What chain lube?

[PaulSB]

It really can't be much less effort. I re-waxed my chain this morning and the actual 'doing things' bit of that took 3 to 5 minutes (I've timed this in the past - it's probably rather less now that I've practised more). Yes, the elapsed time, predominantly for the wax to melt, was about two hours, but my 'work' - meaning removing and replacing the chain and putting it in / taking it out of the wax - was that 3 to 4 minutes: a trivial effort.

I'm sure you're right but not for me. I'm so ham-fisted it would take me far more than 3-4 minutes to get the chain back on! 😩 Plus I'd get cross and frustrated with myself!! I'm seriously crap at that sort of thing.🤣

 

[fossyant]

It really can't be much less effort. I re-waxed my chain this morning and the actual 'doing things' bit of that took 3 to 5 minutes (I've timed this in the past - it's probably rather less now that I've practised more). Yes, the elapsed time, predominantly for the wax to melt, was about two hours, but my 'work' - meaning removing and replacing the chain and putting it in / taking it out of the wax - was that 3 to 4 minutes: a trivial effort.

It's still two hours. ! Bugger that.

 

[C R]

It really can't be much less effort. I re-waxed my chain this morning and the actual 'doing things' bit of that took 3 to 5 minutes (I've timed this in the past - it's probably rather less now that I've practised more). Yes, the elapsed time, predominantly for the wax to melt, was about two hours, but my 'work' - meaning removing and replacing the chain and putting it in / taking it out of the wax - was that 3 to 4 minutes: a trivial effort.

How do you go about melting the wax? I know Mrs C R would frown if I tried to do chain waxing in the kitchen.

 

[fossyant]

How do you go about melting the wax? I know Mrs C R would frown if I tried to do chain waxing in the kitchen.

Slow cooker is the preferred method, I believe.

 

[Alex321]

Is a concise list of bullets half a sentence, or is it much more than a sentence?

Btw I don't doubt your expertise, but my other point is these single digit / fractions lubes are (and I'm happy to be shown otherwise) a lot more expensive than my bottle of Squirt (plus some GT85 for a bit of cleaning flushing of the 'inside' / rollers.)
Taking a step back from the data, a chain costs £15-20, so it's a question of how much £, or time in the case of immersive waxing, is it worth spending to eke out more mile / time from a consumable. It isn't worth consuming more of one consumable to save another.

The zerofriction site does attempt to give total costs per 10,000Km, based on replacing components plus the cost of the lube itself.

They do admit that their figures will overestimate what a typical cyclist would spend, due to most not replacing components as often as recommended.

Their figures are also based on Dura-Ace 11 speed components, and I think at shimano prices, not normal retailer prices (they quote $1716 for 5.20 cassettes for instance, when Dura-Ace 11 speed are normally available for between £150 and £170, so 5.2 of them will be £760 - £800 - less than half their listed cost).

And of course most of us won't be using Dura-Ace components - the 105 11-speed cassettes I use are available from between £35 and £45 (Ultegra about £20 more), which makes the total cost a heck of a lot lower, and makes the cost of the lubricant a much bigger portion of the total. The same applies to the other components.

 

[Peter Salt]

How do you go about melting the wax? I know Mrs C R would frown if I tried to do chain waxing in the kitchen.

Cheapest slow cooker you can get your hands on. Got mine from Argos for £13.99.

 

[C R]

Cheapest slow cooker you can get your hands on. Got mine from Argos for £13.99.

So need to get a slow cooker for the wax, something to degrease the chain properly, I guess a sonicator, and the wax, as upfront expenses. At what point do the savings for less chain/cassette/chainring wear offset the set up cost?

 

[GuyBoden]

Yes, it takes hours or so it seems for the wax the melt in the slow cooker, I've used a normal pan on the cooker in the olden days (1980's), that's apparently very dangerous, but that was before health and safety was invented.

 

[Sea of vapours]

It's still two hours. ! Bugger that.

Hmmm..... I wasn't standing around watching it happen you know ! For comparison, two hours of vacuum cleaning is two hours of work, whereas two hours of a washing machine doing its thing is really *not* two hours of [my] work.

 

[GuyBoden]

So need to get a slow cooker for the wax, something to degrease the chain properly, I guess a sonicator, and the wax, as upfront expenses. At what point do the savings for less chain/cassette/chainring wear offset the set up cost?

I've been doing this method for the past year, it seems to work. I used it in the 1980's too.

Never use an old chain.

 

[Sea of vapours]

At what point do the savings for less chain/cassette/chainring wear offset the set up cost?

Ages; probably years rather than months. If cost saving is the sole objective then it's not overly appealing other than in the long term. If, on the other hand, cleanliness of everything matters to you, plus a marginal watt saving, then it's immediate. Personally, the fact that nothing ever has any 'oil' on it and every part of the bike is essentially clean at all times is very easily sufficient. Oh, and it takes me *less* time to attend to chain lubrication than it did when I used the wipe / lube method.

 

[GuyBoden]

Here's my post on this forum from 2017 about my 1980's waxing method using a pan:

I now use PTFE additives, instead of engine oil.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/l...in-what-do-you-use.228046/page-4#post-5085483

The old "Candle wax and Engine oil" method, handed down by the cycling gods of old.

Candle wax and engine oil. About 3 parts candle wax and 1 part engine oil (more oil in winter), the cold mix should be slightly soft and easily pressed with your thumb.

Remove your chain and clean it.
Roll up the chain neatly and tie a wire to one end.
Melt the candles and add engine oil. 3:1 mix. (*This mix is highly flammable and causes smoke, so it's advised to use a slow cooker, outdoors and on a low setting.*)
Lower the chain into the wax/oil mix by the wire.
Check that the chain is fully submerged.
Leave for a few minutes, keep it on a low heat, not too hot.
Turn off the heat, remove the chain by the wire and hang it on a hook.
Clean the excess wax/oil mix off the chain's side plates.
Refit the chain on your bike.

The melted wax/oil mix can be poured into a container and reused.

I find that there's not a lot of "Fling" compared to wet oil lubes, but if there's too much candle wax in the mix, it will harden, crack and fall off............

 

[Peter Salt]

So need to get a slow cooker for the wax, something to degrease the chain properly, I guess a sonicator, and the wax, as upfront expenses. At what point do the savings for less chain/cassette/chainring wear offset the set up cost?

You need a container for the solvent. No need for an ultrasonic cleaner - which was already mentioned in this thread several times. Get a glass jar. Mine is from Boyes and cost me £2.50.

Considering that a new cassette and chain is in the region of £100+, I'd put your question in the 'silly' category.

Not to mention that cleaning the chain from factory grease is something that you should be doing, regardless of what lubrication method you use. Mixing lubricants is bad, as you can't be entirely sure if the two won't react with each other.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It's still two hours. ! Bugger that.

Yep, imagine you have to do that when on tour. Not sure the self catering people would be happy with wax in their pans…

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Considering that a new cassette and chain is in the region of £100+

Blimey are yours gold plated or is that what modern 11-12 speed stuff comes to?