Chain Care

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alexnharvey
Posts: 1922
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:39am

Re: Chain Care

Post by alexnharvey »

And another is whether they're even applied where needed in the pin bushing area, or solely on the exterior.
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fausto99
Posts: 952
Joined: 19 Sep 2011, 10:06am
Location: NW Kent

Re: Chain Care

Post by fausto99 »

Brucey wrote:
Tiberius wrote:ENTIRELY due to wanting to keep my bikes cleaner I have recently started to experiment with waxing my chains.....
Time will tell eh ??

I shall be very interested to hear how you get on. One of my concerns about this approach is that the chain won't resist wet weather very well and specifically that winter conditions in the UK might soon cause the onset of corrosion in the chain. I guess you will be finding this out; keep us posted.
cheers

The only time I tried this by melting candles way bitd, the wax mostly flaked off on the first ride and then went rusty. I never tried it again.

I now see from an "oz cycle" video on Youtube that you need to either mix your own from melted candles and Paraffin oil, or use a proprietary mix like "Molten Speed Wax", which has MoS2 and teflon suspended in it. Is it really the best thing since sliced bread? What are the pros and cons of both?
Marcus Aurelius
Posts: 1903
Joined: 1 Feb 2018, 10:20am

Re: Chain Care

Post by Marcus Aurelius »

I use my ultrasonic bath, about once a month in the winter. Chain and cassette, and jockey wheels, a load of bio degradable degreaser, then pop it all back on the bike. It keeps the bits working better, over the winter.
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fausto99
Posts: 952
Joined: 19 Sep 2011, 10:06am
Location: NW Kent

Re: Chain Care

Post by fausto99 »

Marcus Aurelius wrote:I use my ultrasonic bath, about once a month in the winter. Chain and cassette, and jockey wheels, a load of bio degradable degreaser, then pop it all back on the bike. It keeps the bits working better, over the winter.

...and...then?
I use an ultrasonic tank for cleaning too, but I was asking about lubrication i.e. diy wax vs. MoltenSpeedWax ... or are you saying you wax in the the ultrasonic bath?! :wink: :lol:
Marcus Aurelius
Posts: 1903
Joined: 1 Feb 2018, 10:20am

Re: Chain Care

Post by Marcus Aurelius »

fausto99 wrote:
Marcus Aurelius wrote:I use my ultrasonic bath, about once a month in the winter. Chain and cassette, and jockey wheels, a load of bio degradable degreaser, then pop it all back on the bike. It keeps the bits working better, over the winter.

...and...then?
I use an ultrasonic tank for cleaning too, but I was asking about lubrication i.e. diy wax vs. MoltenSpeedWax ... or are you saying you wax in the the ultrasonic bath?! :wink: :lol:

Ah okay. Muc off wet lube if the weather is pants, Muc off dry, or GT85 / MO94, if it’s dry. The Muc off wet lube is very good, but it really is very very sticky, and does take a lot of cleaning off.
alexnharvey
Posts: 1922
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:39am

Re: Chain Care

Post by alexnharvey »

fausto99 wrote:
Brucey wrote:
Tiberius wrote:ENTIRELY due to wanting to keep my bikes cleaner I have recently started to experiment with waxing my chains.....
Time will tell eh ??

I shall be very interested to hear how you get on. One of my concerns about this approach is that the chain won't resist wet weather very well and specifically that winter conditions in the UK might soon cause the onset of corrosion in the chain. I guess you will be finding this out; keep us posted.
cheers

The only time I tried this by melting candles way bitd, the wax mostly flaked off on the first ride and then went rusty. I never tried it again.

I now see from an "oz cycle" video on Youtube that you need to either mix your own from melted candles and Paraffin oil, or use a proprietary mix like "Molten Speed Wax", which has MoS2 and teflon suspended in it. Is it really the best thing since sliced bread? What are the pros and cons of both?


I use beeswax to make it a bit softer and stickier. I haven't tried an oil in the mixture. Does paraffin dissolve in it and soften it?

The pros are low friction, low gunk, relatively clean to touch (depends on the additives used), relatively environmentally friendly (depending on additives).

The main cons are poor corrosion resistance and breaking down much faster in wet weather.

For a while now I've been meaning to look at corrosion inhibitors that could be added andor an exterior treatment that could be reapplied to improve salt water performance.
Mike Sales
Posts: 7860
Joined: 7 Mar 2009, 3:31pm

Re: Chain Care

Post by Mike Sales »

alexnharvey wrote:
I use beeswax to make it a bit softer and stickier.


Where do you get the beeswax?
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
alexnharvey
Posts: 1922
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:39am

Re: Chain Care

Post by alexnharvey »

I bought a candle making wax pellet mix that had 10% beeswax from eBay.

I should also say that although rust is often evident on the chain after wet weather, it is not showing as worn on my chain checker (park tool). Whether that remains the case as gritting becomes more frequent is another matter.
Mike Sales
Posts: 7860
Joined: 7 Mar 2009, 3:31pm

Re: Chain Care

Post by Mike Sales »

alexnharvey wrote:I bought a candle making wax pellet mix that had 10% beeswax from eBay.



Ta, I was looking for beeswax to run leather-stitching thread through.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
alexnharvey
Posts: 1922
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:39am

Re: Chain Care

Post by alexnharvey »

The honey seller at the farmers market normally has some but recall thinking it was a bit expensive but not the exact price.
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fausto99
Posts: 952
Joined: 19 Sep 2011, 10:06am
Location: NW Kent

Re: Chain Care

Post by fausto99 »

I was specificaly thinking of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF9nbwsaSHs&t=318s which seemed to explain why my attempt to use just candle wax many years ago failed, ending in a rusty chain. Wax on its own will flake off, leaving an exposed bare metal chain.
AFAIK "paraffin oil" is not what we call paraffin in the UK (aka kerosene). Paraffin oil is also sold as "lamp oil".
Anyway, I'm interested in the difference between a diy candle wax/paraffin oil mix and the ready made "Molten Speed Wax" for chain lubrication, as opposed to any type of oil.
Is wax really such a good idea or are you just swapping oil drops for masses of wax flakes to clear up instead?
jk49
Posts: 119
Joined: 6 Apr 2013, 7:51pm

Re: Chain Care

Post by jk49 »

I've been using a homebrew molten wax lube for a couple of years.
I think I used about 30 % beeswax, 60% parafin wax, 10% black lithium grease and a spoonful of both teflon powder and powdered graphite. I then added ep 90 gear oil over the course of 2 or 3 heatings to soften the mixture, so the resultant wax wasn't too brittle.
I use a cheapo argos 1 litre chip fryer to store and heat this wax and don't make any attempt, other than a cursory wipe, to pre clean the chain. All (maybe?) the dirt and grit falls off into the mixture and then lives on the bottom of the fryer.
I've found this to work pretty well, although I'm not a mileage measurer.
The utility bike with IGH goes about a couple of months between dips, probably does about 100 to 150 miles in this time in all weathers and up and down a very muddy track.
I also use it on a 10 speed mtb. Winter rides of 30ish miles clay flinty claggy xc rides probably needs re-doing every 4 rides. Its been fantastic in these dry dusty summer conditions, I think needing re waxing every 200-250 miles. I think because the chain is essentially dry, no grit really sticks to it when it is dusty dry.
As stated above, it is nice having a dry clean chain, I shan't be going back to wet lubes except on a longish tour after the wax wears out.
I'm not sure about the etiquette around sending people off to another forum, but there are many threads on Singletrackworld forum about this, mostly around a commercially available motorbike wax. Just search for "putoline"
Some of them love it, others are not so keen!
DNC123

Re: Chain Care

Post by DNC123 »

Ah okay. Muc off wet lube if the weather is pants

Same here, but as you say it ain't half sticky. Picks up loads of **** from the road and needs regular cleaning. Does seem to do what it's supposed to.
bgnukem
Posts: 694
Joined: 20 Dec 2010, 5:21pm

EP additives?

Post by bgnukem »

Having tried many different chain lubes over the years, including 3-in-1, motor oil, chainsaw oil, Finish Line green, White lightning, White Lightning Epic and Purple Extreme, does anyone know if any of the oil manufacturers include EP additives or solid lubricants in their formulations?

Given the boundary lubrication conditions (metal-metal contact) in a bike chain I would have thought such additives would be helpful in reducing wear, or would they simply be used up too quickly by the constant contact? Would car gear/diff. oil be any use in this respect?

Currently have been using FL Green for many years, but it's sticky and the chain does need cleaning in white spirit often and re-lubing to remove the build up of abrasive grit. Don't much like wax lubes as once they are dry I suspect they are squeezed out of the bushing/sideplate contact areas and are unable to move around the chain again to lubricate the contact patches.
DNC123

Re: Chain Care

Post by DNC123 »

There was a fashion s few years ago of using chain saw oil on bike chains. Has that been discounted or just gone out of fashion?
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