Overheard a guy at the shop say his chain wax lasted 900 miles

I was swapping a bottom bracket and this customer mentioned he gets almost 1,000 miles out of a single hot wax dip. He said the trick is letting the chain drip dry for a full 24 hours before riding... has anyone else gotten that kind of mileage from wax?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_emma6d ago

Have you tried checking the temperature of your wax before you dip? I used to just melt it and throw the chain in, but I started using a candy thermometer to keep it right around 200-210 degrees and it made a huge difference. Too hot and the wax gets runny and doesn't stick right, too cool and it clumps up and flakes off after like 200 miles. Also, wiping the chain down with a clean rag while the wax is still warm is something a lot of people skip but it knocks off the excess that would just crack later. The dehumidifier tip from above is solid too, I run one in my shop during summer and my customers get way better life out of their chains when I wax them.

viola_ward9d ago

The part about letting it drip dry for 24 hours is key. Most people hurry and put the chain back on while it's still tacky. But here's what nobody talks about: the room temperature and humidity matter way more than people think. If you wax in a cold damp basement, that wax forms a weaker bond to the chain. It'll flake off way faster. I started doing my waxing in the warmest room of the house with a dehumidifier running, and my chain life jumped from about 400 miles to over 700. That 1,000 mile claim is possible but only if you're treating the whole process like a science experiment, not just a quick job.

rubys809d ago

Wait, are you me? I literally moved my whole wax setup into the spare bedroom where I keep a space heater running just for this reason... never thought about the dehumidifier though, that's genius. My chain life went up too once I stopped doing it in the garage during winter.