How to wax a chain and the benefits thereof

[Frankieboy]

My cleaning routine is bike on work stand and both wheels removed, removal of crud from the mech with a stiff brush, MUCoff everywhere agitated with a soft brush then bucket of warm fresh water and sponge. Towel dried, then wiped over using GT40. Any paint chips or rim strikes touched up. Then cassette and mech stiff brushed using degreaser and chain cleaned using a chain bath and degreaser. Everything then lubed . Battery connector cleaned with contact cleaner and lint free cloth. Then the bike is left until the next ride.

Would that be after each ride or as required? Mine’s very similar, the only exception being the drive train which only needs hosing down.

 

[Mikerb]

Would that be after each ride or as required? Mine’s very similar, the only exception being the drive train which only needs hosing down.

As required. As I mentioned, the bike often needs no cleaning or attention after a ride.

 

[HORSPWR]

As required. As I mentioned, the bike often needs no cleaning or attention after a ride.

I rarely wash my bike, probably after every 10th ride (300ks). I wipe down the chain and re-lube with tri-flow lube every 2nd ride (and wipe off the excess) and give my driveline a thorough clean when I wash the whole bike. Usually zero water or mud where I ride just desert dust.

 

[Pukmeister]

It looks a bit of a faff, I'll stick to my current clean/lube/check after each ride routine. Thanks for the effort to make such an informative post.

 

[Rusty]

Someone say mud?

 

[Pukmeister]

Did you find that in the bottom of a pond ??

 

[steve_sordy]

Call that mud!

I had to stop, which is where I took the picture. The bike was still moving but becoming harder and harder to pedal. I stopped because I believed that the paint was at risk of being stripped from the bike.
And yes that is a stick you can see. It's at an up angle from the offside seat-stay, touching the seat tube.
The front wheel had more mud on it because the gap between the forks is wider than the gap between the stays.

 

[Mikerb]

You really should be more careful

 

[steve_sordy]

You really should be more careful

I should have known better than to attempt the Viking Way in May, but it was such a lovely day!

 

[Dan63]

MASSIVE APOLOGY @khorn



turns out it takes 10seconds to lube the chain (top and bottom rollers)
5 seconds to find the rag I wipe my chain with
and 3 seconds to wipe down the outer links

I'm going to round it up to 20sec coz I'm hungover and concede to losing a further 2 minutes of my life each month from looking after my chain the way I always have.

How do you turn it backwards on an emtb?

 

[Gary]

put an allen key in one of the chainring bolts so the crank arm will push the chainring when rotated backwards

 

[iainc]

^^^^ does that do the motor any harm ?

 

[Gary]

No. turning a motor designed to be flung off 20ft drops and hurtled through rock gardens backwards for 20 seconds won't do any "harm".
Otherwise simply rolling your bike backwards would "harm" the fragile little motor!
With your dicky ticker you really need to stop worrying about everything to the Nth degree.

 

[bissona]

When using wax this time of the year it is important that chain and cassette have an anti-rust coating as you will not have this thin film of oil preventing the parts from rusting. I have found the KMC anti-rust coating very effective as well as my black coated Sunrace cassette.
Karsten

I'm just discovering this after about 8 months of blissful maintenance-free waxed chain loveliness, my chain has all of a sudden started rusting after every ride. I'm using the bike daily at the moment, so no major issue with a little discolouration, but I'd really like some advice on how to set it up when my shiny KMC e-bike chain turns up next week.

The chain has their special rust-free coating, so I don't want to damage that. @khorn - what are your thoughts on chain prep for coated chains? The last time I prepped a new chain (Shimano, uncoated) I went through the usual degrease / heat-dry / overnight hot wax soak but I'm a bit concerned the coating might be damaged by the heat this time.

Given that my SLX cassette is <200 miles old, I have no intention of replacing it just yet. My guess is that any rust on the sprockets is a result of it coming off the chain. Will report back if that's not the case.

 

[khorn]

I'm just discovering this after about 8 months of blissful maintenance-free waxed chain loveliness, my chain has all of a sudden started rusting after every ride. I'm using the bike daily at the moment, so no major issue with a little discolouration, but I'd really like some advice on how to set it up when my shiny KMC e-bike chain turns up next week.

The chain has their special rust-free coating, so I don't want to damage that. @khorn - what are your thoughts on chain prep for coated chains? The last time I prepped a new chain (Shimano, uncoated) I went through the usual degrease / heat-dry / overnight hot wax soak but I'm a bit concerned the coating might be damaged by the heat this time.

Given that my SLX cassette is <200 miles old, I have no intention of replacing it just yet. My guess is that any rust on the sprockets is a result of it coming off the chain. Will report back if that's not the case.

I always start wit cleaning a brand new chain in the ultrasonic cleaner before I wax it. To further rust prevent the chain during the wet season you can make your own liquid wax and again YouTube is your friend. You a bit of that in between the main wax process and no rust on the chain.

Karsten

 

[Mikerb]

Not directly to do with using wax but I am becoming more convinced over time that dry lube is far less effective than wet lube.
I am using a KMC hollow link chain and have used wet lube on it from the start. So far it has done about 100 trail miles. Gear change is silky smooth and it measures exactly the same as when new. Maybe lighter rather than e specific chains are the way to go. This chain had a waxy coating on it when new.

 

[ssar]

Nice work, @khorn! I don't have the time to be so thorough and prefer a quick and easy waxing method. Maxima spray on chain lube worked great on my motos in the past and should be good enough for a bicycle. Only takes ~5min, so you can do it frequently. Chain comes out looking like new. (I recommend a Park tool to monitor chain wear which will vary with riding conditions.)

1. wipe debris off chain and sprockets
2. spray Maxima lube on one section at a time - the carrier solvent cleans the chain!
3. wipe excess off thoroughly to prevent attracting dirt
4. repeat for remaining sections
5. wipe sprockets clean
6. ride

View attachment 10441

Yes, thanks to the OP for the informative post for good chain removal & waxing etc.
Though I, too, don't want to remove the chain & go through all that.

We used to use WD-40 or a little bit of engine oil or chain lube oil & wipe excess off heavily with rag etc.
Only recently heard of wax chain lube, so for a new bike this kind of Maxima Chain Wax Lube seems like a good choice.

 

[pampmyride]

Once set up - the chain wax is the way to go. Waxing my P bike for a year or so & now my new E bike gets the treatment. It just makes the chain quiet & nice to use/ride for longer. The low wear & longevity is a bonus. I power wash chain & then dry with air line. Boil it up in a cheapo deep fat fryer & It's ready while I clean & prep rest of bike. The homebrew candle wax mix is good for dry summer rides & nice clean looking chain. Putoline better & longer lasting for the rest of the year…. I use both.

Mind you, as an experiment I lubed my Moto trials bike chain on WD40 for some years. A standard (not HD) chain + sprox would last a year regardless of lube used.... Much tougher chains though.

 

[Crazee horse]

I've had waxes on chains before but now I lube my chain with a half inch paint brush and ptfe lube. I prefer to feel the chain engaging smoothly through the drive train. This is a very interesting watch.