Been looking it up now. Wouldn’t a glass jar work? Can leave the wax in it to reuse too. Need to find the wax though, I know local shops don’t have it.
The wax needs to be melted, so a slow cooker or something like that is pretty commonly used.
I’m using an actual “wax melter” for candles and stuff like that. It looks like a small rice cooker. Very inexpensive, but it’s all I need.
The hardest part, and this applies to all chains, is getting the factory lube off it. I use a Silca product that strips chain lube without the use of harsh solvents, and that only needs to be done once.
When it’s time to re-wax, I can take a chain and just put it in the pot of melted wax for a few minutes, then remove and hang to cool off.
Silca is the most popular brand of bike wax around here. If you’re in Europe, there’s a company called “Rex” that makes an even better wax. Not easy to find here in Canada, but ski shops sell the Rex brand because they make ski wax, too! LOL
Interestingly enough, immersion candle wax tests better than most wet lubes, and quite a few wax-based drip lubes. But the absolute best longevity and prevention of wear comes from the immersion waxes that have metal-protecting additives in with their wax.
Considering how cheap commercial bike wax products are (cheap for how many times you can wax the chains), I’ve never really had the desire to make a DIY mixture.
That’s the thing with wax, though. It’s nearly always going to be better than an oil-based wet lube, unless you’re in a 1000km event in pure mud, then you’re destroying your chain and components regardless. In that context, oil-based lubes can be applied on the bike during an event, so that’s the advantage there.
I have waxed chains on rotation but my commute is wet and muddy. I want to be able to just hose the damn thing off. Once I set up the air compressor I might just do that anyway and blow off the water with air though.
You can still hose it off after the ride, just as you would with an oil-based wet lube. Just don’t expect your chain to actually be clean! LOL
Re: wet and muddy, one game-changer for me was to extend my front fender to almost touching the ground, so NOTHING hits my BB or chainrings. The back wheel and cogs may get some splash down from the rear fender, but because nothing is actually sticking to the components, I almost feel like cleaning after a ride isn’t necessary (but I still do because of SALT).
I absolutely hated previous winters where I’d ruin entire microfiber cloths “cleaning” the black shit off of my chains. I was using the top performing chain lube (Silca Synergetic) and one from Wolf Tooth that claimed to “clean” as it lubes (tested by Zero Friction Cycling to be a lie).
Seriously, waxing my chains changed my life. They are always clean, and rewaxing is dead simple.
Obviously, there’s a small investment upfront for the wax, and something to melt it in, but it’s way cheaper in the long rung.
Been looking it up now. Wouldn’t a glass jar work? Can leave the wax in it to reuse too. Need to find the wax though, I know local shops don’t have it.
The wax needs to be melted, so a slow cooker or something like that is pretty commonly used.
I’m using an actual “wax melter” for candles and stuff like that. It looks like a small rice cooker. Very inexpensive, but it’s all I need.
The hardest part, and this applies to all chains, is getting the factory lube off it. I use a Silca product that strips chain lube without the use of harsh solvents, and that only needs to be done once.
When it’s time to re-wax, I can take a chain and just put it in the pot of melted wax for a few minutes, then remove and hang to cool off.
Silca is the most popular brand of bike wax around here. If you’re in Europe, there’s a company called “Rex” that makes an even better wax. Not easy to find here in Canada, but ski shops sell the Rex brand because they make ski wax, too! LOL
Call me insane but I’m using a mix of parafine + beeswax. No problems whatsoever yet - it’s been great.
Interestingly enough, immersion candle wax tests better than most wet lubes, and quite a few wax-based drip lubes. But the absolute best longevity and prevention of wear comes from the immersion waxes that have metal-protecting additives in with their wax.
Considering how cheap commercial bike wax products are (cheap for how many times you can wax the chains), I’ve never really had the desire to make a DIY mixture.
That’s the thing with wax, though. It’s nearly always going to be better than an oil-based wet lube, unless you’re in a 1000km event in pure mud, then you’re destroying your chain and components regardless. In that context, oil-based lubes can be applied on the bike during an event, so that’s the advantage there.
I have waxed chains on rotation but my commute is wet and muddy. I want to be able to just hose the damn thing off. Once I set up the air compressor I might just do that anyway and blow off the water with air though.
You can still hose it off after the ride, just as you would with an oil-based wet lube. Just don’t expect your chain to actually be clean! LOL
Re: wet and muddy, one game-changer for me was to extend my front fender to almost touching the ground, so NOTHING hits my BB or chainrings. The back wheel and cogs may get some splash down from the rear fender, but because nothing is actually sticking to the components, I almost feel like cleaning after a ride isn’t necessary (but I still do because of SALT).
I absolutely hated previous winters where I’d ruin entire microfiber cloths “cleaning” the black shit off of my chains. I was using the top performing chain lube (Silca Synergetic) and one from Wolf Tooth that claimed to “clean” as it lubes (tested by Zero Friction Cycling to be a lie).