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Squirt and Paraffin wax for your chain

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karstenhorn:
I'm waxing all my chains too and it is the best way to keep your driveline clean and lubricated. Usually I can do more than 300 km on every waxing and the best thing is that your driveline stays completely dry so no dirt is sticking to greasy oil. After a very dirty ride I rinse it off with soap water and and let it dry. Furthermore it is scientific proven that it is the most effective way to lube a chain as well as the fact that it reduces friction and on can gain as much as 20 watts on a road bike.

Here is a few pics of the preparation process, initially I clean the worst dirt off with petrol before I put it in my sonic cleaner for 20 min. After this, I rise it with warm tap water to get all the chemicals off from the Sonic bath. The chain needs to dry the night over in a warm spot and then it is only to cook it in a bath of ordinary paraffin - Same stuff you use for home made candles. I bought 2 kg locally for 10 bucks and it will last for 5 years :D  I bought a cheap electric cooker for making fries etc and it comes with the possibility to set the temp between 40 degrees C and 250 degrees C. Paraffin melts around 60 degrees C so its easily heated, when its melted in the cooker the chain goes inside and stays there for about 10 min while you tap it gently with a screwdriver so to get all air out and paraffin into all rollers. Then it is only to take it out of the paraffin bath and a good advice, immediately after you take it out of the bath take a rag and remove all the paraffin you can from the surface of the chain. After this let it hang for 30 min and cool down and finally break all the joints loose and this takes a little time. The stiffer the chain is, the better it actually is as paraffin is then into all hidden corners of the chain.

One thing that is extremely important is the need to remove all oil from the chain before dumping it into the paraffin bath!!

This is the incredibly dirty driveline from wife's commuter:





After a little cleaning and some magic in the sonic cleaner:





Then into the paraffin bath:





This is how the driveline looks after about 50 km in rain and snow, I have not touched it since I gave it full treatment:





What you see in the close up of the chain is tiny pieces of paraffin and that is what also lube the sprockets a little bit and keeping it free of rust.
It is a rather big work the first time you clean everything but from there it is only a matter of cleaning the chain in the sonic cleaner and after drying a quick bath in the cooker and I'm good again for another 500 km :D

Finally, sorry for highjacking the thread.

Calvino:
i got a fairly simple setup to wax. since i got a ricecooker for my rice dishes alrdy, i got myself a mixing bowl that fits into the pot so i don't have to buy another rice cooker or other gear that fills up my lil kitchen. Got them for 12€ in a pack of 5 diffrent sizes. I don't use only wax, since i mostly got the issue that it gets squeezed out very quickly(after maybe 50k or sth). I use the recipe form Oz cycle as a base, so i mix "paraffin oil"(thsi term is very diffrent in every country. Here it can mean lamp oil, baby oil, even kerosene) about 3/5 parts wax and 2/5 from the oil, so it has the consistency that it smears when you glide ur fingernail over the mixture(i usually use a knife, dip it in and let it cool to test this). If it crumbles its too hard and you need more wax, if it starts to feel like toothpaste you need more wax.
I use wax granulate which was pretty expensive at 15€/kg, but it melted very quickly and didn't have any color residue form candles or sth similar. After i cleaned my chain in the ultrasonic cleaner(5mins x4 and turning it over after every 5 min) with clear solvent for dishwasher and about 80°C water, i dry it and leave it on th radiotor for about 2 hrs or sth. over night is probably evne better. then i dump the chain in the hot wax/oil mixture for about 15-20 mins and stirr it up every now and then to get all the air out of the links. then i let it cool for 20 mins on a old spoke or a coathanger, put on my quick-link and onto the bike. don't need to flex the links since the wax isn't stiffening up that much with the oil.
Use it on my traditional endurance roadbike, Xc rigid singlespeed and my trail FS. Especially in the winter and muddy conditions, the chain is the cleanest part after a ride :D

tripleDot:
Absolute Black's offer to chain lubricant... Graphene.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/amp/news/absoluteblack-launches-new-graphene-chain-lube-with-huge-longevity-and-efficiency-claims/

carbonazza:
At about 1000€/liter, the cheap wax is hard to beat, for a hypothetical couple of watts gain.
And having the chain black again would seems odd to me  ;)

What I love with the wax is you just rinse them with boiling water, the chain become clean like new.
The cassette and ring too.

Then dry them, and rewax them.
I do the 9 chains of my road, MTB and gravel bikes at the same time.
It is really efficient, once you did it a few times.

I just made a crazy 600km ride this weekend with the same chain(Eagle rainbow) and no creaks or noise. It was dry.

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