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Squirt and Paraffin wax for your chain

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carbonazza:
A year or so ago, I had a contact with Marcin from Absolute black.
He advised me to try Squirt, a paraffin emulsion(with water) instead of traditional lubes.
And that my drivetrain would last much longer than my usual 5000km.

On top of being much cleaner, it seems he is right about the longevity of the drive train.
I kept a little bottle in my bag, in case of really bad, long, muddy rides to add some mid ride.

However few months ago I found Oz cycling video about waxing your chain:


His answer to questions are very interesting too, part 1:


And part 2:


Recently GCN made an awful disservice to the cause, with a really poor video compared to Oz.

So I tried.
Got the paraffin in a 5kg pack, the 20€ rice pot, a plastic cocktail shaker to clean the chain.
I will probably go the ultrasonic cleaner route soon, to avoid the diesel cleaning and other dirty fluids.

At the beginning it is messy, you need to be careful to not end with paraffin everywhere.
And it last longer than a usual chain cleaning. But it comes better with practice.
I get it done in about 5' of net time now.
Do that in a well ventilated place, as paraffin, although it is the same you get in home candles, is not very good to inhale.

The result is impressive. Ultra smooth, silent and most importantly clean drivetrain.
After each muddy ride, or multiple dry rides, I just shake the chain in hot water and soap.
Rince it. Dry it. And in the paraffin rice pot.
When the temperature gets to about 52°C get the chain out, wipe it.
And mount it back.

I tried the paraffin/xylene Oz recipe to get a bottled lube.
But it doesn't look to be adapted to colder weather, I can't get it liquid on the trails.

Squirt is already a very good option for a medium/good clean chain.
But paraffin is the best if you learn how to use it.

MTB2223:

--- Quote from: carbonazza on January 12, 2018, 03:56:37 AM ---I tried the paraffin/xylene Oz recipe to get a bottled lube.
But it doesn't look to be adapted to colder weather, I can't get it liquid on the trails.

--- End quote ---
Oz did a good job.

I saw the GCN video, it was really horrible.

Do you use the squirt bottle on the trails ? It's not a problem on your OZ-Paraffin-chain ?

Bhaalgorn:
I love Squirt too.

I've always flirted with the idea of paraffin...i guess I'll give it a go once I get threw some of my current lubes.

carbonazza:

--- Quote from: MTB2223 on January 12, 2018, 04:08:02 AM ---Do you use the squirt bottle on the trails ? It's not a problem on your OZ-Paraffin-chain ?

--- End quote ---

It was before using paraffin. Now I don't do anything when riding.
However I keep a small reusable bottle of Squirt, in case I would ride in a so terrible mud that some action would be needed.
I guess since it is paraffin too, cleaning it after ride and putting it back in paraffin would work.

If I do it one day, I'll post it here.

tripleDot:
I use paraffin wax (just plain paraffin wax) on both my XC and road bikes for over a year now. And have so far only re-waxed them once each. Probably after about 2,000km each. They could have gone longer but the bikes do get exposed to salt water on some occasions. Oz's video was one of the resource info I used. I just did the hot-dip procesd, didn't really got messy at all. Didn't do the squirt bottle either. I don't do any lubrication before, during, after rides at all, and things are smooth. In fact, I have already given away my old lubricants to friends. Just make sure you hosed down (or lightly brush off) any visible sands and grits on the chain after each ride.

I wanted to get an ultrasonic cleaner but had bad luck with the deals (either wrong size, wrong voltage, or communication problem with seller). So I clean my chains using WD40 spray, then a bath with dishwashing liquid, and finally paint thinner wash. So far so good.

The one thing I didn't like about paraffin wax lube is that wax tends to accumulated on the rollers over time. So do have a flat-head screwdriver ready when cleaning your bike, you might need it.

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