How easy is it to Re-Wax and hot-dipped chain?

[RojoRacing]

Too many videos about chain re-waxing overcomplicate the process giving the impression that the task is extra labor-intensive. If your only concern is a quick chain that lasts 10,000 or more miles and doesn't stain everything it touches with blackened oil, this video is for you. This video doesn't cover the initial process of preparing the chain for the first waxing, since most videos I see about that are mostly on point. The thing I love about hot wax is how long my components last and how much time I save not having to deep clean my oil chain and components to try and get them to last 25% as long.

The greatest points of unnecessary steps I see are

1. The fear of reusing a quick link past the manufacturer's recommended number of uses. Remember, salt that is mined from a million-year-old deposit just happens to have an expiration date of only a few years after you bought it . For legal reasons, your local bike shop can't tell you to reuse a quick link because if in the event it break after the 30th use, they could become liable. I'm not your local bikeshop, so I'll just say I've reused half a dozen or so quick links 50-100 times or more, and I think only had one break on me on the mtb.

2. Threading the chain in a looping fashion on some wire cable to dip it. They do this to save the quick link which I think is a waste of time and makes everyone think waxing is too labor intensive.

3. Breaking in the chain post waxing. They talk about flexing each link by hand to break the individual links free to get it flexable enough to put back on the bike. Just spin in over a piece of 1/2" pipe like in my video, 10 second and your done.

The total labor time invested in rewaxing a chain is like 3 mins. I don't count the time it takes for the wax to heat up or the 10-20 mins for the chain to cool because I'm doing other stuff during that time. Most times I toss the dirt chain on the cold wax and just come back 2-3 hours later to hang it up over night and just put it back on next time I walk into the garage.

The chain on my V20 also has over 15000 hard Perez climbing miles on it and it's still under 50% worn. That means I'm still on my original $400 cassette with very little wear.

 

[Joe Riel]

I used to do this on my road bike years ago, but when commuting in the wet had to redo it way too often. Will give it a try again as am not going to be riding the CruzBike in the rain. I'll have to buy an electric pot. Do you add anything to the wax?

 

[RojoRacing]

For a long while, I just used pure paraffin wax beads from amazon, which work just fine. This last batch I did 50% amazon wax and 50% silca molten wax. I've never noticed a difference in the additives, but I figure it's a tiny investment given that one bag will last me over a year. I wax all my bikes, including the MTB, and I just toss the chain into the pot post rain ride if it was heavy. I always buy mid to high-end chains with at least a nickel coating, so rust isn't a next day occurrence.

I think another thing that throws people off when wax dipping chains is you can hear the rollers contact the teeth more after say 100 miles then a recently oils chain. This doesn't mean it needs to be re-wax already though. It's just the results of a clean fast chain compared to an oiled chains with built up gunk hiding the noise.

 

[Ramnob42]

I use two chains, when the one on the bike comes off the bike to be re waxed the other is put on. I can then wax the first chain at my convenience and the bike is still ready to ride.

 

[Rolling Along]

An alternative quick link is a Connex link. You take it apart and put it back together by hand. You can reuse it.

The Cruzbike mini chain quick link tool includes a hook to hold the chain. The hook makes it easy to create slack around a Connex link so you can break it apart or put it back together by hand.