By Brian Maslach
Hot waxing bicycle chains dates back to the late 1800s—long before liquid lubricants existed. After fading into obscurity, it began making a comeback about 15 years ago.
For years, I’d heard cyclists rave about the benefits of wax over traditional chain lube. Still, I assumed the process was complicated and time-consuming. And since I didn’t know anyone personally who used it, waxing felt distant, or something that required more experimentation and effort than I was ready to invest.
That started to change when I discovered wax-based Smoove Chain Lube. Using it gave me my first real sense of what wax could do. I could run my fingers across the chain and they’d come away clean. Even wiping it down with a light-colored cloth showed surprisingly little grime.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that hot waxing takes those benefits even further.
The process itself is straightforward—and no more time-intensive than regularly cleaning and relubing a drivetrain with traditional products. In fact, I’ve found it to be less work overall. With far less buildup, the drivetrain simply doesn’t need the same level of cleaning.
Some professional mechanics might disagree, but in my experience, waxing has been both simpler and more efficient.
The Process
1. Thoroughly degrease the chain in an ultrasonic cleaner for 15 minutes using Sillca Chain Stripper and Wax Prep.
2. Remove from ultrasonic cleaner, rinse with water, and dry with a clean shop towel.
3. Roll chain tightly as shown below and place flat, on a bed of Sillca Secret Chain Blend - Hot Melt Wax.
Based on feedback from other riders, I went with Silca's Secret Chain Blend for this experiment.
A peek inside the pouch.
This image shows wax that has previously been heated, cooled, and re-solidified. If it's the first time using wax, line the bottom with an inch-deep layer of chain wax. I have learned not to wax the quick link as doing so makes it more difficult to get it to lock back into place.
4. Turn the Crock Pot on high and wait for the wax to melt. The chain sinks into the wax as it begins to melt.
5. Once the wax has melted completely and the chain is fully covered, give the Crock Pot a few light shakes and swirls (with the lid on it) to help any air bubbles still in the chain escape and allow the melted wax to fully coat the inside metal rollers.
6. Allow chain and wax to sit at least 5 more minutes before turning off the Crock Pot and letting the wax cool slightly, so the chain is easier to handle, but not so much that it begins to solidify.
7. I then put on my heavy duty shop gloves to protect my fingers from getting burnt by hot wax, and run the end of a metal clothes hanger through each end of the chain (as pictured). I found this pair, but you can buy them here.
8. Next, I hang it from my workstand above the open Crock Pot so any wax that drops off the chain falls into the pot for future use.
9. Let the chain cool to room temperature (overnight).
10. Once it has cooled, re-install it on the bike. The chain will be very stiff initially after waxing, and it will require a little more effort to run it through the deraileur pulleys and reinstall, but it's no big deal.
11. Once the chain is reinstalled, spin the cranks for 20-30 seconds to shed excess dried wax. It will take a few revolutions of the cranks to get it to shift somewhat smoothly as excess wax flakes off. You'll likely see these flakes on your chainstay and rear deraileur, but they easily brush off with a dry shop towel.
A sign of a recently waxed chain!
You may also notice the chain requires a quick ride around the block before it runs through the gears smoothly, but once this happens it's smoother, and cleaner, than any drivetrain I've had.
It's nice being able to grab the chain while working on the bike and not need to scrub your hands for 5 minutes to get them clean afterwards. Cat 5 tatoos are also a thing of the past! At this point there would need to be a major revolution in chain lubes to get me to give up waxing.
Have you made the switch? If so, I'd love to hear which waxes you've tried, as well as whether your process differs from mine. Please post your comments below.
How many miles are you able to get out of a waxing using the Endurance chip?
I love the Silca system and have converted all of our bikes to wax and have gone so far as to add the Endurance chip to get even more life out of the wax. I spend SO much less time dealing with the chains and as you stated never get the chain stamp on my calves anymore.
I did get a chain tray off of Ebay as the cable system from Silca was kind of a pain to get the chain to lay down. My plan is to buy a 2nd tray and then leave the tray in the wax as it cools, and lift it out when it’s mostly solid so I can have one tray of wax for new chains with strip chip and then another for rewaxing chains with the endurance chip.
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