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Because its 30 quid and I'll never come close to using it all, so it seems a waste.
Look at it another way - £30 for all the lube you'll ever need and a smooth chain all the time. Bargain.
Because the chain always seems well lubed I reckon the chain will last much longer. So it saves money on chains, and also since I am no longer annoyed as hell by the thought and sound of my chain being destroyed, I am much happier to ride in mud. All that is worth £25 for me which is what I paid.
Because its 30 quid and I’ll never come close to using it all, so it seems a waste.
True, and I did consider home brewing some as I think for bike rides you could use higher melting point paraffin which would stay even cleaner, at the expense of not lasting as long (as it would flake off).
And the costs of MoS2, PTFE, graphite powders make it prohibitive unless you went into business selling it.
The chain was still smooth after that ride. I washed the bike when I got home and the mud came off pretty easily. T then wiped the chain with an oily rag and rode it again the following day. Conditions were worse than before, but the chain didn't so clogged up, probably because it was much wetter on the second ride. I washed the bike again, this time while the mud was still wet and took the chain off when I got home to rewax. Twisting the chain didn't feel gritty. Washed the chain again, dried it off and dunked it in the wax for 20 minutes or so. I didn't wipe it down this time, just let it drain; I want to see what difference a decent coating on the outside makes on the next ride.
I haven’t used one but I can’t see a problem as rice cookers are designed to take water to 100C and that’s hot enough but not too hot.
That misses the point that it's rather hard to heat water beyond 100C without a very tight-fitting lid.
So how do you "clean your chain" if it's been putoline'd?
I see the pics from doomanic and adamT.
The putoline will be inside and on the chain doing its job.
But there is muck and grit on the surface, obviously sprayed off the tyres onto the chain you can't avoid that. Putoline rather than lube will mean less sticks to the chain.
But some does stick to the chain somewhat as in the pics - will it just gently wash off with a hose without removing the putoline?
I want to see what difference a decent coating on the outside makes on the next ride.
For me the outer bit flaked off and made the cassette and jockey wheels dirtier. But it might've made the whole thing longer lasting, I don't know, I didn't really evaluate it properly. I'd rather re-lube it slightly more often and wipe if it keeps things cleaner.
Just wash the outside of the chain with water.
doomaniac - it sounds like it didn't really need redoing. I leave mine until you can feel there is no more wax in the rollers
But some does stick to the chain somewhat as in the pics – will it just gently wash off with a hose without removing the putoline?
Pretty much. Hose pipe, maybe agitate the cassette with a brush. But I don't specifically wash it. Just leave it be. If you look at AdamT's pic, that's pretty much how it stays (although I'd say he's left more on than me). The cassette just turns grey with a thin coating of the wax/graphite.
Not entirely sure what some people expect, it's chain lube, it stays cleaner and lasts significantly longer than most other chain lubes. But it won't stop your mech from packing up with mud in a cross race!
Ive bought the Putolene. Ive bought the DFF from Argos.
Once i have immersed the chain, do i just pull it out and leave it to drip by hanging up? Or do i run a scraper down the chain to reclaim some more lube for the DFF?
“That misses the point that it’s rather hard to heat water beyond 100C without a very tight-fitting lid.”
But you’re missing the point that when cooking rice you end up with no water remaining.
breninbeener
You hang the chain up over the tin. The excess just drips off. Run it thru a cloth for an even cleaner chain. there should not be enough left to scrape off
Ive bought the Putolene. Ive bought the DFF from Argos.
Once i have immersed the chain, do i just pull it out and leave it to drip by hanging up? Or do i run a scraper down the chain to reclaim some more lube for the DFF?
I shake it in the basket to remove most of the excess, then flick it over to shake it off the other side.
Pick it out with a hook formed from an old spoke (coat hanger, whatever). Then (wearing appropriate work gloves) wipe it down with an old rag to remove as much excess as possible and leave it to cool (on the rag). Never been bothered about being economical with it. In 10 years I barely made a dent in my first tin.
After the first ride use a twig or a pick to remove excess from the jockey wheels and cassette. Then leave for months and months without having to worry about it.
Not Putoline but I've just finished my first ride after doing all of my chains with Molten Spped Wax, which I chose because it appears to be much cleaner than Putoline. After a very wet ride and wash off the chain looks perfect, time will tell how long it lasts though.
It's working well for me. Pic below is 300km of dirty road/towpath riding after the one above. The cassette is still pretty clean, but the chain is a bit squeaky so needs doing again. I wiped the chain once in that time (about 120km ago).
Rest of the bike is filthy despite guards.
Interesting process doing putoline for the first time. Very wed and muddy ride this morning, but a quiet and smooth chain at the end. Hurrah!
When the tin arrived, even though I knew it was a litre, the images on amazon don’t really do the size of the tin justice. To quote The Big Yin ****ing huge!
The process itself was pretty easy, chain is HOT when you take it out and it can be very messy, but after chain three we had the technique down pat and it was remarkably easy.
Only other comment is: my goodness, its tenacious stuff in its waxy state - once its on stuff, it gets bloody everywhere (trousers, spoon, dishwasher 🤦♂️
I use a small Rice Cooker and it's perfect (with Molten Speed Wax - I'm going to try this Putoline stuff though and the principles are the same).
A Rice Cooker will easily heat the wax to very thin/runny consistency - which is what you want for it to penetrate all the way into the pins and rollers. However, according to that Aussie bloke's vids on YouTube, you don't want to remove the chain from the cooker while the wax is that hot/runny, since the wax can run out too easily... you want it to stay in the pins and rollers, so let it cool off a bit first, by simply unplugging the cooker/fryer.
I let mine cool until the point where the wax looks like it's just about to turn from liquid back to soft wax, then I remove the chains and quick links.
What I do is periodically dip a screwdriver blade into the wax while it's cooling down to feel the consistency of it. When it's how you want it, remove your chains.
you need to be careful there, even relatively pure waxes are fractions and will solidify at different temperatures, if you let it go too far some fractions will solidify while others run off.
I really don’t think you’d want to let the Putoline cool with the chain in it - even taking the chain out with the Putoline at 150C+ plenty sticks to it!
@big_scot_nanny your garage is disturbingly clean, although the large screwdriver you've accessorised with Mole-grips is a nice touch.
I had another filthy ride today; 16 miles in FoD slop and the drivechian was totally silent throughout. Still waxy too, even after washing the bike.
What are folk using to prevent rust spots?
Been a Putoline user for a year or two now, with mixed but generally positive results so I've been lurking on this thread. Good to see people having success with it.
My last batch of chains haven't worked so well though. Brand new 11 speed chain for the gravel bike. Did a dry 200km road ride two weeks ago, and it was starting to squeak a bit this morning when I went out for a 100km ride on muddy roads/paths. It was quite wet, and by the time I got back the chain was making a racket.
I've tried various heating/soaking/cooling times but haven't settled on a method. These were in for a good 10 minutes with the wax properly hot, almost smoking, then left to cool slightly (I think it runs out otherwise) and then taken out, left to cool, excess wiped off, etc. I think with these either they came out while the oil was too hot and it's run out, or the factory coating has stopped it sticking properly. Suspect the later.
My first go lasted 3 rides totalling about 50 miles on the ebike. First two were muddy but nothing too bad, bike got a light hose off, didn't do much to the drivetrain. Thursday was minging, as wet as it gets, mud flung absolutely everywhere. Gave the whole bike a good going over with hose on medium pressure while mud was still liquid. Chain still sounded and felt OK at the end of the ride but hose was obviously. too much for it as inner links were turning orange the next morning so have redone it. Will see how that goes, might try letting it cool a bit as above next go. Had hoped it would last longer but it is smooth and easy to reapply so not too distraught. Must put overalls on though, got a spot on a new hoody which Vanish isn't shifting.
Interesting stuff peeps, I am tempted but burnt after .my chainsaw lube experiment 😁
since the wax can run out too easily… you want it to stay in the pins and rollers, so let it cool off a bit first, by simply unplugging the cooker/fryer
Surely the forces behind capillary action hold the molten wax in?
“Chain still sounded and felt OK at the end of the ride but hose was obviously. too much for it as inner links were turning orange the next morning so have redone it.”
I’ve just given it a quick wipe with some light oil whenever any rust appears - the Putoline is still doing its job on the actual lubrication.
. too much for it as inner links were turning orange the next morning so have redone it. Will see how that goes, might try letting it cool a bit as above next go. Had hoped it would last longer but it is smooth and easy to reapply so not too distraught. Must put overalls on though, got a spot on a new hoody which Vanish isn’t shifting.
Try running it thru an oily rag. the rollers might still be full of lube
OK, will try that next time
Chain still sounded and felt OK at the end of the ride but
I think that if it sounds ok then it's lubed - as said, the outer plates can get dry whilst the inner bits are still lubed. I just spray WD40 on a rag and wipe it down after a wash.
But you’re missing the point that when cooking rice you end up with no water remaining.
I doesn't really matter enough to pick this up again, but here I go anyway!
You were saying that rice cooker is perfect because it's doesn't heat water any higher than 100 degrees.
I was saying that water doesn't get any hotter than 100 degrees in any sort of anything unless it's under pressure, so you can't tell how hot oil or wax would get in a rice cooker just because it takes water to 100 degrees.
As a newbie to the Putoline game I'm curious if anyone else notices(d) a change in how noisy (or not so) their drivedrain is since the wax treatment?
My experience so far is that when running on the extremes of the cassette that there's much more chainring noise compared to previous regular lubes - so much so that on my first ride I stopped twice to check I hadn't mistakenly mismatched narrow / wide teeth with the chain!
All on bog standard XO eagle bits
Putolined all 5 bike chains last night. Was not that much hassle with a camping stove, some giant paperclips and a coat hanger.
Noticed this morning on my commute that my chain/drive train was almost completely silent!
As a newbie to the Putoline game I’m curious if anyone else notices(d) a change in how noisy (or not so) their drivedrain is since the wax treatment?
My experience so far is that when running on the extremes of the cassette that there’s much more chainring noise compared to previous regular lubes – so much so that on my first ride I stopped twice to check I hadn’t mistakenly mismatched narrow / wide teeth with the chain!
I usually find the opposite, it's quiet and seems to take the first couple of hours to 'bed in' until it sounds normal again, the shifting also loosens up a bit, starts off 'smooth' and then goes back to "dunk-click". Figured it was something to do with the rollers/links being packed with solid wax that the chain cant bend/twist as much as normal.
Having said that, I've not gotten around to doing my eagle drivechain yet, and the chainline is a bit mental and there's a lot of noise from the chain especially compared to the road bike anyway so you might be right.
@doomanic - lucky to have a kind of antechamber where 'the big workbench' sits before the cellar. Cellar itself is complete disaster zone, of course. The big screwdriver/molgrip effort is related to a stuck bolt issue mentioned on a previous thread. Still not solved.
I'm not surprised that putoline stays in the chain after a mucky ride, as mentioned, it seems to 'become one' with bloody everything it touches in the prep phase.
A side note, chatting to my FiL, who sponsors a speedway rider, and he said that it is the chain lube of choice for speedway. Good to know, those boys put some strain through their kit.
A side note, chatting to my FiL, who sponsors a speedway rider, and he said that it is the chain lube of choice for speedway. Good to know, those boys put some strain through their kit.
I read somewhere on a motorbike forum that the reason it's marketed at off road bikes and road bikes don't just get a non-o-ring chain to make use of it is mostly down to the power absorbed by the chain (fractions of a percent add upto several hundred watts I guess when you're talking 100hp+), a superbike chain get's warm which would soften the wax and fling it off. An off road bike gets naturally cooled by all the dirt / water / mud being flung at it!
Probably bollocks, but does give a reason why it's not universally adopted. Although I suspect big-bike chains being a PITA to split, and the increased likelihood of them doing long distances probably plays a part as well.
I've been tempted on waxing for a while now, for environmental reasons. Want to reduce use of chemicals I use when cleaning the chainset. This thread is inspiring me again to make the change.
Question though. Those waxing - what do you need to do to maintain it in between rewaxes?
Thanks...
Between waxing? Run it through an oily cloth occasionally
I sometimes top up with an aerosol motorcycle chain wax just to get me thru to the weekend when I can do it properly.
Question though. Those waxing – what do you need to do to maintain it in between rewaxes?
I think the proper dedicated answer to this is to fit the second or third chain that you waxed along with the first. Added benefit of prolonged chain life, less faff with melting the wax.
So, I've tried this Putoline out for a while now, on my absolutely filthy "cycle track" commute I was getting a week out of it before it needed a re-lube, commuting on the road is 3+ weeks, a recent absolute mud session on the CX bike of 50 miles = that even when the drive chain was clearly coated in copious amounts of mud the chain remained silent.
I'm sticking with it, I'd like to invest in a deep fat fryer and a second chain.
Why does having two chains make them last longer?
Because each chain is only being used 50% of the time?
😉
Recently started using this. Did a really muddy ride on the gravel bike couple of weeks ago.
Hosed all the mud off the chain, but when I went and have a look today, the drive train is still smooth and quiet but the exterior of the chain has gone all rusty. (should have wiped it dry)
I know people mentioned wiping it with an oily rag but think gt85 might be more effective as it would displace the water? Only worry is the gt85 might wash the putoline off? Anyone tried?
Wiping with an oily rag works very well. Or you could squirt GT85 on a rag and do the same.
gt85 on a rag works fine - don't spray directly on the chain as it washes the wax out
Putoline do a spray on wax which might be a good bet.
The big benefit of multiple chains is it takes the guesswork out of changing worn chains. You know a cassette will last three chains, so you swap between 3 chains every few rides and run it untill it stops shifting cleanly.
Slightly novel use for it, I soaked my new gear cables in putoline. Cant really tell if it makes a difference but figured that it should draw less gunk into the housing than the usual few drops of chain lube.