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Because when we use it, it stays smooth and well lubed for ages. I use it specifically because it doesn’t get graunchy, lasts ages and deals with mud a thousand times better.
Can you define 'ages', i.e. miles/number of muddy or wet rides before you need to retry?
I'm a convert, just wondering how my experiences match up (probably getting c.150km, about a third of that 'wet', before needing to redo)
Random question, but as a Squirt user, giving that Squirt is wax based, presumably it can be used with Putoline for an occasional top-up when required?
My chain is rusty and graunchy after being in the shed all week.
All bikes self harm if ignored for a week. You need to ride more!
Can you define ‘ages’, i.e. miles/number of muddy or wet rides before you need to retry?
The good road bike has done 864km since the last waxing in February, the hack bike is currently on 264km since April. The hack gets used in the wet and on our local clay based bridleways, the good one on dry days and the occasional road spray when it rains before I have to return home.
MTB has done 164km since it's last waxing in April and not needing attention yet (this has had one wet ride).
Has anyone ever deep-fried their headset bearings (seals-off but otherwise just dunkin' donuts) ?
Has anyone ever deep-fried their headset bearings (seals-off but otherwise just dunkin’ donuts) ?
Nope, did a single speed freewheel though. Was lovely after.
butcher
Full MemberRandom question, but as a Squirt user, giving that Squirt is wax based, presumably it can be used with Putoline for an occasional top-up when required?
I did that, and it didn't "not work" ie didn't cause any problems but it didn't really do very much either. If I'm away somewhere and need a top-up I just use normal chain lube now, again doesn't cause any problems (except tends to look horrible) but seems to do more actual good than adding squirt did.
Ages for me is 500+ miles on the road bike before it starts to get shiny and you can hear the chain whirring round.
Off road, can get similar distances in summer. In winter it's completely conditions dependant.
It will wash off on one long wet ride if the conditions really are horrible.
On the other hand the first winter I had it was one of those years where it was -5 on every evening ride and the ground was frozen solid for months almost like summer conditions, but with more ice and that lasted November to Febuary with zero maintenance.
Can you define ‘ages’, i.e. miles/number of muddy or wet rides before you need to retry?
First winter it was 5-7 hours of properly muddy rides with grit and wet mud. I did the whole of he following summer with just two top ups of Shimano wet, and I was riding 5-8 hours a week.
Anyone had some black powder attracted to magnet when cleaning the chain coated by Putoline? There was a lot of magnetic dust on to the 1x1 inch magnet. Some clickbait articles say graphite has very weak magnetic properties. This can't be all metal from road grit and chain since it was used only for about 100 miles this time (decided to clean it early since I was unable to get rid of excess wax during last winter due to low temperatures in the shed).
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2019/feb/moving-graphite-particles-liquid-using-magnetism
No, cos putting a magnet near my chain is not something I've ever done 🙂
Actually, that's not true, I used to have one of those Polar power meters back in the day.
I am still having a good experience with Revolube. Bit faffy to apply first time, but then just a drop per link every 300km or so. Over last couple of months I have ridden in some wet, muddy, dusty and damp conditions and it doesn’t seem to gum up, attract dirt or wash off. A wipe over with a cloth and a dry brush of the jockey wheels, cassette and chainring every now and again and it’s all good.
I was talking about putting a magnet in a white spirit after taking out the chain after cleaning. So no magnets near the chain.
why are you cleaning the chain in white spirit? its completely unneeded
I am still having a good experience with Revolube.
Is that the clear stuff on my facebook feed? I'm tempted.
To avoid contamination of the wax fallowed by a brake cleaner.
To avoid contamination of the wax fallowed by a brake cleaner.
You're overdoing it, I've got a new tin of putoline, and a 15 year old tin. I bought the new one as I was concerned about contamination with various cleaners, oils, and water.
They're indistinguishable from each other (other than there's only about 650ml of the old one left).
@molgrips. It’s an amber lube, I think I did see an advert for it on FB though.
It’s the quietest, cleanest line I have ever used.
To avoid contamination of the wax fallowed by a brake cleaner.
all you need to do is put the chain straight from the bike into the wax. No need to clean it at all beforehand. The wax does it ( maybe an initial clean before the first treatment)
My tin of wax ends up full of grit at the bottom and the chain is grit free.
New putoliner here.. consistency of the tin I have is more of a very thick grease- I was able to spoon it out the tin but it was difficult. Easy to stick a screw driver in it though. Is that normal?
Recommendation not to clean a chain. Does this also apply to one that has had squirt on it or a synthetic wet Lube like purple extreme
New putoliner here.. consistency of the tin I have is more of a very thick grease- I was able to spoon it out the tin but it was difficult. Easy to stick a screw driver in it though. Is that normal?
Yes
Recommendation not to clean a chain. Does this also apply to one that has had squirt on it or a synthetic wet Lube like purple extreme
If its dirty and oily perhaps otherwise no if its clean and dry
I never clean the chain regardless what it's had on it, just whack it in the deep fat fryer.
Dunno about the consistency thing though, had it been in a hot place before you opened it?
Edit: listen to TJ he's the putoline authority.
My impression was somewhere between lard and boot polish. I did try melting it out of one fryer into another but I ended up doing most of it with a spoon.
Cleaning - I don't know, I don't bother and get good results.
I have recently come up with a theory that if you wipe the excess off after the first ride it actually makes it last longer.
I'm also looking at re-filling old Pritt-sticks with it so I can wipe it on the chain then use a heat gun to melt it in. I'll let you know how that goes.
Edit: listen to TJ he’s the putoline authority
Only because I've been using it longer. someone on here ( Daz?) got right into the science of it
Thanks! So wipe the sides of the chain after application to stop the crap sticking to it?
yes
Re: Cleaning the chain
I'm a recent convert back to it as I ended up with 20litres of 'not really clean enough to risk in the car' diesel.
It does seem to make a difference to how the putoline sticks to the chain, throwing the chain + crap into the fryer seemed to result in a thick layer of putoliney gunk on the chain at any temperature. Washing it first seems to result in an almost clean chain coming out of the fryer, there's a few blobs where it collects, but it's a lot cleaner.
I'm guessing this may be down to riding location? Maybe some areas the rain/mud/grit washes putoline out leaving it 'clean' and others contaminates/dilutes the wax. Or maybe I was topping up less inbetween waxes so it wasn't contaminated with other lubes.
On this .. I just stumbled upon cyclowax - as far as I can tell it's just a regular beauty wax heater like this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifestance-Digital-Professional-See-Through-Aluminum/dp/B09T6BQD9F/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1BZNLQH8PK1K&keywords=wax+heater&qid=1678796322&s=beauty&sprefix=wax+heater%2Cbeauty%2C74&sr=1-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
but packaged up (I do quite like the chain hanger; I'm sure I could make one / find one for not much money) as a premium product.
So; (to cut to the chase) - has anyone tried a wax heater like this instead of the crock pot / fryer / putoline on the gas bbq mini hob options ?
I never put anything else on the chain. It gets dry on the outside quite quickly but there is still loads of wax left in the rollers where it is needed.
My tin of wax ends up full of grit at the bottom and the chain is grit free.
How do you know the tin is full of grit at the bottom? Just curious.
Fwiw, I use Molten Speed Wax and tend to rinse the chain in hot water before re-waxing, if it's really filthy I'll give it a swish around in a pan of boiling water and dry with a hair-dryer before waxing again. More to keep the wax in the pot as uncontaminated as I can so it lasts longer.
Works for me anyway. It's ace having a chain that doesn't leave greasy black marks on everything it touches.
I also use MSP to wax my legs... actually I don't, but it might be a plan. If I wanted to wax my legs I guess 🙂
So; (to cut to the chase) – has anyone tried a wax heater like this instead of the crock pot / fryer / putoline on the gas bbq mini hob options ?
Nope, but the fryer option comes with a basket, which is really handy for giving the chain a jiggle when it's in the wax, getting it out again and draining off the excess whilst it's still warm.
How do you know the tin is full of grit at the bottom? Just curious.
You can feel it as you stir the chain around. after a decades use there was quite an amount When I got a new tin I decanted the good wax left in the old tin and could see the grit
Based on what TJ has said over several threads I just Putoline it, let it drain in the basket then hang on a nail to cool before refitting.
The chain has plenty of black wax on the outside which might attract muck, but I don’t care about that. It has plenty of wax in the rollers, which is demonstrated by my fatbike chain now lasting about 15-20 winter rides in the Surrey Hills finest grinding paste before sounding rough, instead of 1-2 rides using other lubes.
You can feel it as you stir the chain around.
Another plus (if it matters) of the fryer and basket - you're not stirring/jiggling the chain around in the 'grit layer' at the bottom.
The basket is important. You jiggle the chain around like chips and it helps the wax into the crevices and helps dislodge crud.
It seems to make a big difference whether you clean the chain before first application. I didn't - chain was stiff afterwards and stretched quickly again, as if using lube.
With a new chain, give it several rinses in white spirit/petrol (until the liquid is clear). That makes the putoline stick properly to the metal. After that, it shouldn't matter.
I might have said this earlier in this thread, there seems to be basically 2 camps now, cleaners and not-cleaners. I'm a cleaner, it just hurts my soul to put a dirty chain in the frier, and conversely I like seeing how manky the paraffin gets even with what looks like a clean chain. But I've a pretty strong feeling that it's not actually necessary or even necessarily helpful. For the chain at least, it's definitely helpful for my soul.
How do you clean a chain that's been Putolene'd, assuming you're not intending on using Putolene in the future?
I'm a more recent convert to cleaning before waxing, I just throw it in a big 1l tub half filled with "miscellaneous flammable liquids of doom" (paraffin, white spirit, petrol, diesel, some brake fluid in there) taken from the waste bottle. Shake it to get the external wax off, leave for a bit to penetrate, shake again to flush the fax out the links, leave again, shake one last time.
Obviously if you ever intended to use one of the lubes that are more picky about the chains cleanliness you'd probably need to do and extra rinse with (or just start with) clean petrol, then degreaser and boiling water.
So just did a short local ride after putolining my chain after dinner. Far to early for any conclusions, but I noticed the chain was really noisy. A metallic clacking noise like some turn of the century loom.
I assume it's because the wax is on the inside of the chain and there is effectively no lubrication between the chain rollers and the casette or chainring.
Does anyone else get the same?
Nope, tbh I've never really noticed any difference in noise except for the first few minutes as it breaks itself in and the chain loosens up- you should have a wax coating everywhere after all not just inside
Does anyone else get the same?
Wow, no. My chain is very quiet at first then after a ride or two it becomes simply quite quiet.
Sounds like you've threaded the chain wrongly through the rear mech plates...
Not at all - as above, possibly not got the chain threaded through the pulleys correctly(I did that once, going outside the guard on the lower pulley as it's hard to see, and it was noisy lke you describe) it's really quiet generally. If you leave your chain to cool in the basket like that it looks like you may have too much on the outside if anything, I always hang mine up hot and then drag it gently through a cloth to get all the excess off. Otherwise it just collects around the jockey wheels and chain ring.
I'm chain wax curious.
Has anyone tried it and not got on with it and has a set up for sale?
A couple of folk on here did not get on with it and I am afraid I bought the tin of one of them.
Live anywhere near me in Edinburgh and I will do a chain for you