@bobjonkman has a chain wax follow-up:

Q7. Lots of talk about bike chain wax the last few weeks. What does bike chain wax look like? Is it soft like beeswax? Or hard like sealing wax? What tools are needed to wax a bike chain?

My chain needs cleaning, maybe I'll wax it. How difficult could it be?

#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite

@ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite SO, I waxed a chain (actually two), and I have to say the waxed chains are superior to lubricated chains, for sure.

I made my own wax mix -- candle wax (paraffin blocks) melted together with beeswax (I have a lot of extra beeswax, as I am a beekeeper). I put it in an old coffee tin and double boiled it over a camp stove outside. Dipped some chains (which had been cleaned, need to remove all the old lubricant). Also have to clean your drivetrain btw.

Anyway, once the wax is melted, you dip the chains in wax (I use some wire so you don't burn yourself... dip it in, pull it out and hang it somewhere until it cools off). Done! (then mount the chain).

It is not difficult, but it does require some time... melting wax... probably 30 minutes to an hour to do it as a project, you can probably do it in less once you have it all dialed in. Or you can get a crock pot and do it that way.

@ai6yr @bobjonkman @bikenite how often would you need to perform this process per chain?
@ascentale @ai6yr @bobjonkman @bikenite I rotate through three chains, swapping about once a month when they start to sound a little noisy (about 300km), I’m sure they could go further. When the third chain goes on, the other two get rewaxed. I don’t ride in the rain, so I don’t know how that affects things. #BikeNite