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Posted

Howzit, 

I recently watched a couple videos on YouTube about chain waxing(one linked below) and think it’s great but I’m struggling to find all the necessary hot melt wax lubricant beads or the strip chip as shown in the video. 
 

I like how he suggested that you can make a quick chain hanger with wood and angle brackets. Will do something similar.
 

I already found a cheap wax warmer on Takealot https://www.takealot.com/pro-wax-100-wax-warmer/PLID70397760 

Any references or links to necessary parts or products would be appreciated 🚲 TIA

Video: 

 

Posted

Enduro aka MTB South Africa sells wax blocks. No additives needed. 

Save yourself the money on the wax pot and just buy the smallest slow cooker you can find. 

And check out zero friction cycling for the proper set of instructions. 

Posted

I also went down this rabbit hole of making and waxing my chain off the bike..

after much research and looking for ingredients I decided it can get f@$ked..🤣🤣

too much of a faff.. (and for me that’s a big decision because I am completely obsessed with cleaning/maintaining and lubing my drive train..)

on my mechanics recommendation I use smoove which is a wax based lube.. and it’s awesome, I love it.. 🤘🏻  

Posted
36 minutes ago, Bichael Dewing said:

I also went down this rabbit hole of making and waxing my chain off the bike..

after much research and looking for ingredients I decided it can get f@$ked..🤣🤣

too much of a faff.. (and for me that’s a big decision because I am completely obsessed with cleaning/maintaining and lubing my drive train..)

on my mechanics recommendation I use smoove which is a wax based lube.. and it’s awesome, I love it.. 🤘🏻  

Im exactly the same but use Squirt on both my bikes. Eagle GX cassette has done about 13000 km and after GX chain replaced at 2000km with XX1 which has done 11000 of those 13000. I am careful to clean but not overclean too often.

Posted

Howzit

I bought the silca hot melt from privateer https://privateer.co.za/product/silca-secret-chain-blend-hot-melt-wax/

also the drip lube https://privateer.co.za/product/silca-super-secret-chain-lube/

went to cash converters and got a new slow cooker for R200 bucks.

i've done about 7 chains, drivetrain stays clean( i use it on my mtb and road bike) and i am OCD about a clean bike!

i bought a spare mtb chain so i do both mtb chains at once, rotate and do the waxing on both at the same time, saves time as the heating/initial melting takes some time but after that its quick.

I used parrafin in the plastic container to clean(shake method), then degreaser and lastly the acetone as per silca's recommendation.

so far I'm happy with the results and the drivetrain stays clean.

No more chain scrubber or degreaser when washing the bike so it does save some time.

apparently it also extends the live of the drivetrain but still to early to tell...

waxing 1.jpg

waxing 2.jpg

Posted

I tried the hot waxing for a few months, but I am back on smoove lube. Hot waxing is definitely a smoother and cleaner experience, but for me it became too much of a hassle, especially when doing more than 150km per week. I did however only have one chain, so rotating of multiple chains will probably work better. 

 

I also found that with the hot waxing, I could hear the drivetrain getting more noisy after about 130km, so that would mean I have to wax the chain prior and after every weekend. I became too lazy, so the drivetrain was noisy for longer periods compared to using smoove. 

 

Posted

I bought my Silca wax from https://frictionworx.co.za. I used the bottle shake method with turpentine followed by degreaser then acetone. I dropped chain in a ultrasonic cleaner after to see if it did even more cleaning to my surprise there was no more dirt. If your chain is super dirty 1st clean with degreaser to save your turpentine. I cleaned with turpentine until the liquid wasn't cloudy anymore. I wanna try the drop lube from Silca for maintenance between waxes when chain is dirty. I melted my wax in a glass jar in boiling water on gas stove.

Posted
15 hours ago, love2fly said:

Im exactly the same but use Squirt on both my bikes. Eagle GX cassette has done about 13000 km and after GX chain replaced at 2000km with XX1 which has done 11000 of those 13000. I am careful to clean but not overclean too often.

I probably over clean.. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Posted

For what it's worth, I've gone the Silca route and used an ultrasonic cleaner for the first clean with a citrus degreaser and following up with methylated spirits (the ultrasonic is definitely not required IMO). Subsequent top-ups have been pretty low effort. Getting reusable quick-links is key though - I got the YBN ones from Rapide. I used the Silca sous-vide bag in a pot on the stove to melt the wax and that works well.

I haven't taken an application past 250km or out in the rain yet, but up to there it has felt very smooth and quiet. I bought a couple of extra chains and will be doing three at a time. I think for now I am sold on it - not much more effort than properly cleaning / drip waxing the chains, and some supposedly significant benefits in longevity.

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