Just started waxing my chains. OMG!!! What a MAJOR difference. I couldn't believe it. NOWAY regular lube compares. Smooth, quiet and the shifting is insane compared to lube.
Just spraying the silica strip solution on only removes grease from the outside. REALLY helps to submerge the chain in the stripper solution and leave it in there for 5 min. I know you used the ultrasonic cleaner in the water but there could still be a lot of grease inside the rollers and pin. Should only need to submerge in stripper, quick water rinse and into the wax. Just like Josh shows on the Silva page
Thanks for the comment. The chain needs to be dry after rinsing with water before putting into the wax. If you don't feel like waiting for the chain to dry on its own then the Isopropyl bath with displace all the water and dry right away after. So that step is not necessary. Submerging the chain in stripper would work really well.
@@thebikeshopofficial Silca says just throw it in the wax, as long as the wax starts over 100C, the water will just boil off. Cool the wax to 75c and pull it!
Great video! I heat up my wax in the bag in my ultrasonic cleaner , then start ultrasonic cleaner when I add chain to wax . I don’t do as many chains as you guys would .
What da BS.... The Parafine Wax or just Wax **is** a lubricant. Tungsten Disulfide though, is helping parafine better adhesion with metal parts(with chain parts), and it has some lubrication characteristics as well, but it is secondary here.
there is no difference between your procedure and all the others who need the entire kitchen to wax the chain,my hot waxing equipment fits in a shoe box and I can wax the chain anywhere
I don't think so. The ultrasonic cleaner is good at pulling material off the chain. For applying hot wax you really want the warm temperature of the crock pot to really penetrate into the roller bearings and inner plates of the chain, thanks for the comment! Cheers
Which commercial water based degreaser do you use? The waxing lasts at least 4 times his for road and good for about 1000 to 1200 on mountain...so long as you dont use high pressure or a strong pressure rinse when dirty....been doing it since the 90's myself. The secret to the longer life is to on occasion dress the chain with the liquid version of the wax just like you would with oil. Back in the day we used White-lightning but you had to have the nack to do that. Silc as he mentions makes a liquid dressing version too....but as with White lightning you need to apply and wipe at the same time or you will easly you get a terrible build up. Since he he never answered my question, the degreaser he is using is CB 100 from Walter Surface Technologies....hint > dont put your chain in a jar as he did...that's like putting duct tape over over stupid....it will just muffle the sound.
You're ultrasonicly cleaning the outside of the jars, not the chains in them. And you really need to submerge the new chains in the chain stripper for that to really work. Silca has tutorial videos on all of this that are much better. Go watch those instead.
great video, well explained step by step! what size is this ultra cleaner? I have been using the stripped on a jar and shaking just like silca video, wondering if it's worth investing in an ultrasonic cleaner
With the drip wax lube, how often should those be applied? I know with lube like the Boeshield T9 or Rock N Roll for example I've had shops & the mfg tell me every 100-150 miles depending on road & trail conditions.
It'll strip the wax faster. You will need to run a microfiber cloth on the chain as soon as you're finished and top up with the drip wax. In dry conditions, wax wins for me (no oil, no fuss with degreasers), but in the wet I can see an argument for a good quality wet lube, you can leave it between rides without much care - still, you will have oil on your fingers if your chain drops, and you will go through the fuss of degreasing it. I enjoy the waxing process and cleaning oil over a white bathtub on a rental apartment is not my ideal Tuesday.
It holds up well in wet conditions, rain will always pull some lube off your chain. The wax is good at repelling moisture. The only situation where wet lube wins over wax would be if the temperature drops to around -20 or colder because in that situation because the wax is a solid it will start to perform a little weird in those extreme cold temperatures. Thanks for the comment! Cheers
@@thebikeshopofficialChains that are wax drip lubed rather than immersion waxed seem to have more issues with low temperatures. You can't apply wax drip lubes at less than about 16 deg C as they thicken up and have trouble penetrating into the pins. I've chatted to one guy from Sweden who successfully applied the wax drip lube indoors and then had trouble out riding as his chain was stiffening up. I don't know the exact cause but as the wax 'carrier' in a lot of the environmentally friendly wax drip lubes is water then pockets of this were possibly freezing if not given enough evaporation time.
Im looking for longevity and less rust as riding through grit and mud all year... Does thos really work ? My Chains are lubed amd cleaned only last 5K KM 3 K miles...
@@thebikeshopofficialRespectfully I wouldn't. The quick links are being pushed against already waxed surfaces, being the inner link ends of the chain. It makes link installation more difficult as you have to displace the blobs of wax on the pins. Also you have to squeeze the wax out from the quick link side plates to get the pins to go in far enough to make them engage in the slots. Personally I wax drip lube my quick links but only just to rust proof them and I install the links before the drip solvent evaporates so the wax isn't solid . The rest of the chain is immersive waxed. BTW I put a much longer comment on here but YT seems to have hidden it. If you sort comments by 'Newest first' you will see it. I also sent an email to your shop as you really need the best information to get things right.
It definitely do NOT look like a Pro version. Just because some false statements: - the wax indeed IS causing the main lubrication. The additives are making it just better. - you can't tell by rattling and metalic sound of the chain that it stripped the factory oil (it's grease by the side) completely. Sad that you don't care about the ingredients of the wax mixture. The alcohol also displaces oil film rests on the chain left by some degreaser. Don't know why first showed some (only) soaking in "Silca chain stripper" and later showed a degreaser bath in the ultrasonic cleaner. Perhaps first to show a lazy procedure and pro one afterwards. At least no new information that hasn't been shown before by others in a better way. Junk Just look after the reference source from Zero Friction Cycling!
Your probably talking about the chain on a cloth with chain stripper being sprinkled on it at 1:19 ? Silca say you should ideally submerge the chain in jar of the stripper solution or clean it on the bike by forcing cross chaining and turning the cranks to pump the solution into the chain th-cam.com/video/ydT86Mwqahw/w-d-xo.html. It's advised to shake the bottle before use and maybe heat it gently at < 60 deg C Other possible issues might be wax dripping onto the paper towel at 7:17 or the absence of breaking of the chain link / wax bonds at 7:49 before installation on a bike ? For sure a better setup for both is th-cam.com/video/NdmriYX76NE/w-d-xo.html
I had another look at Silca's videos . Apart from the couple of issues I highlighted I can't see a contradiction. Even Silca have put out advice that is questionable th-cam.com/video/sSjZpgvWVzA/w-d-xo.html , namely putting a boiling water flush cleaned damp chain into the wax pot and letting the temperature boil it off. You never want to have water in your wax pot if you can avoid it. The wax would have to be over 100 deg C which is at the top of it's comfortable zone and being heavier than wax it will want to go to the bottom of the pot. The main thing with this "The Bike Shop" video is that it's well meaning. I think the big error with sprinkling the stripper happened because it's not the way it's done in the shop. It may have caused some people issues had they tried it but he knows now and I've provided the links so he can see.
@@thebikeshopofficial I see, if I take the chain out while it's still hot won't all the wax drip out from inside the links? That's the only reason I leave it to skin over.
@ToddNZMTB you should hang the chain to dry, that will be good and no the wax will harden before it leaves those crucial areas. This just let's all the extra wax drip off. Also it is important the wax melts on a low temperature and not a high temperature, this will allow it to cool faster and more wax will stay on the chain when you hang it to dry.
@@ToddNZMTB It will just save you more wax in the end so you can apply it more times. Sometimes the extra wax on the outside of the chain will also accumulate in between the cogs on your cassette and can cause noise or even skipping, so it is about finding that perfect balance. In the video, you can see how the chain is "stiff" in the end and that is because the wax has gotten into the inside of the chain
I remove the rear wheel and put the axle through a 3’ spool then heat the chain in sections starting at the clip with a heat gun then drip ‘clean ride “white lightning “ @$15 for 8oz on each roller the heat pulls the wax inside presto and done
not really. just every time you need to change the chain after 10k... in between it's just a matter of bathing the chain in the molten wax every now or then. get a connex link, it makes all the difference. drivetrain cleaning is a thing of the past. i get about 8000km per chain on my heavy duty ebike with 160Nm trailer pulling torque
Not true.. I have been waxing my MTB chains, road and now gravel since the 90's. It does take time to do it for the first time but after that....its a complete breeze to maintain.
@@goingoutotheparty1 But, and here is the crucial bit, unlike oil or grease, it does not flow during use, and that is the reason why it is not used anywhere else for reducing metal to metal friction.
Very curious so just gave wxing a crack, we will see how it goes. The shifting is super nice and very clean but have noticed it runs very noisy@@DepakoteMeister
@@awake-notwoke6473 Nice. But the fact remains that chains in every other industrial mechanical use, where performance matters, are lubricated with oil or grease. Bicycle chain manufacturers also use grease.
@@DepakoteMeisterhonest not to crap on trends but this is really looking like a dumb trend.....not only what you said but cost is silly....if you told me that this does something better than flesning s bike chain after every 3-4 rides and lubing id do it
Just started waxing my chains. OMG!!! What a MAJOR difference. I couldn't believe it. NOWAY regular lube compares. Smooth, quiet and the shifting is insane compared to lube.
Just spraying the silica strip solution on only removes grease from the outside. REALLY helps to submerge the chain in the stripper solution and leave it in there for 5 min. I know you used the ultrasonic cleaner in the water but there could still be a lot of grease inside the rollers and pin. Should only need to submerge in stripper, quick water rinse and into the wax. Just like Josh shows on the Silva page
Thanks for the comment. The chain needs to be dry after rinsing with water before putting into the wax. If you don't feel like waiting for the chain to dry on its own then the Isopropyl bath with displace all the water and dry right away after. So that step is not necessary. Submerging the chain in stripper would work really well.
@@thebikeshopofficial Silca says just throw it in the wax, as long as the wax starts over 100C, the water will just boil off. Cool the wax to 75c and pull it!
And you can reuse that stripper after you filter it with coffee filter! They say, you can get maybe 30 strips from one bottle that way.
great tips here. been dirt baggin it with paraffin wax and crock pot, but might spring for the Silca system. looks like a time saver
Great video! I heat up my wax in the bag in my ultrasonic cleaner , then start ultrasonic cleaner when I add chain to wax . I don’t do as many chains as you guys would .
Thanks for the comment! Ride on.
# THE!!!!! BICYCLE!!!!! SHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What da BS.... The Parafine Wax or just Wax **is** a lubricant. Tungsten Disulfide though, is helping parafine better adhesion with metal parts(with chain parts), and it has some lubrication characteristics as well, but it is secondary here.
Very informative video... 👏
there is no difference between your procedure and all the others who need the entire kitchen to wax the chain,my hot waxing equipment fits in a shoe box and I can wax the chain anywhere
Do you remove the oils from the casette and crank when you move to wax?
doe it benefit if I put the bag of liquified chain wax with Chain for a few seconds in the warm Ultrasonic cleaner solution sous vide style?
I don't think so. The ultrasonic cleaner is good at pulling material off the chain. For applying hot wax you really want the warm temperature of the crock pot to really penetrate into the roller bearings and inner plates of the chain, thanks for the comment! Cheers
Which commercial water based degreaser do you use?
The waxing lasts at least 4 times his for road and good for about 1000 to 1200 on mountain...so long as you dont use high pressure or a strong pressure rinse when dirty....been doing it since the 90's myself. The secret to the longer life is to on occasion dress the chain with the liquid version of the wax just like you would with oil. Back in the day we used White-lightning but you had to have the nack to do that. Silc as he mentions makes a liquid dressing version too....but as with White lightning you need to apply and wipe at the same time or you will easly you get a terrible build up.
Since he he never answered my question, the degreaser he is using is CB 100 from Walter Surface Technologies....hint > dont put your chain in a jar as he did...that's like putting duct tape over over stupid....it will just muffle the sound.
You're ultrasonicly cleaning the outside of the jars, not the chains in them. And you really need to submerge the new chains in the chain stripper for that to really work. Silca has tutorial videos on all of this that are much better. Go watch those instead.
Great video thank you for sharing
Thanks for the comment!! Cheers
@@thebikeshopofficialwhere on your website do you have the wax chains for sale?
@bonn1771 at the moment we are working on getting them on the site. For now we just have them in store.
@@thebikeshopofficialokay figured i ask to grab have a set shipped to my family place in Ont when i go visit them always good to have a backup
How often do I need to rewax(hot wax) ? 300km?
Thanks for the vid btw.
Approximately 300, maybe bit less for MTB and bit more for road depending on conditions, you can top it up with the wax lube in a bottle too.
great video, well explained step by step! what size is this ultra cleaner? I have been using the stripped on a jar and shaking just like silca video, wondering if it's worth investing in an ultrasonic cleaner
I’m curious about the crockpot size as well, 2 litre size?
How long do you run the ultrasonic for? How many times?
With the drip wax lube, how often should those be applied? I know with lube like the Boeshield T9 or Rock N Roll for example I've had shops & the mfg tell me every 100-150 miles depending on road & trail conditions.
How does wax hold up in humid damp rainy conditions? Is it really better than chain oils?
It'll strip the wax faster. You will need to run a microfiber cloth on the chain as soon as you're finished and top up with the drip wax. In dry conditions, wax wins for me (no oil, no fuss with degreasers), but in the wet I can see an argument for a good quality wet lube, you can leave it between rides without much care - still, you will have oil on your fingers if your chain drops, and you will go through the fuss of degreasing it. I enjoy the waxing process and cleaning oil over a white bathtub on a rental apartment is not my ideal Tuesday.
It holds up well in wet conditions, rain will always pull some lube off your chain. The wax is good at repelling moisture. The only situation where wet lube wins over wax would be if the temperature drops to around -20 or colder because in that situation because the wax is a solid it will start to perform a little weird in those extreme cold temperatures. Thanks for the comment! Cheers
Agree, I rinsed my waxed chain in boiling water twice and there was still some wax on it .
@@thebikeshopofficial thanks for the info. How well does spray on wax work? Like Maxima brand that’s marketed for dirt bikes.
@@thebikeshopofficialChains that are wax drip lubed rather than immersion waxed seem to have more issues with low temperatures. You can't apply wax drip lubes at less than about 16 deg C as they thicken up and have trouble penetrating into the pins. I've chatted to one guy from Sweden who successfully applied the wax drip lube indoors and then had trouble out riding as his chain was stiffening up. I don't know the exact cause but as the wax 'carrier' in a lot of the environmentally friendly wax drip lubes is water then pockets of this were possibly freezing if not given enough evaporation time.
How to remove Shimano SIL-TEC coating?
Im looking for longevity and less rust as riding through grit and mud all year... Does thos really work ? My Chains are lubed amd cleaned only last 5K KM 3 K miles...
Get blast undercoating and forget this stuff.
Do you wax the quick link, or pin?
Yes!
@@thebikeshopofficialRespectfully I wouldn't. The quick links are being pushed against already waxed surfaces, being the inner link ends of the chain. It makes link installation more difficult as you have to displace the blobs of wax on the pins. Also you have to squeeze the wax out from the quick link side plates to get the pins to go in far enough to make them engage in the slots. Personally I wax drip lube my quick links but only just to rust proof them and I install the links before the drip solvent evaporates so the wax isn't solid . The rest of the chain is immersive waxed.
BTW I put a much longer comment on here but YT seems to have hidden it. If you sort comments by 'Newest first' you will see it. I also sent an email to your shop as you really need the best information to get things right.
It definitely do NOT look like a Pro version.
Just because some false statements:
- the wax indeed IS causing the main lubrication. The additives are making it just better.
- you can't tell by rattling and metalic sound of the chain that it stripped the factory oil (it's grease by the side) completely.
Sad that you don't care about the ingredients of the wax mixture.
The alcohol also displaces oil film rests on the chain left by some degreaser.
Don't know why first showed some (only) soaking in "Silca chain stripper" and later showed a degreaser bath in the ultrasonic cleaner. Perhaps first to show a lazy procedure and pro one afterwards.
At least no new information that hasn't been shown before by others in a better way. Junk
Just look after the reference source from Zero Friction Cycling!
You can tell that the chain is happy because it's stiff. 😂
why not just use the strip chip from silica
Love that you are waxing, but this vid contradicts pretty much everything that Josh P says.
What is the difference? Cheers
Like what? 🤔
Your probably talking about the chain on a cloth with chain stripper being sprinkled on it at 1:19 ? Silca say you should ideally submerge the chain in jar of the stripper solution or clean it on the bike by forcing cross chaining and turning the cranks to pump the solution into the chain th-cam.com/video/ydT86Mwqahw/w-d-xo.html. It's advised to shake the bottle before use and maybe heat it gently at < 60 deg C
Other possible issues might be wax dripping onto the paper towel at 7:17 or the absence of breaking of the chain link / wax bonds at 7:49 before installation on a bike ? For sure a better setup for both is th-cam.com/video/NdmriYX76NE/w-d-xo.html
I had another look at Silca's videos . Apart from the couple of issues I highlighted I can't see a contradiction. Even Silca have put out advice that is questionable th-cam.com/video/sSjZpgvWVzA/w-d-xo.html , namely putting a boiling water flush cleaned damp chain into the wax pot and letting the temperature boil it off. You never want to have water in your wax pot if you can avoid it. The wax would have to be over 100 deg C which is at the top of it's comfortable zone and being heavier than wax it will want to go to the bottom of the pot.
The main thing with this "The Bike Shop" video is that it's well meaning. I think the big error with sprinkling the stripper happened because it's not the way it's done in the shop. It may have caused some people issues had they tried it but he knows now and I've provided the links so he can see.
Companies should ride this hype and start to sell dry chains so we don't have to go through the hassle of cleaning
Was that $127 for the pre-waxed chain?
Yeah it was a high end chain to begin with so similar price anyways..
come on, not another chain waxing tutorial
I boil my dirty chains in water to get all the dirt and old wax out and then submerge them again in Molten Speed Was in the crock pot.
No need for it to skin over eh? 🤔
You don't want it caked on is what that's supposed to mean
@@thebikeshopofficial I see, if I take the chain out while it's still hot won't all the wax drip out from inside the links? That's the only reason I leave it to skin over.
@ToddNZMTB you should hang the chain to dry, that will be good and no the wax will harden before it leaves those crucial areas. This just let's all the extra wax drip off. Also it is important the wax melts on a low temperature and not a high temperature, this will allow it to cool faster and more wax will stay on the chain when you hang it to dry.
@@thebikeshopofficial alright! I'll modify my method, cheers mate 👍🏻
@@ToddNZMTB It will just save you more wax in the end so you can apply it more times. Sometimes the extra wax on the outside of the chain will also accumulate in between the cogs on your cassette and can cause noise or even skipping, so it is about finding that perfect balance. In the video, you can see how the chain is "stiff" in the end and that is because the wax has gotten into the inside of the chain
I spray oil and I’m done. More riding time for me. 😂
Haha
I remove the rear wheel and put the axle through a 3’ spool then heat the chain in sections starting at the clip with a heat gun then drip ‘clean ride “white lightning “ @$15 for 8oz on each roller the heat pulls the wax inside presto and done
So much hussle just to wax a chain🤭
not really. just every time you need to change the chain after 10k...
in between it's just a matter of bathing the chain in the molten wax every now or then. get a connex link, it makes all the difference. drivetrain cleaning is a thing of the past.
i get about 8000km per chain on my heavy duty ebike with 160Nm trailer pulling torque
Absolutely disgusting that a so called mechanic is promoting chain waxing. Shame on you.
This is total bs chain must be lubed not waxed... You can wax your hairy hands not chain
Thanks for the comment!
Not true.. I have been waxing my MTB chains, road and now gravel since the 90's. It does take time to do it for the first time but after that....its a complete breeze to maintain.
I'm not sold yet either but I'm not riding hard and in wet and grit and mud I'm getting max 5000 km from a regularly cleaned and lubed budget chain
I don't think a pro would wax a chain, wax is a poor lubricant, which is why it is not used anywhere else for mechanical lubrication.
It has additive lubricant and the wax acts as a water repellent too by the looks of it..
@@goingoutotheparty1 But, and here is the crucial bit, unlike oil or grease, it does not flow during use, and that is the reason why it is not used anywhere else for reducing metal to metal friction.
Very curious so just gave wxing a crack, we will see how it goes. The shifting is super nice and very clean but have noticed it runs very noisy@@DepakoteMeister
@@awake-notwoke6473 Nice. But the fact remains that chains in every other industrial mechanical use, where performance matters, are lubricated with oil or grease. Bicycle chain manufacturers also use grease.
@@DepakoteMeisterhonest not to crap on trends but this is really looking like a dumb trend.....not only what you said but cost is silly....if you told me that this does something better than flesning s bike chain after every 3-4 rides and lubing id do it
if you hear someone say "a boat: when what they mean to say is "about", you can safely move on.