Chain Waxing Service

Bicycle Chain Wax Service

Riding a road, gravel, mountain, or ebike with a waxed chain will save you money and use less energy so you can ride faster and longer. The reduced friction of a waxed chain means more of your power is being transferred into speed, and you will get a much longer life out of your chain, cassette, and chainrings. The waxed chain is quieter and also does not collect dirt and grease so you can say goodbye to those greasy chain tatoos on your legs. 

Chain waxing requires significant work up front to not only clean the oil out of it
but also to rinse out the solvents used to remove the oil; only then will the molten
wax adhere to the metal. However, once the chain is cleaned and immersion-
waxed, cleaning it is a thing of the past. Since it doesn’t pick up dirt, you simply
wipe it with a clean rag and either apply a compatible wax-based drip lube on each
roller, or you remove the chain and dip it in molten wax again. In dry conditions,
expect to get 300-500 miles of smooth performance out of a dip-waxed chain.

The easiest way to get going with a waxed chain is to have somebody else clean
and wax it, and we will do that for you at Zinn Cycles. We also sell pre-waxed
chains, as well as the drip lubes compatible with a waxed chain. Once you have
enjoyed the benefits of riding a chain that is always, clean, silent, and lowest
friction, you won’t want to go back!

Read the full article by Lennard Zinn about the benefits of chain waxing including testing data.  https://zinncycles.com/immersion-chain-waxing/

Why Do it? 

It’s the cheapest way to gain speed while extending drivetrain life! Lennard Zinn’s Friction Facts chain-lube tests for Velo/VeloNews in 2013 demonstrated that the lowest-friction chain lubricant is paraffin wax soaked into the chain. Its lubricating effectiveness also makes the chain last longer than with any other lube. It won’t pick up dirt and keeps on lubricating, even in mud and sand.

What’s that about saving money?

Tests by ZeroFrictionCycling have shown that 10,000 kilometers of mixed-condition road riding will fry 5-7 chains lubricated with some expensive, high-end drip lubes, killing 5-7 cassettes at the same time, while a waxed chain will not yet be worn halfway to replacement time. Since you will wear out fewer chains and cassettes, and since no solvents are used after the initial cleaning, you will be minimizing your environmental impact while saving money.

Let Zinn Cycles wax your chains

Waxing chains requires special equipment, time, and is a messy process. You can purchase pre-waxed chains from our website for any drivetrain brand and speeds. We also offer chain waxing services for your existing chains. You can bring them into our shop or ship them to us for service. Maintenance is easy. As long as you don’t put any oil on your waxed chain, there’s not much to do. Ideally, you have multiple waxed chains that you can interchange every 300-400 miles (more if riding in the rain) for greatest drivetrain life. Or you can keep it fast and running clean between hot waxes by dripping on water-based wax lubes from Silca, Effetto Mariposa, CeramicSpeed, or Tru-Tension. We can re-wax your chain at any time.