Very forgiving Mrs to let me do this
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I’m going to take the waxing plunge over winter. I’ve got a reasonable idea of what I need to buy and how I need to go about cleaning and waxing my chains but I remain a bit unclear about what to do with my cassette and to lesser degree my chainrings.
Up until now I’ve been using Teflon lube on the chain and giving the cassette a squirt of this too. As I understand it, continuing to use this on the cassette once I’ve switched over to wax will defeat the purpose of waxing. So, do I clean and strip the cassette using the same methods as used for stripping the chain and then leave it as it is. Or do people wax the cassette too (I’ve not heard people talking about this so I’m assuming not). Any thoughts and pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Nothing special for my chainrings - I do have an ultrasonic cleaner for my cassettes. I fill that with water and two caps of degreaser.
Tbh you get such a reduced amount of crap collecting on them that I think I’ve only taken each cassette off once and given a clean. Hat was over summer though
Cassette off and clean with degreaser if it’s dirty. With waxed chains they stay cleaner longer
thanks @Adam and @Jgav, this is what I suspected. This is what IO’ll do but I think it might take my brain a while to disconnect itself from the assumption I need to be coating everything with lube of one kind or another
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Look on the TrainerRoad forum at the Waxing thread. Comprehensive is not the word.
Never done it myself but if I keep the workshop when i move I will
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There are some excellent videos on this thread on waxing really.
I started in March/April. I’ll never go back now. After the initial chain clean life is so much easier
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Same here, my winter bike needs some TLC before switching over to using it. Nee tyres and a waxed chain being the main things.
I’ve been waxing for some time now but have just watched the lasted Silva waxing vid and Learned somthing new. I’ve been taking the chain out hot and hanging up straight away, Josh let’s the wax cool with the chain in the wax and removes just before it sets. Idea being you want as much wax in the crevices as possible and it will too easily run out if the chain is hot.
Every day is a school day.
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That’s interesting. I’ll give it a shot next time. I have found it definitely pays to free up all your links before the chain drys completely. Are you leaving it after you take it out of your pot?
Only done it the once since I watched the vid and I fitted it before it cooled fully. Somthing else interesting though, I’m adding the 6 micron tungsten addative like the Silca wax has and the chain never really sets solid like it does with pure paraffin. I suppose the links are just more ‘slippery’ with the tungsten ingrained in the surface of the metal.
Before I bite the bullet and purchase what I think I need can I just confirm the steps for wax a chain.
So to clean a chain before first waxing:
- Wash in white spirit. Use either a jar and shake around a lot or use ultra sonic cleaner. Repeat again if required.
- Wash with water?
- Wash with meths to remove the water, using the jar or ultra sonic cleaner.
What do you do after this, how do you get it dry after the meths? Do you just stick is straight in the oven on a baking tray to get to the 200c?
So now chain should be clean.
For waxing use a slow cooker, using food grade paraffin wax. I’ve read the additives save so little that it’s not worth the cost or hassle (seems like you need to import from China anyway).
Once max has melted put chain in there for an hour stirring occasionally.
Some guides say to heat chain to 200c before putting in the wax.
After the hour take out, hang up to dry. Wipe with a rag to remove most excess wax before it dries.
To re-wax skip the cleaning part, just wipe with a rag to get off any dirt before repeating the slower cooker (and pre-heating chain) part above. This part concerns me a bit, you’ll never get all the dirt off, so aren’t you then going to contaminate your pot of wax which you re-use and it’ll get more and more dirt in it ?
Is that correct?
Edit: I should add I’ve now read numerous articles & posts and seen a few videos. Probably so many that I’ve become overloaded with advice and become a bit confused. Doesn’t help that a lot were US based and they seem to name everything differently!
1st you should clean your chain, some kind of degreaser is best for this not white spirit.
Once clean you need to use metherlated alcohol to remove any trace of the degreasing agent, do this after ultrasonic (with deionised water) if you are going to do that. Repeat wash in small volume of meths until it doesn’t change colour when you put the chain in. The meths will evaporate pretty quickly but you need to leave it until it is totally dry,
It is more important than you may think to clean the chain properl, if anything is on the surface of the metal you will not get good contact with the wax & you are wasting your time.
Wax in a slow cooker or similar. If vapour comes off the wax it is too hot. It is flammable, 200 degrees C is way too hot. Only need the wax to be well melted swirl around the chain a bit 10 mins is fine. Let the wax cool with the chain in the wax & remove just before it starts setting.
You can get the additive from amazon.
You have to decide how what to do with a dirty chain, if you think it was contaminated then change the wax after is not expensive. I will prepare a race chain with new wax and use old wax many times for training chains. If the wax is pure paraffin it is quite easy to see the debris in the bottom. One tip if you have a non stick bowl is to put something that allows you to pull out the wax once it is set & you can shave off the bottom where the debris was & reuse the rest but that is being a bit tight imo.
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@Doka how important is running a kettle of boiling water over your dirty chain before re-waxing. This is something I’m always forgetting 
Same, I clean the cassette with the Ultrasonic cleaner. Since there is no oily crap on teh chain, the cassette is really easy to clean with normal bike cleaner
Took the bike out just after the rain, and roads were wet, on next ride I noticed that the chain needed rewaxing (last done around 300km previously). I think that oil mixed with water on road surface took a lot of the wax off.
Never done that, am I missing something. I did read one article that suggested putting the chain in the oven at maximum temperature would vaporise the old wax, however, no idea why you would want to do this.
I find that the first time I wax the chain, it doesn’t last quite so long, however, subsequently the wax seems to last longer. Maybe I am not cleaning the chain quite enough
Never heard of that. Having just done #Pennduro on Saturday where the conditions were so bad I wore through the brake pad steel backing and had to DNF due to no brakes I did feel the need to wash the chain in water & let dry before re waxing but this is the first time I’ve felt the need to do that. Chain is still in good nick too.
These are recommended by Josh Porter for chain waxing and are at the lowest price today on Amazon Prime day:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OP26T4K?tag=independen058-21&ascsubtag=IN|992433|B00OP26T4K
why an instant pot over a slow cooker though?