chains in what used to take me a full days of soaking and ultrasonic cleaning.
I then use silca super secret drip wax every 150-200 miles after a light spray down on a microfiber cloth with silca biodegreaser on the waxed chain and I’m currently get at least 1500 miles between bike-off re waxing.
I just started waxing the chain on my road bike and do the same as you. I was really impressed with the Silca chain stripper - it works and it's easy. When I put my freshly waxed chain on the bike, I use my wife's hair dryer on low to gently warm the wax - a few spins of the cranks and the chain is super quiet and very smooth. The drip wax is a little messy but definitely works. I'll probably start waxing the chains on all my bikes.
Edit: I put my quick link on a paper clip and wax it at the same time.
I’ve waxed for 30 yrs., but this is what was missing! Wow...a buyer here!
Switched to waxing a while back and the DIY method is significantly cheaper/actually better than Silca's own melt product:
- Crockpot was $15 AUD ($10 USD) from the supermarket
- Thermometer not needed, just whack it on low and walk away. Come back an hour later, swoosh it around and you're sorted
- No wood/brackets needed. Just use an old coat hanger and bend it into shape (mimic Molten Speed Wax's tool) - Free
- Mineral Turpentine 1L $5 AUD ($3 USD) for 1L + a Jar
- Methylated Spirits 1L $4 AUD ($2.50 USD) for 1L + a Jar
- Wax $40 USD
Total cost = $55.50 USD vs. SIlca's system for $164 = DIY is about $110 USD difference.
With the chain, you need to break the links using a handle or a bin handle first (just run it through, don't do it link by link).
Awesome. Thanks for the buycycle tip. I will use them for sure
DIY is the ticket - it only matters when you must introduce a new chain into the mix. Starting with 2 fresh chains and alternating makes this even easier and less frequent!
Really excellent video!!
This was very helpful and good to know. As a fellow Portlander my chains are always dirty and I think this would help preserve them in all the foul weather we have. Now I know the cost and time, I might have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing great content.
chain wax lubes like squirt or BikeWorkx Chain Star MAX WAX /here in europe/ work well without all that chain-cooking mess around
but first you need to degrease the chain better than you did /inside is more grease than outside/
Great video. Love the comparison to DIY (effort, cost time) and the conclusion that it's really taking a lot of "little maintenance and consolidating it".
I’m 500 miles into a Silca waxed chain on my winter bike. Like you I live in PDX, my chain has remained spotlessly clean and worked flawlessly.
I started before the Silca system melter came out - so have a $15 thrift store crockpot. Works great - just less control of temperature.
I have now waxed four of my bikes (I have G.A.S. too).
The most important part is to not contaminate the wax with dirt - so a really clean chain will make the $40 bag of wax last the longest.
Was using an od 1978 crockpot until I got the Silca pot. It controls the temps for fast melt then switch to 70C to get to the pull temp. Take 10 min to cool to 70C and pull the chain. Beats watching the wax for it to get down to 70C or skim ready etc. Love the setup. Josh recommends using SuperSecret after the first ride so I tried that and he is right.. so smooth and quiet.
$110 lol.
Rice cooker $15 (and that’s new. Used one $5).
Paraffin gulf wax $7.
Chain degreaser $7.
Total : $29 or less than $20 if you get a rice cooker from goodwill
Sure, i give them Silca have some good R&D and decent main products, but these gimmicks are some otherwordly animalistic bs. Imagine owning a Silca branded Mini-croc pot and not thinking about how much you spent on that alone. Baffling. womp womp
as always,
informative & fun
I use a one foot length of copper pipe clamped in a vice to work or break the chain lengths after waxing. I run both sides over the pipe and just break the last link or two at each end manually. It also sheds some of the excess wax before you mount the chain.
First rule of tv, don’t wear stripes, it strobes!
I get 5000 miles from a chain by using biodegradable degreaser on it when I wash my bike. Dry it off with compressed air re-lube with Muc-off ceramic lube and it adds about 2 mins to your bike wash process and costs £15 ($16) every 7,000 miles for lube and £1.20 ($1.50) for degreaser for about 20washes.
The lube just washes off so when your bike needs washing the chain does too.
Nothing beats a waxed chain. I've ran different dry lubes, they all attract dirt, and you might wash your bike religiously, but that dirt is still there the duration of your ride. On my bikes I can ride like 100mi and the chain is clean still unless I ride in pancake batter mud. It has a lot less wear on the drivetrain. Wax is hard to beat. I get that it's easy to just degrease and relube, but I don't have to do that pretty much ever. There is no grease, the chain, cassette, and chain ring just stay clean. Every so often I'll use drip wax emulsion to rewax the chain, every other month I'll take the chain off dip it in boiling water, throw it in the hot wax, and I'm off. It's awesome.
@@ov3rcl0cked I was hooked on GRAX until I tried Silca. No more nasty cassette cleaning and I can touch the chain etc when putting the bike into my car if I am not using the rack. Super clean cassette and chain makes it worth it alone!
I am waxing by oz cycle method (yes that insane dog killer). 1 kilo of parafin wax costs ... 20 euro - a lifetime supply. 1 bag of PTFE from aliexpress .. about 8 euros, i clean the chain fist time with gasoline (by far the best merhod) then degreaser (generic crap) then izoprophylic alcohol - att together not more than 10 euros. A crockpot costs.... 10 euros at most. A clothes hanger ... zero. So...my grand total is 48 euros. Maybe less. And that stocks lasts me years. How do you imagine I would pay 150 usd for parafin ...from "silca". Is like buying ceramic speed....a scam. As always I enjoy your work ! Take care.
Much the same for me. Been doing this for decades except I use molybdenum disulphide also from eBay. Couldn't get PTFE to mix well. Top up with Squirt drip on after washing bike or a wet ride.
Same here. With 5 chains rotation. I did buy the silca wax too trying to perceive the difference. Didn't notice so I got back to buying parafin and ptfe. But to anyone who has to do that in a kitchen with one chain every single time without ordering suspicious powders from aliexpress, the silca way is not THAT expensive either.
@MichaelTabolsky £100 /kg for silca is not THAT expensive,!? I bought 5kg of wax for £22....
Totally agree 👌
yes I have been using paraffin mixed with aliexpress ws2 and ptfe for years, still have no wear on my chains or cassette.
The strip chip is better used on new chains with factory grease from what I got from silca's video, it converts grease into wax by emulsion apparently 😊
Love the style and vibe of your presentation 👍
Thanks so much!
Time to remove the "Not A Mechanic" patch from your vest.
Now I can find my seam ripper 😝
DIY will take less if you do a bunch of chains at the same time in a large crock pot. I do 6-8 chains at a time and only have to do it every 6-10 weeks.
I appreciate this video. The correlation to tubeless set up is a helpful one. Newb question, what happens with the wax after youre done and it cools?
I tried waxing several times. A lot of hassle and worse than a liquid wax treatment like Squirt, Silca wax lube, or Rock n Roll.
Smoooooth. Convenience will save a horrendous mess in your bike shed. I learned the hard/messy way...😅
Hmmm. Camping stove. Small saucepan. Parafin wax. Clean chain until it shines deeply. Heat wax,soak for 10 mins. Hang up to dry. Refit chain. When a bit dry/ squeaky then clean chain with hot water. Re wax. Simple as that. Been waxing all my chains ( in wet Donegal) on all my bikes..MTB,Road,Gravel for past 7 years. Very pleased with how cheap and simple it is.
Thank you for this video. Greetings from a fellow waxer
Lol this made me want to build a over engineered chain cleaning setup.
Lab hot plate, some beakers and a drying rack
Non crock pot method. I utilise an Oz Cycle CZcams recipe made of paraffin wax , shellite (petrol), and PTFE (Teflon) . Mixed and shaken in a sauce bottle. I hold a paper towel under the chain to catch the excess, then clean the chain with the paper towel that has the excess wax in it. Quietest, smoothest and cleanest chain I have ever used. As the wax recipe has shellite in it, it also cleans the chain when I apply it.
I'm surprised you never tried Squirt Lube due to the area you live (wet, wild, wacky...seriously though...). I assume you were using oil before. I 've used Squirt only due to the "easy-ness" of it but this product would be great if it lasted 500 miles. Squirt seems to last for me about 170-200 miles.
Been waxing my chains for several years now, mountain, gravel, touring, road and urban. It works well for me and i have converted several of my friends.
What we really need is chain manufactures offering factory waxed chains. So far the only ones i know about is Connex.
Great and funny video as usual!
Cheers!
According to the Silca website, the wax lasts up to 500 km, not miles, so up to 300 miles, and the key words here are "UP TO", but they recommend rewaxing it every 150 miles.
After looking at their website, it would be a lot less work and time if you simply buy their Pre-waxed (Dura Ace) Race Chain for $99, and then buy their Super Secret Chain Lube for $16, then every 150 miles relube the chain using a simple drip bottle method. Wham Bam thank you, ma'am. And if that pre-waxed chain lasts 3 times longer than a normally lubed $50 DA chain, you're still saving money over replacing a chain every 5,000 miles and doing a lot less work.
The problem with all of what I mentioned above, is that according to Zero Friction Cycling tests that they ran showed FLOWERPOWER WAX - BICYCLE CHAIN LUBE wore out far fewer chains than did the Silca system. All that was required was to clean off the factory lube, drip the FlowerPower wax on, and wait 12 hours to ride.
The only question I have is how good of a testing protocol does Zero Friction Cycling use.
DIY chain hanger: a wire hanger and a nail above the crock pot. Works a treat.
Thanks for the fair review DK!
Would be interesting if you can measure how long will this chain last before get stretched to 0.75%.
I just had only 1200km from a mid-range Shimano chain with waxing it =\
I’ve not tried the new Silca chips, but I still do the “DIY” cleaning to truly get all the grit out
I put my wax in a tin on the BBQ.
When it’s melted it’s ready!
While that’s going I clean the chain in a bucket of boiling water and scrub the cassette with the same.
All takes about 20 min.
Also, to free the waxed chain - loop it over a metal bar and with a hand on each free end pull the chain left/right so it flicks the excess wax off.
How does wax hold up in very wet conditions?
It doesn't do much for rust prevention that's for sure.
The wax itself holds up fine. But it won't protect against corrosion as well as oil does, so if you're using wax, you want to also have a nicer chain with anti-corrosion coating.
Pretty interesting. I read about chain waxing years ago, and early on in biking I think it was the only way people lubed their chains. The old way sounded too messy, but the Silca setup looks slick with the dedicated pot.
Ayooo Major Taylor reference?? That's awesome!
Funny timing cause i finally bought mineral spirits yesterday to clean my chain for silca super secret i picked up a while back. Might try the full shebang down the road
I tried the DIY method and finally gave up on it and just use a bottle of Smoove lube. Similar to Squirt. The wax submersion method only got me about 70 miles of trail riding on my mt bike, so wasn't worth the effort. With Smoove, my chain is lasting forever and the drivetrain is quieter than with the submersion method.
I have been using Ceramic Speed UFO drip wax. The only hard thing about the process was degreasing the drive train in the first place. All you need to do is wipe the chain with a cloth every 180km and reapply the drip wax. No need to remove the chain. Takes about 5 minutes or less. I've not had to clean the chain for about 2500 km so far. Ride is smooth and chain is quiet.
I used gasoline as a first step in degreasing my chain. After chain was degreased I used a bent coat hanger as a dipper to put the chain in a crock pot. The coat hanger tool was long enough to stick out of the pot. After chain was waxed I hung the chain vertically from a nail in the shed. After chain cooled I ran the chain around the handle of my bench vice to remove all kinks. I also completely disassembled my cassette and degreased for the first wax application. Also degreased my chain rings and rear derailleur wheels. I only degreased cassette, derailleur, and chain rings once for the initial wax job. I am now on my third year of waxed chains. I generally use the crock pot twice a year to wax chain. In between wax jobs I use a wax based lubricant such as Squirt if I hear any noise from the chain.
My DIY setup costed me less than 25 EUR. To degrease a chain i bought 2 liters of mineral spirits and 1 liter of acetone (still have leftovers), used 2 jars to do 2 baths of mineral spirits and 1 rinse with acetone. For wax i used regular 2 liter pot with a lid for 10 EUR. Melted wax on the electric stove on the lowest setting which took 10 minutes to melt. Prepared batch of 5 chains, because i can't be bothered to re-wax frequently. When wax solidified in the pot, put the rest of the chains in, closed the lid ans stashed it away till the next chain change or re-wax.
How many chains can you fit in the silca wax pot? I've been using the double pot method with boiling water in the first one, 3 chains at once just pure paraffin.
So how much better is this than products like Rock and Roll Blue? I soaked my chain in diesel overnight and put on rock and roll and I think it done a pretty good job and the cost was like $15
Absolute Black Graphenwax €40, Ikea inductionhob €40, old pan €0, solid electric wire to hold chain on 1 side €1, nail in wall of garage to hang chain on €0,01, carton on ground to catch waxdrips €0, white spirit to degrease chain €2,50. Total costs: €83,51. AB Graphenwax outperforms Silca in use and you don’t need to break your chain: runs smooth in 3 turns.
fun fact , parrafin wax will act like a solvent and dissovle and homogenise with pretty much most greases you would find on a chain
i use a double boiler method , a pot of wax in a pot of water . making my own wax i used parrafin candles and molybdenum disulfide oil additive , re melting the wax also literally takes 10 mins once the water is at a boil
So would this be good for winter riding with snow and -20C (or colder) weather?
Is the Silca wax reusable? If so, how many uses do you think you will get out of one bag of wax? 2? 3?
I've been doing this for a couple years now. Every odd numbered month, I clean and re-wax. One pound block of paraffin wax and PTFE (powdered Teflon). Crock pot from a thrift store and a wire clothes hanger to thread the chain on and dip in the hot wax. I break the chain loose on the crank handle of my bench vise. About a 1.5" radius and I just run over that. Flip it and run it again and she's ready to go. Great performance and those in my ride club that have noted how clean my chain always is have made the change too. I recommend it.
Powdered teflon sounds really unhealthy...
@@rasmusriemann6557 no one's snorting it.... Empty the Teflon into the melted paraffin wax and it's suspended in that medium. Great process that doesn't collect road grime and extends the life of your groupo. Hands and kit remain clean during flat repair
A. DIY chain dipping tool made from a bent coat hanger doesn't fall into the wax and hang it from a nail in the wall over the pot B. A wax Pot on Amazon is 29 bucks and heats fast. C. Whack the chain on a counter to get the excess wax out of the hollow pins D. Use a hair dryer or heat gun to loosen up the wax before you put it on your bike. The new degreasing product looks cool, but how long have you been biking and not tries wax? This is the first DK video that felt shilly.
Moltenspeed wax is amazing as well.
Living in the NW of the UK, I could be tempted by this.
My biggest upgrade was shifting from external gear drives into protected internal ones, and switching from a lubricated chain to a lubeless more durable Gates Carbon Belt drive. No I have zero drive train maintenance.
I'm keen on trying this out. I have one concern: Will you strip off the wax when cleaning the rest of the bike? I read a waxed setup is not ideal for wet conditions, and cleaning the bike is quite a wet affair.
great video, I'm on the fence wether I will bother with wax or not.
Getting a quick link that is specifically designed for reuse is also important, I've noticed general quick links can start to feel a little loose after a few waxes.
To fully cover the drive chain options, have you considered evaluating the Gates belt drive system? To be honest, it seems like the logical place bikes should be headed towards. Why have an exposed gearing system that can get all yuck when an enclosed transmission system is available? Thoughts?
we won't see this option for our "go fast" bikes because of efficiency losses. and the manufacturers don't want to entertain this idea, even though for majority of their customers are not racers and never will race. so hub gearing and carbon belt drives will potentially be as much benefit to road bikes for some people as much as that commuter bike.
Only been waxing for 6 months or so but I infinitely prefer it over using petroleum based products. So much cleaner and easier to work with.
Also, tip for breaking those links after the wax cools - drape it over a garbage can handle, drawer knob, etc. and alternate pulling it up and down. Like you’re milking a cow. Helps loosen the links in seconds.
dat thumbnail
I have now used Silca competitiors in the UK..
used this on my roadie and gravel bike.. 4 chains, swap and use new one then once all 4 are used up redo the waxing on all 4.. overall happy with product, so far very little wear on the chains if you follow the directions.
Any top ups i use SQUIRT lube to keep chaings going additional few hundred KMs if needed
one dislaimer is that if you ride in the wet, one waxing would almost instantly wear off, going through puddles and mud is very quickly removes all the wax, so on my gravel bike i had to basically wipe chain quickly after a ride and reapply squirt to keep it from rusting.. So does not last as long and not as great as maybe wet lube in the UK wintertime (Off road more so than road).
Dry / warm days this is perfect, used it on holiday in Majorca and didint even need to bring lube for the 400km i had done that week. Recommend doing it for sure!
I did the DIY version with a thrift store crock pot. One Michigan winter gravel ride and it was toast. Maybe this is awesome if you're a velodrome racer?
"I treat it poorly, in the worst conditions" Nice!
That poor bike 🤦🏻♂️
Interesting and one of the better vids on the topic. Wonder how you feel Dustin about belt drives… cause it’s also quiet and really has no maintenance compared to wax/chain or oil/chain.
Neat product. Seems worth the $54 difference,
What tape is that on the drop bars? looks tight
How does it stands against mud and water (crankset below water type of water, like river crossing) ?
Okay... questions. What do you do with the melted wax in the melter when you are done with the job? Wait for it to solidify and use again? Throw away? How do you clean out a melter? If you can continue to reuse the wax...how many times? How often do you need to purchase wax pellets for $40?
I'm doing a few very dusty gravel races this year and have strongly considered this. Just want to know what I'm getting myself into.
Just store the wax in the melter. and re use it when its time to wax chain again! Get more wax when it starts to get low. so simple(thank gwad).
Hello Buddy! I have enjoyed your videos and a new subscriber to your family. I am from Seattle and looking to get my first gravel bike around $4K . I have rode a fuji sportif 2.3 for 2 years and did 2-day STP last year. What is your recommmendation for my next carbon gravel bike? Would love to hear your thoughts :)
FYI on the DIY...this can be done right in the wax bag, you can just put the chain into the bag of wax pellets and then put them into a pot of boiling water...no crock necessary...the silca strips are a nice way to avoid the thinner/acetone bath on a new chain so ill def be looking into those.
Don't let the water boil because it takes the wax to too high a temp (see comment o silca website), but otherwise you're bang on.
Any reason why you wouldn’t use wax on a trail bike like dual susp or would it just get too much dirt? considering for my gravel bike but not sure about my MTB
I DIY wax my chain on my full suspension bike. Wax works great for MTBs as well and I live in the dusty desert. I get easily over 100 miles between waxing and it could probably go a bit longer but it starts to get a little noisy. Rewax and it's nice and quiet again.
Can I recycle the wax and use it on my legs?
To break the stiff links, just pull the chain back and forth a few times over something round, like a (firmly secured) dowel or wooden handle. The chain will gouge wood, so don't use something near and dear.
Buy a small industrial ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning the chain. Works like a charm!
I gotta get one of these. They seem very helpful.
I did this upgrade to my ebike and gravel bike 2 weeks ago and it does feel smoother! The big reason for me wanting to do this wasn't just for efficiency with resistance and chain wear, but more just because it is so much cleaner than dealing with a greasy chain and less to think about.
i just put my wax in a mason jar with the chain and put the entire thing in a sous vide, shake jar with hot wax in it a few times to agitate the chain 😅
wish silca had that chain stripper released a few weeks ago, would have saved me a ton of time
Dude you saved me!!!!!!!!!! Was about to fire up the ultra sonic cleaner and mini crock pot.
Been waxing my chain for years. I started using Molton Speed Wax but switched to Silca 10000 miles ago. With almost 11K on my chain and cassette, I can say wax is definitely the way to go.
I’m sure it’s great an all…but I can’t be arsed.
Long Time Waxer - most people I talk about waxing their drivetrain say it is too much of a hassle. The best part is that it runs quieter, doesn't get dirty 'grease' everywhere, and significantly extends the life your components.
Helpful Hack - get and affix a small piece (length & diameter) of PVC pipe to roll your chain back and forth to 'break the chain in' before remounting it back on your bike! No individual 'breaking' of links.
Good vid. Please give a long term update. Have used it. PROs: quiet, clean, more enviro friendly than forever chem lube. CONs: Tedious, Lasted about 150-200mi before needing either Silca drip wax which lasts about 4 rides or redo the full immersion wax. This is for mountain biking in So. Cal. on mostly dry dirt conditions, some winter mud, big hills.
Or even cheaper diy is using induction hob, old pot and a thermometer. Works very well.
How does a waxed chain handle muddy conditions?
I use a Silca waxed chain. Last year at Gravel Worlds it was very muddy. I don't know if it was because of a waxed chain or not, but other friends had their deraileur jam up. I rode a 50k in mud with no issues. It did get a little noisy by the end, but when i finished i wiped the water and mud off. When i got home i used the Silca bio-degreaser, which is safe for the wax, to clean the drive train. Then used Silca Super Secret to refresh the wax. It all worked out well.
A waxed chain handles muddy conditions better than oil-based lubes because the wax is hydrophobic so the mud won't get in between the pins and rollers... cleaning a waxed chain is easy as pouring a kettle full of boiling water over it
As a long term waxed chain user, id like to add a few points.
Chain waxing is the polar opposite to wet lube. So best suited to very dry dusty conditions, think mountain biking in thick dust and although it works ok in wet grimey conditions you, wont see so much advantages.
Also the first degreasing clean is extremely important. I like to soak my chain for 24 hours regardless if its a new chain or previously used with wet lube.
Loving your channel Dustin Klein
Is it necessary to degrease the cassette and... basically the whole drivetrain as well, at least the contact points with the chain?
@mackknife1551 technically not "necessary" but it will contaminate your chain which will then contaminate your chain wax. So you will want to give it all a good clean for the first wax. However, the good news is you'll never get the build up of gunk on your jockey wheels, cassette, chainrings ever again. The wax can absorb some grime but as the wax wears off the gunk will come off with it.
I like most DIY chain cleaning cyclists started with the Park thing a magig attachment to the chain while on the bike soon learn: it is not very good at deep cleaning the chain. So, I saw a CZcams video on using an ultrasonic cleaner. I tried different degreasers. and found they all required like five soakings. When I was a bike racer in the late 1970's and early 80's, my brother and I used gasoline. Yep. That flammable stuff. It worked very well. So, I used gasoline again. and Voila! I only needed 2 soakings for a very clean chain. The time to remove the chain, wipe it down well with a rag, put into the jar to soak in gasoline, and place into the Ultrasonic cleaner (twice), a rinse in the sink to remove that gasoline residue, and wipe one more time with a rag, place back on the bike, and oil the chain, takes just under an hour. Your wax method is much too cumbersome, especially having to break each link. I don't record how many miles I ride before cleaning but it is definitely more than 500, or so. I learned a lot from your presentation about waxing chains. Where did you buy that stiped jacket? It is so cool.
Silca's a Snake Wax Salesman
I tried waxing once before and it was a pain in the arse so stopped doing it. This makes me want to try it again.
I know an older fella (60+) in Belgium and he rides his bike like we'd drive our cars. He regularly does 10,000klm per year and he rides in ordinary street clothing.
So if he was to wax his chain and keep to the 500miles/800klm rule, he'd be waxing his chain every 2nd week. Pretty sure he'd be a Yeah, Nah on the off bike method. What a pain that would be to do every two weeks.
I think if he was to wax his chain. He'd have to do it as an on bike method involving hanging his bike vertically with the front sprocket closest to the ground and put the front sprocket in the pot or lift the pot up to the front sprocket and hand crank the chain through the wax. Of course the pot diameter would need to be wider then the front sprocket.
Or if you didn't have a wide enough pot, take the chain off the derailleurs, so the chain has a definite droop in it and run the droopy part of the chain through the wax. Might need a second person to help push the chain down into the wax, maybe using the open end of a spanner with the chain running between the jaws of the spanner.
Or screw/nail/strap/tie with rope/string or elastic bands the scanner to the thin edge of a 2x4 piece of wood that is longer then the diameter of your pot. Ensure the jaws of the spanner goes over the chain as you push the chain into the wax. Ensure your spanner does not bottom out in the pot and the chain is fully submerged in the wax and so the piece of wood can rest on the edge of your pot. Then put a heavy object on the top of the piece of wood so it holds the spanner and the chain down in the wax and crank away.
If you don't want to hold the pot. You can place it on a stable object(s) to raise the pot high enough to engage with your chain, while it's still on your bike.
Don't run the chain through the wax too quickly or the chain will lift up the wax and spray it around, similar to how your tires pick up water from a wet road and spray it around.
Use the same methods to degrease your chain.
I'll leave it up to you how you clean the wax off of your spanner, if you need it for other jobs.
I like the on bike method of front sprocket into the wax as that would give you a double layer of wax. One on the chain and one on the sprocket. How would you go ladling wax over your rear gears as you crank the chain around to give another layer of protection back there?
Anyone see problems with any of this?