Pope of cycling lubricant - big community contributor - Thank you, this is the missing piece in my OzCycle Chain Wax history - coming from 2019 with Petroleum - switching end of Dec 2019 to PTFE version and now a solid hack with the "on-track" version - Thanks a lot! Good to have you back chap!
Just got a new bike, and just learning the art of waxing chains! First time around I went the commercial wax mix in a bag, pre-made. It worked fine and I'm loving how clean the chain is. Next step after finding your channel is do this myself and the save the money! Thank you!
You should mention that it is important not to get the wax anywhere near disc brakes. If a flake of wax gets on the brake pads it will wick in once heated and you'll never completely get rid of it.
Life saver!!! I ride MTB on a tiny, dusty, salty, sandy and windy island in the middle of the Atlantic. This is the solution, as it is very inconvenient and expensive to import products, particularly liquids.
Steve Excellent video. Until seeing this, the whole waxing process all seemed too involved for me to head down this track. However, your very practical and simplified advice has made me reconsider it to definitely giving it a go. Again, thanks
another good vid mate iv converted my bikes to wax its so much cleaner and the chain life is so much better and i live in wet region of the uk it really is best solution instead spending fortune on fancy dirty oils im still using the first lot of ptfe and wax a year later and i love it its clean my drivetrain looks butifull all nice shiny instead of horrible oily anyone looking to do this believe me i really love it and im cyclist i don't even own a car i have my 3 bikes hybrid mountain bike and road race bike
Just a quick warning. I used the method and it worked perfectly - thanks! However, when applying, I stupidly splashed the shellite carrier on my old shimano dura ace C24's and disolved one of the stickers! No problem, but be careful when applying the mixture!
chains get dirt because of electrostatic when the bicycle metalic frame moves and the air charges the frame and dust sticks to the frame very little . after several hours or days the black dirt becomes visible . so the grease helps.
after using wax one year, 2 bikes (for citi and road bike) I noticed only one coins: in winter, when is many salt on roads, chain start rusting. So then you need to clean chain after ride in that salti conditions
Thank you, quietest chain lube I have used (haven't tried crock pot waxing). The gear changing is silky smooth. I bought my parrifan wax beads from Spotlight, then mixed it into an old Pump water bottle, as tried a large applicator bottle but it leaked when shaking it.
OZ I use you was formula with PTFE. That is fantastic! About this video I have a question or observation I believe that naphtha can damage the bike paint. For that reason I’d stick with alcohol.
Is it okay to use this as only method, without hot waxing? Let's say i'm going to "pocket waxing" my chain with this mixture every 100km, like with those on the market (Momum, Pro Wax, etc).
What is Shellite. What can I buy in the uk? As it’s a carrier. Does that itself evaporate? Can I use petrol to mix with the parafin. Lastly, for the hot wax you didn’t give a new formula. Does that mean just go with the ptfe and paraffin wax as in the previous videos. Thanks for all your videos.
You can keep dissolving the wax flakes until the mix is saturated and will not dissolve any more. However a thicker lubricant will not flow into the chain links as readily.
I felt the same way..I wanted it a bit thicker, so I half filled my empty container with finely grated wax, then filled with shellite..shook the contents, and was roughly a third of the wax had not dissolved… So I filled a mug with hot water..to a temp where could just bear holding my fingers in, and immersed mix..leaving for five min… Took it out and wax remnants were dissolved… When it cools down and the mix settles, is a pool of highly liquid grease in the bottom..easily assimilated back into the carrier with a quick shake… Just like the bought ones you buy…😀
does this solution not lend itself to kind of a rust problem? Or is this viable for an everyday bike. for commuting and riding to shops etc.? thanks for your many tips!
Some time ago you posted a similar video on how to make your own liquid wax using paraffin, lamp oil and xylene. I tried that recipe and had difficulty in keeping it liquid with heating and this quit making it. Is this current recipe better in that regard and what led you to abandon the lamp oil and switch to naphtha?
Just last question. Let's suppose I used wax mixed with Naphtha. Before the next hot waxing, do I need to clean the chain using the 3-Step Cleaning process (petrol, degreaser, alcohol) ? Or is it enough to rinse it with hot water and then alcohol ?
Hi Oz, If I had waxed two chains (one for backup), should the second one need to be stored in any particular way until I can put it on (after 300Km). Or would you advice to wax only when a change is required?
@@stevenleffanue I just managed to dissolve almost 80% of an 8 inch candle into half a bottle of thinner. slowly but it does dissolve. Can't wait to try it out
Would generic paint thinner or acetone work as well? Could you please list some other solvents that work? I cant find naptha anywhere but i found some white spirit.
Read my earlier comments on the qestion. In short. acetone. In short, acetone doesn't dissolve paraffin wax as well as xylene. Paint thinner is a generic term to describe what white spirits do. Its, disadvatage is that it leaves an oily residue after evaporation. Oil attracts dust. Not an idea solution. First choice xylene. Second choice naptha.
So which is better Xylene or Shellite? Also if the Shellite dissolves the existing wax in the chain when you squirt it on is this not counterproductive? Please could you explain.
@@stevenleffanue Thanks, however if one cleans the chain (off the bike) in paraffin as I have done for years does one need to clean the paraffin off before immersing in the wax solution, as paraffin oil and paraffin wax are the same ingredient?
The ideal carrier has to respond to the following criteria: 1) It has to fully dissolve the paraffin wax; 2) It has to evaporate rather quickly after carrying the wax to the desired places; 3) It can't leave any unwanted residue after evaporation.
@@stevenleffanue ahh alright. thank you very much. i know somebody who is doing very hard sports like you and your cycling. the person is having trouble keeping up and was wondering if it was because of her food choice.
One important tip is, while dealing with these chemicals, make sure that you are far away from fire. This process using extremely combustible liquids. So handle them safely.
@@stevenleffanue thanks for the reply. So I thoroughly cleaned a drive train this afternoon.. so I thought. Used gasoline, some turpentine and some minor amount acetone I had left... That's what I had on hand. Look nice and clean and lower light conditions and the small amount of acetone barely showed any color. Enter the wax and a double broiler and the chain was in.. that's when I noticed a couple side lengths did not look as clean as I had hoped for. Poor light conditions and cannot put my specs on. Yet I did have to break each individual lengths to make the chain move freely. And so I'm hoping it'll perform, I'll give it a trial run. So where I'm going with all this is my previous oil-based lubricant self made had a good deal of slick 50 in it which contains Teflon. LOL.. possibly I'm good to go.. we'll see how the performance goes
@winterrider6668 yeh , Slick50 has ptfe but is mixed with oil so attracts dirt. Sounds like your clean and waxing worked if the links are stiff to start with.
Used your wax/teflon chain recipe as you suggested and it has been brilliant. Also loved your clear, direct instructions and demonstrations......all of which has been a fine example to absolutely everybody who wants to make an instructional video, well done......
I've been using your wax recipe for years now. I got a slow cooker and ordered the wax and ptfe powder. Never looked back. I also make the liquid version after scraping some wax out of the cooker. It's awesome stuff and saves me money so I can buy more bike stuff. Thanks for the recipes and videos. Keep up the good work. I'll be watching from sunny Scotland 👀 😂
I don't think we want, nor need to spread PTFE all over the place. I get along with my waxed chains WITHOUT that stuff just fine. Otherwise, good experimenting.
Pull the wick out with a pair of pliers and use a kitchen grater. I usually swap chains (one in the wax, one on the bike) at 500 km but last chain I did with the petrol/boiling water/wax/PTFE method gave me 1000 km before it got noisy. Wouldn't make a practice of it, just wanted to see. Great method, thanks!
My tip for this top-up lube: if the wax is not dissolving completely and the small bits of wax are clogging the nozzle, put the whole applicator bottle with the DIY lube into a cup of boiling hot water for a few minutes. The paraffin wax will dissolve into a clear solution.
2-3 years later still sticking to your Method Steve and it is working well. With candles and PTFE. It was a bit of search required, but just the most simple stick candles seemed to have the best wax. Very similar to those you have there. If anyone is not sure what kind of candles to pick, do not go for tea lights, white stick candles with no coating, the cheap stuff is the best here. Still not sure if this is for everyone. But for people who like to ride 20-30.000km a year this saves big money asides of the pleasure to always have a clean drive-train. thank you Steve!
I appreciate your thorough and informative videos on the chain lube topic. I had an experience recently that provided for me, and perhaps for your viewers, some pointers. I applied an expensive commercial wax lube product to my clean chain, and the lube just sat on the links with little penetration. I decided to add some solvent to the lube to give it some added fluidity. I tried a number of solvents and found that best was ACETONE. It made a nice milky sauce that was better at seeping into the pins and rollers. Here are reasons that ACETONE is better than NAPTHA (SHELLITE)... 1. ACETONE evaporates more quickly. 2. ACETONE is *far less toxic* than NAPTHA (SHELLITE).
Still the best lubricant for your chain. My slow cooker broke, and the wax in it lasted longer than the cooker. They stole my bike last year, and yet the wax remains. 🙃
Having used this recipe, I find that the liquid congeals in the bottle at colder temperatures. That can be a problem during the winters here in Northeast US. My solution is to put the bottle in a container with warm water, occasionally shaking it till the liquid thins and flows easily. However, when applying the warm liquid to a cold chain it causes the wax to harden on the chain, so my solution for that is to warm the chain using a hair dryer before applying the liquid. Experimenting with temperatures, you'll find you can get the wax to flow into the rollers before it sets up. The cooler temps can actually work in your favor. Thanks for all your waxing tips, Oz Cycle dude!
I started waxing my chain in the 70's while in high school. I have no recollection from where I got the idea. It worked great in New Jersey's cruddy winter and spring riding. I got my paraffin from huge bulk blocks left over from when we used to make sand candles.
I was doing this in 1979 -- my neighbor was an Engineer from Hewlett Packard and an avid cyclist. He showed me how. I worked at a bike shop and we didn't have any paraffin based lubes in those days.
Najdi komentář ot Eric S ... Píšou tam že použít se dá kerosene(petrolej) aceton a white spirits... Asi zkusím tu petrolej protože je nejlevnější :) u acetonu píšou že moc rychle mizi
I'm currently on the Squirt band wagon, I just make sure I thoroughly clean new chain before first application. Current low level chain is at just over 4,000km with no noticeable wear.
Coach , HUGE THANKS , i tried this method (naphtha) and it's very easy and very effective , it only took around 10 minutes to prepare and the result is very good , i used only naphtha and it dissolved the wax (with a bit of shaking) , applied it as you said , and a smooth ride we have , thanks a lot
Hello Oz, I just made the first batch of liquid wax to carry with me on long rides. Assuming that after 200 to 300 km I can feel the original wax wearing off and I apply the liquid wax (without PTFT) how far approximately can I go before applying again?
I have saved most of your old, original chain waxing related videos in a play-list Steve; and I think a summary like this was overdue. On each of my two main bikes I alternate two fully immersed waxed chains. On the few longer 300-400k+ (randonneuring) instances I've set out from home I've used the Isopropanol 'carry along' small bottle solution suggested from your earlier videos. I'm defintely keen to try the "no kettle" shellite approach here too. My only small critique of this video is under-playing the original conversion to a wax vs. oil/petroleum based chain routine. Things are a bit more involved for the first time proper waxing of a chain slicked in OEM/factory lube. I had tried waxing some years before first seeing your channel; and I found your emphasis on totally washing, rinsing and removing previous petroleum based lubes made all the difference. Still a fan of your approach and undermining the BS of the broader industry. Keep it up.
My friend was told by Clarence Street Cyclery that it was unnecessary , casual mechanic's suggestion . I ended up sterilizing his chain and starting from scratch with Holy Cow . I had this in stock .@@stevenleffanue
Been using your immersion method for 3 years now! But I still have some old bottles of squirt left. Thinking about using that for a multi day trip. Any thoughts vs the diy solution? Thx!
Have you seen other video when he devolve Ptfe/paraffin mix shavings with some isopropyl alcohol in a small bottle. I think that would be superior to just paraffin in a bottle.
As always thanks Steve. I have been using your “recipes” for hot wax with a slow cooker for 5+ years with great success for both road and mountain biking. The only issue I have is that winters are very cold here (Canada) and I find the wax results in poor shifting when cold, say less than -10C. I can only attribute this to the wax getting too hard. Is there a way to adjust the recipes, either hot wax or drip wax that would make it softer for cold temperatures? Maybe mix the paraffin wax with paraffin oil, or thin it out with Xylene? Any thought on what experiments I can try for cold weather? Cheers!
We do not have really cold winters, but 0 to -10C happen - depending on the mixture I started to get issues earlier. Wax does not last that long, shifting quality then decreases already after 80-120km and not the usual 450. I think it might make sense to run a winter chain - with a different mixture. My normal mix is 100% stick candles, that wax works well in most conditions, with PTFE powder. I tested mixing 30-50% of tea candles into the mix. Have to test around a bit, they seem to have a higher oil content. The "no stick" effect is slightly reduced though. But the higher oil content seems to work better in freezing temperatures. It is a bit of a compromise though and I would not want to contaminate my summer chains or wax mix with those candles, and it takes some experimenting to get the mixture just right.
Been using your technique for years, thank you. 2 comments. 1. I use a bain marie for the hot wax bath, ie a metal container on top of boiling water. Works fine, avoids having to use a bulky appliance. Does mean I do it in my kitchen though. 2. Afaik a lot of store candles are soy wax, not paraffin. I suspect soy wax also works, but idk if that's been tested. If it doesn't say on the label, idk how you can tell.
Hi Guys about to go wax for first time., this solution i guess is only needed for big tour rides right? Submerged re wax lasts 200Km approx and only needs clnea wrag to wipe down between rides right?
I love the feel and quietness of a freshly waxed chain (I use the immersion method with melted candle wax) but have been wanting good instruction on a freshen up drip application. Thanks for your clear and easy instructions. Will be trying this very soon!
I just waxed my chains for two bikes using the melted wax + PFTE, and looking forward to seeing the results. I'm really interested in how this liquid wax would work for "touch up" on the chain. Wouldn't the solvent used in this recipe also dissolve the wax previously on the chain? I'm just wondering how you get ahead with this process. Thanks for any feedback!
This is Gold! I like your recipes so much that I don't even bother waxing my chain on the pot anymore. This is all I use. Just wipe the dust off after the ride (If any), apply the lube, remove excess and you're done. I've made batches using IPA, OMS and Naphtha, all three performed flawlessly, IPA being my favorite.
I realise this was posted 5 months ago but, when you say IPA, are you referring to ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL? I have this in the garage (99.9% purity) so it would be great if I could use that as the carrier for the home made wax 👍
@@MrAnon-2024lets ask the app Perplexity: will paraffin dissolve in isopropylalcohol? Paraffin wax does not readily dissolve in isopropyl alcohol. Here are the key points: 1. Paraffin wax is non-polar, while isopropyl alcohol is polar. As a general rule, "like dissolves like", meaning non-polar substances dissolve better in non-polar solvents[1][4]. 2. Experiments have shown that only a very small amount of paraffin wax (about 0.5 grams) will dissolve in 100 mL of boiling isopropyl alcohol. The solution becomes cloudy upon cooling[3]. 3. To effectively dissolve paraffin wax, non-polar organic solvents are required. Some options include: - Naphtha or mineral spirits[2] - Toluene or xylene[4] - Vegetable oil (for small amounts)[4] 4. In histology procedures, isopropyl alcohol is sometimes used as a dehydrating agent before paraffin embedding, but an intermediate step using a solvent like xylene is required to allow the paraffin to properly infiltrate the tissue[5]. In summary, isopropyl alcohol is not an effective solvent for paraffin wax. Non-polar solvents are much better suited for dissolving paraffin. Citations: [1] Cleaning with Organic Solvents, Part 2: Iso-Paraffins and Modified ... finishingandcoating.com/index.php/cleaning-pretreatment/1576-cleaning-with-organic-solvents-part-2-iso-paraffins-and-modified-alcohols [2] Question for you who wax your chain - Page 6 - Bike Forums www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/1191601-question-you-who-wax-your-chain-6.html [3] RE: [Histonet] Isopropyl alcohol and paraffin wax - Histosearch www.histosearch.com/histonet/Sep03A/RE.HistonetIsopropylalcoh.html [4] How to dissolve candle wax (paraffin)? - Chemistry Stack Exchange chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/17109/how-to-dissolve-candle-wax-paraffin [5] Dehydrating and embedding in paraffin www.ronaldschulte.nl/en/dehydrating-and-embedding-in-paraffin.html
I've been enjoying smooth and clean chains following your hot wax method, but I strongly suggest not working with shellite in a kitchen due to the lingering odour. I'm triggered from multiday bushwalks of my youth with a shellite stove that tainted everything in the pack!
I assume that the excess of shaved wax keeps the solution near saturation, and shaking the bottle simply adds the energy needed to ensure complete saturation. Have you tried making the solution with molten wax and naptha in similar ratios? I'd think that the excess wax would precipitate out as fairly fine particles. If that's the case you could simply melt the wax in jar in a warm oven (170F) before adding it to a jar containing naptha. Along those lines, you could just take clean molten wax from your hotpot next time you refill it.
I was wondering... ZeroFrictionCycling says that their Super Secret liquid wax and UFO wax is 80% wax and 20% carrier (water). They say that this is important because after the carrier has evaporated, this would only leave a 20% empty space for dirt and grind to enter the chain. The other dry lube such as white lightning which only have a little wax to high amount of carrier performs very poorly in their tests. They are actually some of the worse chain lubes. I was wondering if you have tried your formula with a higher proportion of wax to carrier.
Hey Steve, Thanks fou your excellent explanation of your 'wax anywhere' recipe! I have just started immersion waxing my chains and have high expectations. With the 'wax anywhere' recipe I have one problem: Shellite of nafta is called petroleum ether or ligroïne here in the Netherlads but it is hard to come by. I can mail order it (not cheap) but it is not sold off the shelf. Do you have any suggestions for another solvent? Maybe lamp oil? I read that petroleum ether / nafta / ligroïne is also used as lamp oil... Best Paul PS O sorry I just read... Shellite equivalents.... benzine ,ligroin, petroleum ether ,white gasoline. Still unsure. Benzine or gasoline is fuel for cars right? I would not use that as lamp oil as it is highly flammable. But maybe I can stull use it to solve paraffine wax?
I have had the same problem here in Denmark, I can't find anything just like shellite. I tried acetone, which everybody says should work, but it just didn't dissolve the wax. I now use Isopropanol 99% (see other video by Steve), it has to be heated to dissolve the wax, but it works, it is easy to come by and it can be used for other purposes too.
Question for the GERMAN guys around here: Is Naphta / Shellite the stuff we know as REINIGUNGSBENZIN here? And of course: Thanks Oz cycle for the content, really great.
