Tried waxing my chain every 200 miles and it got weirdly quiet

I switched from wet lube to hot wax dip last month on my commuter bike and did 600 miles on wax alone. The drivetrain barely picked up any grit and the chain looked brand new after a quick re-wax. Has anyone else noticed their shifting feel different after switching to wax compared to oil?

3 comments

3 Comments

murray.robert7d ago

Yeah, is it just me or does wax make shifting feel almost too smooth? I had the same thing on my gravel bike and it felt like the chain was gliding through the gears with no resistance at all. The lack of noise actually took me a few rides to get used to, but now I can't go back to greasy lube.

wright.leo7d ago

Honestly, I read this one article that tested wax vs oil and they said the same thing about shifting feeling weirdly crisp. It makes sense cause wax doesn't have that sticky drag that oil gives, so everything moves a little faster. Took me a good three rides to stop second guessing my shifts because it felt too smooth to be right. Once you get used to it though, oil just feels noisy and sloppy by comparison.

alice_allen57d ago

Switching to wax was the best $15 I ever spent on my drivetrain, @wright.leo. Just make sure you clean the chain real good first or the wax won't stick right and you'll be back to oil in a week.