Today prepping participants K3 and K4 of my experiment. A 2nd XX1 and a Deore M6100. From the last one my hopes aren’t really high, especially considering the looks of it after 10 mins of UFO drivetrain cleaner and 5 flushes with hot water. This came new out of package, bright and shiny. The XX1...
I think as long as you ride current chain, keep the chainring, since they match and ride everything until worn. When you install new chain, replace chainring (and cassette) to prevent chainsuck considering you’re noticing a bit shark toothed. 10.000 it had a nice lifetime.
Chain advice: take...
I've started a small experiment on my Cube Stereo Hybrid, Bosch CX Performance gen4.
Wanna find out how many kms to get from a chainring/cassette and 4 chains on rotation.
Silca hot wax after every ride of 40-100kms
I started with a new set of:
SLX cassette with XT cogs on 5 highest gears...
Excess wet lubricant is the perfect carrier to transport the collected dust and dirt to the places you don’t want it. That is why always to remove excess lubricant. The dryer the chain the less dirt will stick.
If both cassette and chain are new, yet chain still skipping, either b-gap is far out of spec or chain tension too low, of which the first is most likely. SRAM has very handy chaingap tool for this, just around €5.
Regarding SRAM’s recommendation of wear mark 0.8%, this is complete nuts. By...
What lubricant you use and how do you maintain?
If you're out for low cost with low maintenance, a drip wax (not oil based) might be worth looking into like Silca Super Secret or CeramicSpeed UFO drip. Keeps drivetrain nice and clean, no sticky greasy gunk piling up and easy to reset with...
As sayd, check b-gap. But.. Big chance the cassette is already too worn for a new chain. 0.5 is the absolute max, just a bit further and chain jumping guaranteed. If re-using a cassette is intended, replace chain at 0.3. Ride 2nd chain until 0.3 and replace for 3rd, but this is still not...
Have you tried Bikeinn, they ship to Australia. NArrow-wide definitely a better choice than standard. Myself have a RaceFace NW. Tip: check some manufacturers sites for specs. Some, like Raceface, have optimized chainrings for Shimano. And confirm you order the correct offset, if any...
Last 2 ZFC Youtube updates have some good info on hot wax and water. Whether it was a wet ride, or hosing afterwards; same rules, reset with boiling water and rewax is needed since water may have brought dirt into chain. Or use 2 pot system and no boiling water reset needed.
Something is/are...
X0 does very well as long as it has been submerged long enough in the hot wax (15min).
However, the surface treatment of SRAM rainbow (PVD coating) and KMC black (DLC coating) seems to affect the wax sticking to the surface according to ZFC.
Frustrating it is. Here in the Netherlands there’s only 1 company I could find which can perform emotor refurbishments. They can replace anything on Bosch, bearings, parts, electronics. One of my bikes has an Impulse Evo RS of which they replaced noisy bearings. Cost me €100 instead of a full...
Regarding longevity, the GX and NX chains are some of the worst performing, ref Chain Testing - Zero Friction Cycling.
GX and below lack the hard-chrome coating of the X01>.
Is switching to X01 or XX1 an option for you? They are the best performers.
What might also be helping is the rewax...
No experience yet but aiming for lots of kms with 2 hot waxed chains. I have just purchased the bike weeks ago. Replaced chain which was at 0.4% wear to try and see what’d happen. Experienced chainsuck first ride and replaced chainring for a new KMC, old one was visibly worn and measured 0.6mm...
Thanks, I was looking at e*Thirteen vs RaceFace, and the latter specs says specifically optimized for Shimano chain. So I just ordered RaceFace. Crossing fingers it works. My current KMC has no narrow-wide profile, and teeth appear relatively long so I have good hopes. Will keep posted.
@davosaurusrex have you found a good non-suck chainring meanwhile?
I recently replaced the chain (Shimano XT), got bad chain suck in wet/mud but it was obvious the chainring was worn.
Replaced the chainring for a new KMC, so now I have new chain & chainring but still (slightly improved)...
What are your experiences with beeswax so far? Is it solid enough to stay in place for 50-100kms and sticks well to the chain surface? My only concern with the recommended brush method is this won’t reach the inside of the chain where the lubrication is actually needed.
The topic here is to demonstrate the difference between a regular paraffine candle wax with additives and a commercial wax, and the gains of the additional 10 EUR in my case. I think the data proves this is worthwhile.
But since you asked, one of the 2 main reasons why people move from drip...
For those interested in experiments with home-brew hot wax, here's some trial and error experiences. Yes, long story but thorough. This experiment is done on my commute Ebike, for that one I have the most results, since I only purchased an eMTB just weeks ago.
Reason why I started with home-brew...