I have used petroleum based "wet" lubes for nearly 40 years. They are not bad for what they are intended. We started riding gravel last year and I clean my chains in an USC with a neodymium magnet in the baggie to collect metal particles. I noticed a significant increase in those particles that coincided with our off road adventures. The dust frrom the gravel adhered to the wet lube and was literally lapping chain material away. In addition my drivetrain made some horrible squeaking and rattling sound after an hour or more in dusty conditions. I began using Wend Wax lube, and now there are less particles than when I was riding solely on the road with petroleum based lubes AND my drivetrain is not a noisy/oily mess all the time. But it is very hard to clean thoroughly in between maintenance wipe-downs. I have looked at other "dry" products like Smoove and Squirt and those are a possibility.
Curious what others are using, do they run clean or attract dust and dirt and how you clean it off.
Straight up chain waxing is the best bike maintainence decision I ever made. The best description I can give to my chain care before that is neglectful. The two biggest benefits are: 1. Chain life 2. No mess
I'm still using the first 11-speed chain that I started waxing and it is still working flawlessly two years later (not my only bike, but still...). If the chain derails, I just grab it and put it back on. No black marks, no fuss. I wax both my main chains about every 10 days to two weeks and this is how it goes: 1. Five seconds to plug in the deep-fat fryer. 2. One minute to remove both chains. 3. Three minutes to clean both chains in my sink with hot water and dish soap. 4. 30 seconds to drop them in the fryer basket and submerge. Another 30 seconds twice to swirl them around. 5. One minute to remove, wipe the chains and hang them for a moment. Maybe two minutes to reinstall once they are cooled. So maybe ten minutes, tops, every ten to 14 days. Now that is more time than I used to spend on chains, but those chains were dirty, grimy and did not last very long.
I'm in the desert and never see water, so my main enemy is dust. Dust just doesn't stick to the wax so they they don't get dirty. Some dust will settle on the chain because a lot of my dust is flour-like and can't be avoided. After waxing for a while, I added the sink washing step and that keeps my wax clean much longer. I have not encountered a single negative about chain waxing.
ccand51997 wrote: I have not encountered a single negative about chain waxing.
I have not tried OG waxing. Might. (k... not gonna lie. That sounds weird 😆)The Wend is super simple to use, but has two downsides.... it's really hard to clean off without harsh chemicals and... this is the really bad one since we're heading into 5 months of "Trainer Season" here in MT, it sheds little dark grey flecks of wax under the bike when on the trainer. This is unacceptable. Do your waxed chains do this???
The wax flecks depend on whether I forget to wipe down the chain after it comes out of the fryer. If I forget, then yes, I get a bunch of that stuff; if not, then no. Frankly, it is not a big deal whether on hard surface or carpet. One you sweep up in 30 seconds, the other you vacuum in 30 seconds. I have a Kirby though, so maybe a cheap vacuum would not get the job done. It is certainly far less hassle than the spray you can get from too much lube that flies everywhere.
As for cleaning off, what do you mean? Cleaning between waxings or just deep cleaning? Because the one is as simple as what I said; a quick swirl in soap and hot water. Deep cleaning? Why? This is not an oil based lube. Your chain (at least for me in dirt; can't speak to mud) never gets as dirty as your old petroleum based lube. Even when my new dura ace chain came, I only used regular bio-degradable degreaser to clean it before waxing. I mean, you can, but I have not found it to be required.
As recommended by my LBS in central Colorado, I’ve switched to Squirt and am very happy with it. I rode all Summer thru the dust and my chain/drivetrain remained quite clean. I hosed them off a few times and that was it.
rock n roll gold, only downside is u use a lot of it but it has been my gravel and mtb goto for years. Tried dumonde tech this summer, worked okay, but my drivetrain needed more cleaning than normal.
I wax mine too but use an ultrasonic cleaner to remove old wax and grime, then a $15 crockpot to heat up new wax. It takes a while to warm up but I do it between sets in my garage gym.
The wax flakes can gunk up your derailleur and mess with your shifting, so I like to wiggle all the links and remove any excess wax before installing it. It's the most time consuming step and creates a bit of a mess, but its harmful than chain lube.
On my trainer bike in the winter I just use a wax drop lube because I'm lazy and replace the chain in the spring anyway.
Mtnfun2 wrote:rock n roll gold, only downside is u use a lot of it but it has been my gravel and mtb goto for years. Tried dumonde tech this summer, worked okay, but my drivetrain needed more cleaning than normal.
I've just switched to Rock N Roll Gold and am not impressed. I only get about 100 miles on my road bike before it gets noisy, and it only lasts 15 to 20 miles on my MTB. I'm only riding in dry conditions. I thought I followed the directions (apply heavily, wipe most of it off, let it sit overnight) but maybe I missed something?
I live in the California high desert and the sand/dirt around here gets beaten to powder by the ATVs. I was cleaning and lubing my chain after every ride and finally got fed up with it. I googled what people are doing in dry, desert conditions and that's how I came up with chain waxing. If dust is your main enemy then waxing is the answer. You will never look back.
I've switched to the Wolftooth lube on my Otso. I have to say it has been delight to use as it's a wax and it helps keep the chain clean. 1 1/2 thumbs up for me so far. Can't give it two as it's only been like half a dozen rides on it and need to do longer term testing to give a final review.
I've just switched to Rock N Roll Gold and am not impressed. I only get about 100 miles on my road bike before it gets noisy, and it only lasts 15 to 20 miles on my MTB. I'm only riding in dry conditions. I thought I followed the directions (apply heavily, wipe most of it off, let it sit overnight) but maybe I missed something?
I'm not really into lubing my chain mid-ride....
That stuff still lasts longer than anything I've tried that's a wax type or variation yet doesn't attract or keep a mess like stuff more oily, and the bulk/large container makes it more cost-effective than many better lubes.
ccand51997 wrote:I live in the California high desert and the sand/dirt around here gets beaten to powder by the ATVs. I was cleaning and lubing my chain after every ride and finally got fed up with it. I googled what people are doing in dry, desert conditions and that's how I came up with chain waxing. If dust is your main enemy then waxing is the answer. You will never look back.
+1 on this; I'm in Az so dry conditions but after being convinced here to try waxing, I'll never switch back. Gravel riding is just much more fun; with wet lube I wouldn't get one long ride in without having a noisy chain towards the end. With wax, I now get numerous rides in between waxing. It was time for my road bikes to get new cassettes/chains so they are now waxed as well. Yea, it's a bit of effort but it's all at one time as opposed to numerous shorter wipe and lube events. My drivetrains are more quiet, shift a tad better and just seem to turn as well or better compared to freshly wet lubed.
Initially it seems like a real task but once you do it a few times, you'll streamline your process and wonder why you waited to try it.
I must be lucky to have very little dust. I apply dry lube to my chain maybe every 500 miles, not because I notice any problems but because I start feeling guilty of negligence. Treated that way my chains last for several thousand miles. It might help I'm almost always on a 51T chainring and for the few remaining miles up steeper hills I'm on a 45T. The stress on the chain is inversely proportional to the diameter of the chainring so if I were mostly using a 34T my chain would see 50% more stress.
stu wrote:I must be lucky to have very little dust. I apply dry lube to my chain maybe every 500 miles, not because I notice any problems but because I start feeling guilty of negligence. Treated that way my chains last for several thousand miles. It might help I'm almost always on a 51T chainring and for the few remaining miles up steeper hills I'm on a 45T. The stress on the chain is inversely proportional to the diameter of the chainring so if I were mostly using a 34T my chain would see 50% more stress.
Curious about the 51T; what kind of ring do you have and what crankset are you using it with?
I'm in Belgium (Europe) and the climate here is a bit comparable to what you'd see in Seattle, only with more rain. I'm supposed to be running a wet lube but can't abide the black gunk buildup and switched to dry wax about 10 years back. The stuff I use is dirt cheap, a brand called 'Morgan Blue dry wax', comparable to Squirt but a lot cheaper. Works well, not going to say the chain never gets dirty anymore but let's say it captures 90% less dirt than a typical wet lube.
Chain wear is loads better. I used to do about 3k km (about 2k miles) with a chain while I ran a wet lube, now chains easily last 3.8k miles.
Drawbacks: well, whatever the publicity says, the one drawback is that you need to apply dry wax more frequently than a wet lube. Lots more frequently. In summer basically every 130 miles but in winter (slush snow, lots of rain, road salt) every 50 miles. Considering my commute which I also do on my gravel bike, in winter that means twice a week for me. It's no biggie, simply wiping off the chain once it's dry (bike stands in my office), then apply the lube, rotate cranks for 30 secs, wipe off excess and allow to dry for one hour minimum. If you wait too long, small rust spots on the chain plates will immediately show you the error of your ways. Once every 5 or 6 weeks I take off the chain, put it in an ultrasonic cleaner with hot water and some detergent, let dry and re-apply.
Tried the hardcore waxing routine but it wasn't for me, too messy.
Curious about the 51T; what kind of ring do you have and what crankset are you using it with?
I'm using a 110 BCD Praxis Zayante aluminum crankset. The 51T and most of my other rings are Stronglight Zicral (7075 Al) but I have a few of other brands. I never use rings under 40T so I probably should have gone with a 130 BCD crankset but I already had a bunch of 110 BCD rings.
stu wrote:I'm using a 110 BCD Praxis Zayante aluminum crankset. The 51T and most of my other rings are Stronglight Zicral (7075 Al) but I have a few of other brands. I never use rings under 40T so I probably should have gone with a 130 BCD crankset but I already had a bunch of 110 BCD rings.
Muc-off dry or Muc-off C3 dry. I like both. With dirt/gravel use, it needs to me reapplied more often (every few rides). I bought an ultrasonic cleaner to clean the chain and cassette, but haven't used it yet (I'm lazy). 😟 It's easy to apply and wipe down, and if you do wash your bike with a hose, plenty of gunk washes out.
