Mikko Mäkipää
Time to dust off autumn leaves and finally wash #ruska2024 bike. Bottle waxed chain isn't nearly worn out after a Ruska and Tcr so very much worth it instead of oil. Also the bike is cleaner. Only replacements were new pedals and later a new brake housing. Pedals may be repaired.
Apr 9, 2025 at 5:58pmBuffer
Show threadRpsu (326 ppm)Apr 9, 2025

@mkpaa My significant other waxed her ebike chains but they ended up in a horrible condition during the winter. Filled with rust and stuff despite some cleaning. Salt and sand definitely involved but still.

Maintenance guy told her waxing is needed every 500 km, which makes me think it is awful amount of work to avoid putting oil every 100km or so.

How do you see it, good for one-off long events or good in general compared to oil?

Show threadMikko MäkipääApr 9, 2025
@rpsu I literally never add oil without removing old oil in any of my bikes. So adding new drops of wax the day before and nothing else is a good deal. For winter commutes I have yet to have any comments. I replaced fixie chain a month or so ago and am now using the Squirt winter wax.
Show threadSteve PurcellApr 9, 2025
@mkpaa @rpsu the Silca immersion wax lasts around 300km for me in (often wet) Ireland. Adding their drip wax gives an extra 150km each time. In practice I end up swapping chains every 500km because it's easy to immersion wax both at the same time, and removing the chain also makes detailed cleaning easier. Wouldn't want to use oil at this point.
Show threadMikko MäkipääApr 9, 2025
@sanityinc @rpsu If my cycling was short training rides I would definitely use wax. Less cleaning and more durability. I still don't have enough experience with Rex wax as I really have no idea when it is running out. I added every 500 or so km, but chain never really started to make noise or act odd.
Show threadSteve PurcellApr 9, 2025
@mkpaa @rpsu the chain gets a bit creaky for me when the wax is depleted. I don't know what I'd do if I rode the sort of distances you do... probably be trying a fast-drying drip wax too. (The Silca one does best left for 12-24 hrs to dry.)
Show threadRpsu (326 ppm)Apr 10, 2025

@sanityinc @mkpaa So maybe I’ll switch to wax for my road bike and check how it goes. I thought until now that waxing every 500 km would require proper cleaning and re-boiling the chain but there is some way to add wax in between? I need to take a look.

Other people have been quite satisfied with wax, too.

Show threadSteve PurcellApr 10, 2025
@rpsu @mkpaa so when I re-wax, the only cleaning I do is to pour boiling water down the hanging chain after taking it off, and even that isn't super necessary. I haven't deep cleaned any other part of the drivetrain in 4000+km because it just doesn't get dirty. This was a new bike, which made bike setup easy, since I could ensure there were no initial traces of grease.
Show threadSteve PurcellApr 10, 2025
@rpsu @mkpaa and yes, the Silca Super Secret drip wax works for ad-hoc re-waxing between immersion waxing, but honestly it's usually easier to just swap chains because the immersion process is easy.
Show threadSteve PurcellApr 10, 2025
@rpsu @mkpaa Some people get on fine with only drip wax (still have to carefully degrease the chain once initially), though most brands don't penetrate the links as well as immersion wax, so it's less long-lasting, and doesn't flush out any contaminants when re-waxing.
Show threadRpsu (326 ppm)Apr 10, 2025

@sanityinc @mkpaa Well the first pair of our chains are now in the degreasing fluid.

I guess my bike on the trainer which sits in our living room would probably be less messy artefact if I’d switch to waxed chains.

Many bikes = lots of degreasing and waxing to do now. 😃

Show threadMikko MäkipääApr 10, 2025
@rpsu @sanityinc Having one with wax and another without means I need to clean the cassette when changing wheels. Having only one type of everything would make everything easier. :)
Show threadRpsu (326 ppm)Apr 10, 2025
@mkpaa Pretty much exactly what I’m thinking now. Going all-in 😂 @sanityinc