bawbag
Maximum Pace
- Mar 20, 2013
- 450
- 276
While I've been waiting for new bits for my (only) bike, I decided to test out the much lauded/derided paraffin wax lubrication method.
I got a kilo of paraffin powder from this place for an extremely reasonable sum, grabbed a crappy saucepan and a metal mixing bowl from Daiso and was ready to give it a go.
Stripping the chain of all lubrication was pretty annoying without resorting to eco-unfriendly means. Citrus degreaser did really well up to a point, but I knew it wasn't stripping everything out. A bit of reading online mentioned a saucepan, a shallow 50/50 mix of dishwashing detergent and water, and judicious application of heat. This seemed to get the remaining gunk out of the chain without, as I'd read online, stinking the kitchen out. Perhaps that's because I'd gotten most of the crap out already, but it was perfectly fine.
Anyway, now that the chain was clean of all lube, it was time to do the paraffin dip. The saucepan was filled with a couple of inches of boiling water, then the metal bowl was sat on top, creating a double boiler. Paraffin powder was slung in the bowl and the wait for it to liquefy began. It took about 10 minutes for everything to be ready, then I carefully lowered the chain into the wax, attempting to keep it untangled and flat on the bottom of the pan. This turned out to be easier said than done, so I followed a guide online to fashion a hanger for the chain out of an old spoke. Much better - it laid flat and I could agitate it with the handle a bit.
After 10 minutes, I flipped the chain over and let it go for 10 minutes on the other side, occasionally giving it a jiggle to help the wax penetrate the chain. Once done, I turned off the heat, lifted the sparkling, super clean chain out of the wax and hung it up to drip dry over an old plastic bowl. I didn't attempt to remove the excess as some say you should, mainly because others say that it doesn't make a difference - the excess will crack and flake off while you ride.
Once dried, the chain was rock solid. In fact, you could hold it horizontally and it would keep its shape. The rollers were frozen solid in the links, too. Slightly disconcerting, but well, there's no going back now is there? I chipped off the excess around the connecting link (KMC missing link), gave the chain a good bending, then installed it.
The first few minutes of riding it were not so pleasant - pedalling felt gritty and a bit off. I decided to blast up and down the road a few times to break the chain in, which slowly but surely resulted in... a silky smooth ride. The grittiness diminished to nothing. The chain felt like a freshly-lubed chain should. Nice!
Inspecting the chain, the wax had flaked off all over the shop - my chainstay looked like it was covered in fish scales, but they were brushed off with no effort at all. The rollers had completely freed up, and the chain was as flexible as it ever was. Flexible, smooth-running and completely dirt free. I mean 100% dirt free - not a speck of dirt. I'd cleaned the drivechain completely - even removing the jockey wheels and giving them a thorough degrease and clean. In theory, the drivechain will remain sparkly for a very long time as the chain is now unable to pick up dirt.
Worth the hassle? Well, the first time was an exercise in tedium, that's for sure. Last night I decided to give the chain a second bath just to see how quickly I could do it - it took 30 minutes between removal and reinstallation. Not your usual 3-minute job with some teflon lube, but then I usually spend almost half an hour cleaning the drivechain of grime every other week.
Recommended? If you like shiny things; yes. If you're not in a rush; yes. If you get pissed off cleaning your chainrings; yes.
I got a kilo of paraffin powder from this place for an extremely reasonable sum, grabbed a crappy saucepan and a metal mixing bowl from Daiso and was ready to give it a go.
Stripping the chain of all lubrication was pretty annoying without resorting to eco-unfriendly means. Citrus degreaser did really well up to a point, but I knew it wasn't stripping everything out. A bit of reading online mentioned a saucepan, a shallow 50/50 mix of dishwashing detergent and water, and judicious application of heat. This seemed to get the remaining gunk out of the chain without, as I'd read online, stinking the kitchen out. Perhaps that's because I'd gotten most of the crap out already, but it was perfectly fine.
Anyway, now that the chain was clean of all lube, it was time to do the paraffin dip. The saucepan was filled with a couple of inches of boiling water, then the metal bowl was sat on top, creating a double boiler. Paraffin powder was slung in the bowl and the wait for it to liquefy began. It took about 10 minutes for everything to be ready, then I carefully lowered the chain into the wax, attempting to keep it untangled and flat on the bottom of the pan. This turned out to be easier said than done, so I followed a guide online to fashion a hanger for the chain out of an old spoke. Much better - it laid flat and I could agitate it with the handle a bit.
After 10 minutes, I flipped the chain over and let it go for 10 minutes on the other side, occasionally giving it a jiggle to help the wax penetrate the chain. Once done, I turned off the heat, lifted the sparkling, super clean chain out of the wax and hung it up to drip dry over an old plastic bowl. I didn't attempt to remove the excess as some say you should, mainly because others say that it doesn't make a difference - the excess will crack and flake off while you ride.
Once dried, the chain was rock solid. In fact, you could hold it horizontally and it would keep its shape. The rollers were frozen solid in the links, too. Slightly disconcerting, but well, there's no going back now is there? I chipped off the excess around the connecting link (KMC missing link), gave the chain a good bending, then installed it.
The first few minutes of riding it were not so pleasant - pedalling felt gritty and a bit off. I decided to blast up and down the road a few times to break the chain in, which slowly but surely resulted in... a silky smooth ride. The grittiness diminished to nothing. The chain felt like a freshly-lubed chain should. Nice!
Inspecting the chain, the wax had flaked off all over the shop - my chainstay looked like it was covered in fish scales, but they were brushed off with no effort at all. The rollers had completely freed up, and the chain was as flexible as it ever was. Flexible, smooth-running and completely dirt free. I mean 100% dirt free - not a speck of dirt. I'd cleaned the drivechain completely - even removing the jockey wheels and giving them a thorough degrease and clean. In theory, the drivechain will remain sparkly for a very long time as the chain is now unable to pick up dirt.
Worth the hassle? Well, the first time was an exercise in tedium, that's for sure. Last night I decided to give the chain a second bath just to see how quickly I could do it - it took 30 minutes between removal and reinstallation. Not your usual 3-minute job with some teflon lube, but then I usually spend almost half an hour cleaning the drivechain of grime every other week.
Recommended? If you like shiny things; yes. If you're not in a rush; yes. If you get pissed off cleaning your chainrings; yes.