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Let's talk waxing

3129 Views 121 Replies 21 Participants Last post by zero7404, 4 h ago

mackgoo

Discussion Starter · 20 d ago

Years ago I believe I remember reading a Velo News article regarding chain waxing. As good as the article was with all the explained benefits I just couldn't wrap my head around "all that work". Fas forward a decade or so the advent of COVID working from home and watching You Tube I came across ozcycling this guy, again brought out the benefits, but also made the process seem so easy. So I jumped in and can't see going back.

Let's share our experiences process and what we use here for the sharing of information as well as a resource for others.

For me, I'm using Oz Cyclings mix 500g of paraffin wax and 50g of PTFE (<1.6µm).

For cleaning the chain I used his process, Soaked the chain in petrol then a degreaser and then Mentholated spirits to get the chain nice and clean for the wax to stick.

Swished the chain in the warm liquid wax mix until the bubbles stopped implying all air was displaced and the wax got into the important areas.

Take the chain out let it cool some and then free up the links and install.

After the initial laborious clean, now I remove the chain and pour boiled water over the chain. This removes the old wax and it's ready for the waxing process. That all takes less than 10 minutes.

I bought a cheap crock pot for the waxing, cost about 15 bucks.

More to come.

61 - 80 of 122 Posts

Lombard

· #61 · 6 d ago

velodog said:
I don't understand someone that is so horrified by a dirty chain is okay with dirty handlebar tape because, you know, "that's what happens".

Too busy waxing a chain to wipe down or change bar tape.

Selective OCD.

Reactions: 1

Xydadx3

· #62 · 6 d ago

so should the white bar tape be removed and cleaned every 100 miles or so, therefore making it last 10x longer?

Reactions: 1

Lombard

· #63 · 6 d ago

Xydadx3 said:
so should the white bar tape be removed and cleaned every 100 miles or so, therefore making it last 10x longer?

Not unless you hot wax it in the crockpot every 100 miles.

cxwrench

· #64 · 6 d ago

mackgoo said:
That’s what happens when you actually ride.

The irony.

Reactions: 2

bvber

· #65 · 6 d ago

mackgoo said:
That’s what happens when you actually ride.

Solution = surfboard wax. It keeps the sweat & dirt from seeping into tape while providing good grip.

You want a clean looking bicycle? Use wax.

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Reactions: 2

craiger_ny

· #66 · 6 d ago

bvber said:
Solution = surfboard wax. It keeps the sweat & dirt from seeping into tape while providing good grip.

You want a clean looking bicycle? Use wax.

It's simple too. Every 250 miles or so unwrap your bars, boil the tape for 15 minutes in soapy water, rinse in clean boiling water, pat dry, hang overnight to finish drying, gently rub the wax onto the tape, then re-wrap the bars exactly the same way they were wrapped before as the tape has taken a shape.

It hardly takes any time at all and there is nothing like the sound of the wind rolling smoothly over freshly waxed bar tape as it glistens in the sun.

Reactions: 5

mackgoo

Discussion Starter · #67 · 6 d ago

Thanks guys. If I want to submit one of my bikes to the bike vault I'll be sure to get your keen insights. Nothing beats going to a gang of posers to get it right.
Now back to the technical stuff, sorry f it's over your head, the may gray has been really heavy here which means a lot of riding in pretty heavy dew.
You guessed it though. Pliars, fat cartoon, mutt or justin, Beeber that is. Wanna call it? On three, CLEAN and QUIET. Those two words are louder than my drive train. There is virtually no maintenance required. 10 minutes every few hundred miles. No brushes, no spray and no cleaning the chain stays. For the fat cartoon, those are the pipes that go from the center that the pedals turn to where the rear wheel axle is held.
All right everyone, wipe off the potato chip grease and start typing and clicking. Take it easy though. I'd hate for you to have a heart attack in that captains chair of yours.
I was thinking of one last thing. Nows the time, show us your bikes. Let's see that spank'n new shiny black bar tape.

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One Wheel

· #68 · 6 d ago

3

mackgoo said:
Let's see that spank'n new shiny black bar tape.

No problem. This picture is taken at the end of a ~70 mile muddy gravel ride, before cleaning the bike. I had not yet waxed my chain when I took this picture. I'm also attaching a picture of my bars in their current state (about 600 miles on that bar tape since February) and for my own future reference a picture of the current condition of my chain, waxed 214 miles ago and the only maintenance since has been brushing off extra wax.

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bvber

· #69 · 6 d ago

mackgoo said:
No brushes, no spray

But electricity for that crock pot. 😟

and no cleaning the chain stays.

Well, to some people, saving 5 seconds is worth the conversion to waxing I guess.

Reactions: 1

velodog

· #70 · 5 d ago

mackgoo said:
Thanks guys. If I want to submit one of my bikes to the bike vault I'll be sure to get your keen insights. Nothing beats going to a gang of posers to get it right.
Now back to the technical stuff, sorry f it's over your head, the may gray has been really heavy here which means a lot of riding in pretty heavy dew.
You guessed it though. Pliars, fat cartoon, mutt or justin, Beeber that is. Wanna call it? On three, CLEAN and QUIET. Those two words are louder than my drive train. There is virtually no maintenance required. 10 minutes every few hundred miles. No brushes, no spray and no cleaning the chain stays. For the fat cartoon, those are the pipes that go from the center that the pedals turn to where the rear wheel axle is held.
All right everyone, wipe off the potato chip grease and start typing and clicking. Take it easy though. I'd hate for you to have a heart attack in that captains chair of yours.
I was thinking of one last thing. Nows the time, show us your bikes. Let's see that spank'n new shiny black bar tape.

Oh my, I didn't realize that a waxed chain and dirty handlebar tape was proof that you're the only one here actually riding his bike.

Wherever did you get a cycling helmet big enough to fit that swelled head of yours.

Reactions: 1

Lombard

· #71 · 5 d ago

mackgoo said:
Thanks guys. If I want to submit one of my bikes to the bike vault I'll be sure to get your keen insights. Nothing beats going to a gang of posers to get it right.
Now back to the technical stuff, sorry f it's over your head, the may gray has been really heavy here which means a lot of riding in pretty heavy dew.
You guessed it though. Pliars, fat cartoon, mutt or justin, Beeber that is. Wanna call it? On three, CLEAN and QUIET. Those two words are louder than my drive train. There is virtually no maintenance required. 10 minutes every few hundred miles. No brushes, no spray and no cleaning the chain stays. For the fat cartoon, those are the pipes that go from the center that the pedals turn to where the rear wheel axle is held.
All right everyone, wipe off the potato chip grease and start typing and clicking. Take it easy though. I'd hate for you to have a heart attack in that captains chair of yours.
I was thinking of one last thing. Nows the time, show us your bikes. Let's see that spank'n new shiny black bar tape.

Gawd! How much effort was it for you to type this word salad.

cxwrench

· #72 · 5 d ago

mackgoo said:
Nothing beats going to a gang of posers to get it right.

Yet here you are, desperate for attention of any kind.

Reactions: 1

bvber

· #73 · 5 d ago

velodog said:
Wherever did you get a cycling helmet big enough to fit that swelled head of yours.

Ah..., walk down memory lane. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/...6935187-LJ7MWJQBFGZ35698P31O/Capture21133.JPG

Reactions: 1

duriel

· #74 · 4 d ago

Ok, you are into it. Now give us the details! .... let us know exactly how much time it took you to get the chain lubed for like say 2000miles, include all time. There is no way it is faster than .... OIL!

Reactions: 1

velodog

· #75 · 4 d ago

It was beautiful day today and I thought that I was going to have an Epic ride, but I was wrong.

I was struggling to maintain an average speed that I can usually maintain easily. It was like the brakes were dragging, but when I checked they were fine. What's going on? While I could struggle to keep my regular average speed my power meter was telling me it was taking .003 more Watts than it usually does. Why?

Then it dawned on me, MY CHAIN. I jumped off my bike and looked, My God, it was filthy. It was then I realized that the low rumbling that I had been ignoring was all the muck that had turned the oil within the links to a paste that was eating my chain from the inside out.

I couldn't hide my shame, not only was my chain filthy but it was slowing me down and destroy itself in the process. I quickly ducked into an alley before anybody else saw me and called my wife, hoping that she would come pick me up.

I had to explain to her that I was too ashamed to ride the bike while it was looking the way it did. She agreed to pick me up, but when she did I got a lecture about waxing the chain like that guy on the internet does. It was humiliating.

But on the bright side my handlebar tape is clean.

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Reactions: 5

ogre

· #76 · 4 d ago

I was laughing before I finished the first sentence was subsequently not disappointed.

Reactions: 1

mackgoo

Discussion Starter · #77 · 4 d ago

And it goes on. The potato chip gallery has plenty to say, but I'm really beginning to think they likely have never swung a leg over a saddle, except for the mutt. I ran across a post of his of a bike he finished, it was nice. I forget, a Torpado or a Legnano, maybe some other Italian steel. I appreciate vintage steel. I have a couple and look forward to finishing up a Galmozzi I picked up. I just couldn't get that rooster out of my mind. The way the mutts bike was set up though, he's obviously not performance orientated. I wouldn't think any of his nuggets of advise found in his pot shots would transfer over.

mackgoo

Discussion Starter · #78 · 4 d ago

One Wheel said:
No problem. This picture is taken at the end of a ~70 mile muddy gravel ride, before cleaning the bike. I had not yet waxed my chain when I took this picture. I'm also attaching a picture of my bars in their current state (about 600 miles on that bar tape since February) and for my own future reference a picture of the current condition of my chain, waxed 214 miles ago and the only maintenance since has been brushing off extra wax.

Thanks for replying. What are you using for wax? I stumbled across ozcycling and am using the recipe he tested for thousands of miles, 500g of paraffin and 50g PTFE.

One Wheel

· #79 · 4 d ago

mackgoo said:
Thanks for replying. What are you using for wax? I stumbled across ozcycling and am using the recipe he tested for thousands of miles, 500g of paraffin and 50g PTFE.

I might try additives someday, but I didn't have any handy. I used straight paraffin canning wax. I found one recipe with PTFE and Molybdenum Disulfide, if I get to trying additives I might just start with Molybdenum Disulfide.

cxwrench

· #80 · 4 d ago

mackgoo said:
And it goes on. The potato chip gallery has plenty to say, but I'm really beginning to think they likely have never swung a leg over a saddle, except for the mutt. I ran across a post of his of a bike he finished, it was nice. I forget, a Torpado or a Legnano, maybe some other Italian steel. I appreciate vintage steel. I have a couple and look forward to finishing up a Galmozzi I picked up. I just couldn't get that rooster out of my mind. The way the mutts bike was set up though, he's obviously not performance orientated. I wouldn't think any of his nuggets of advise found in his pot shots would transfer over.

Seek professional psychiatric help.

Reactions: 2

61 - 80 of 122 Posts