Used to swear by spray lube on chains, switched to drip wax after a gritty ride in some New Mexico dust last fall.

I fought the change for two years because drip wax sounded fussy, but after one ride where my chain sounded like a coffee grinder I finally tried it and now I'm never going back to that greasy mess, anyone else had a similar switch that caught you off guard?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade_dixon14d ago

Oh man, that gritty sound is the worst. I switched to drip wax last year after a dusty gravel ride just like that. Now I just clean the chain with a rag and a little simple green, then drip the wax on while I'm spinning the pedals backwards. Let it dry overnight and it's good for like two dirty rides before I need to redo it. Way less crud on my hands and pants.

fionanguyen14d ago

Respectfully, I've tried the drip wax route and had a different experience. On my gravel bike here in the Pacific Northwest, a single wet ride just turns that wax into a pasty mess that attracts more dirt than it repels. I found I had to reapply nearly every ride, and the wax buildup in the pulley wheels got pretty thick after a few weeks. Wet lube still seems to hold up better for me in muddy conditions, even if it does make a bigger mess when I clean it.

alex82014d ago

Fionanguyen's just out here proving wax isn't bulletproof... but neither is wet lube when it turns into a gritty paste after one dusty lap. Maybe we need a third option that's just "chain smoothie.