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Yeah, that was my thought, on two fronts
1) The hotter the wax is, the runnier it will be, so it'll drain off easier when you take it out of the DFF/tin
2) The hotter the wax, the hotter the chain will get, which then stays hotter longer after you take it out, so the wax stays hotter for longer, and see 1)
I forgot to update....
So far I've done 80km of road on the mountain bike in a mix of dry, dry & dusty, wet conditions. All on the local very sandy trails and The chain is running perfectly, no noise or anything.
It has got a bit dirty but I think that's due to me not cleaning enough excess wax off while it was hot. And the first few rides were very dry and dusty.
I'm going to leave it completely alone though until it gets noisy and needs redoing.
The road bike I've only on 85 dry kms so far but that's running sweet as a nut too, and no oil being flung off on to the frame etc.
I'm a convert.
Gonna offer to do a mates commuter chain and see how he finds it, he'll do more bad weather miles than I will!
JB
DFF heating up right now to do my second chain. Will wipe it down this time.
Gave it a good wipe down this time and now it is lovely and clean with a slight waxy feel all over. Less sticky than a brand new chain.
According to earlier reports it's supposed to be sticky.
Putoline wax
Gary – depends what you mean? the stuff itself is filthy and you have to wipe it off the outside of the chain. It is very sticky so attracts dust – but once a thin layer of dust builds up then no more adheres and cassettes remain cleanBeing a solid wax it does not move around the chain and cassette. Once its on its on.
but I have now been using it for years. chain and cassette replacements are now really rare events whereas with ordinary lube I was replacing them often
@u1v1w1 the wax itself is sticky, kind of like soft bootpolish if that makes sense. When I did my first chain I just hung it up to drip off the excess. It left the chain with a visible thin brown layer of the wax and if you touched it you would still get sticky brown wax on your fingers and you could see it sticking to the cassette teeth.
When I did the second chain I imediately wiped it down well with a paper towel so it looked clean on the outsides. This has left the chain looking clean but with a slightly dull waxy silver looking shine and when you touch it it feels like the surface of a wax crayon and your hands remain clean. So, there is obviously still a very thin layer of wax on the surface which will hopefully prevent rusting but more importantly you know the wax will be where it needs to be inside the chain rollers.
Just bought a tub of Putoline, going to experiment a little when the wife and kids are out of the house...
I was just wondering, where I live, it sometimes gets cold in the winter. I have had squirt lube freeze on the chain, making it totally stiff and inflexible. Anyone had that happen using Putoline?
I am well and truly tired of the mess that Finish Line Wet or Muc Off Ceramic leaves.
I was just wondering, where I live, it sometimes gets cold in the winter. I have had squirt lube freeze on the chain, making it totally stiff and inflexible. Anyone had that happen using Putoline?
Well its melting point is so much higher than ambient I wouldn't expect anything to happen to it in cold weather but I have no direct experience of that. It's a solid, so I'd expect it to remain solid. However it's been around for yonks (decades?) so I'm sure Google has a view.
I'm sure someone up a few pages up there ^ talked of it being a bit stiff at first when it's really cold, but it's alright once it's got moving. Ooh-er vicar, etc etc
I have used it a few degrees below zero with no issues
I'm about to give it a go next week. a little concerned about the apparent stickiness of it. I was planning to let it drip dry but sounds like I'll need to wipe it.
to be honest if squirt lasted longer it would be perfect.
You leave the excess to drip off while its all hot. When cool a wipe over gets the rest off the outside. Not needed but makes it less messy
I wipe it when hot. Seems to come cleaner.
I just hang it up hot and leave it and not bother wiping off the remains.
Just trawled through 9 pages of lots of interesting points on either side of the debate! I'm now one of the many about to try Putoline and hoping for a good result. Chain lube is a constant annoyance for me - I'm forever worrying about having the wrong type on and either dry being washed off within a mile or wet attracting lots of crud!
I've done 2500km+ on my roadbike since lockdown, on the same chain with the same putoline treatment.
I was a bit concerned after getting caught in proper heavy rain and wet roads earlier this week, but the muck on the chain was just road grime and it wiped off easily with a workshop blue paper towel, and the inside of the chain still seems good. Another 75km done this am with no complaints from the drivetrain. I might redo it anyway but it doesn't really need it.
I think I'll leave mine as it is since wiping it down can push the road crud into the rollers. Shame they have been resurfacing roads with chipseal during the lock down, creates a lot of dust.
I am still riding my Salsa with the chain I Putolined before lockdown. The bike got a little muddy in some wet riding and I hosed it down; the hose cleaned all the outer crud from the chain and left it gleaming, however it was still well lubed and I did an 80km off road ride on it without re-lubing!
Thanks for all the advice - spent a surprisingly small amount of time de-greasing two chains, putting putoline into the cheap argos DFF and cooking the chain/wiping/cooling fitting. Dry first ride last night and all good. Pleased that the chain / jockey wheels still seem quite clean after.
I have a new chain to go on the road bike and a bit torn if I should run it on the factory grease first then degrease/putoline or give it a good rinse in petrol initially and add the wax back in.
After reading all nine pages I feel like i just have to comment. Thanks for all the advice everyone, when you google putoline and mountain bike this is the only thing that comes up.
No one else has been this nerdy with it all but I;m glad you all are. Works a treat!
I dont have a hose or garden so cleaning the bike is a pain but i allways had to try and clean the drivetrain so it isnt grinding and annoying but now i just wipe down the forks and chuck it in the spare room and just give it an overall clean about once a month now and everyhting runs smooth
Just Putolined my first brace of chains.
I had expected a fiery death, or at the very least hideous disfigurement due to burning hot wax. Actually it was quite a lot easier than I thought, and I didn't even get chain wax on anything but the chain. Even the smell was almost nonexistent!
If this works as you lot says it does, then I shal be Putolining from now on!
Gonna do the tandem chains today. Off on a 2 week tour so its nice to know they are freshly done and will need nothing for the few hundred miles we are riding.
What worries me is: Is the church of putoline the only mark I will leave on this world?
Only time will tell if its a mark- or a scar 🙂
I've got stains on the garage floor from hot wax that will now not be removed, so thats one mark for sure 🙂
Shall I erect a wee plaque upon your demise?
🙂
Another side benefit. I did my chain just before lockdown - admittedly it's been mostly (but not exclusively) dry riding. Week before last it got a little noisy, so I added a dash of Shimano wet and that appears to have re-flowed the original Putoline so it's been great for several more rides!
How good are the Cat4 tatoos from Putoline, or are they non existent?
Is front ring gear changing affected by stickiness/hardness of the wax? My Spa cycles tripple prefers something like Wickens.
I have no issues with front ring changing.
Reasonably clean for putting in car?
Ok, I'll admit it, I'm putoline curious as I'm fed up of reapplying squirt every 50km on the commuter and road bike.
Before I take the £50 plunge, can I just confirm that the sheer amount of wax in a putolined chain doesn't affect shifting on a 11-speed set up?
And sorry if this has already been asked - this thread is long!
Doesn't affect shifting
Doesn't affect efficiency despite feeling stiff at first
May need a decent wipe with WD40 on a rag after the first ride to get the excess off, also might have to pick some excess off the jockey wheels. De-grease the cassette and the whole drivetrain will stay mint for months without you having to touch it, even between bike cleanings.
Is much less messy than normal lube when putting in cars provided you've wiped off the excess. And it stays that way until you re-lube it too.
Thanks Molgrips, that's answered my two doubts about it!
Doesn't affect shifting on either my 11-spd road or 9-spd MTB setup; if anything they're smoother than ever. But as molgrips says, once it's cooled it's worth wiping down to take off the external excess (which doesn't remove the wax from inside the rollers where it's really working its magic)
New to it and about 5 rides in on the two bikes I've done via DFF. There has been a small amount of wax build up on the jockey wheels, hardly any on the chainring. Easy to flick off with a tool. General running and shifting (12spd) is v nice smooth and quiet.
V pleased with how clean the drivetrain is staying - not quite as spangly as a highly cleaned + dry lube one - but pretty clean looking.
I need to do mine again. Last done end of March 🙂
When I did the second chain I imediately wiped it down well with a paper towel so it looked clean on the outsides. This has left the chain looking clean but with a slightly dull waxy silver looking shine and when you touch it it feels like the surface of a wax crayon and your hands remain clean. So, there is obviously still a very thin layer of wax on the surface which will hopefully prevent rusting but more importantly you know the wax will be where it needs to be inside the chain rollers.
Good advice. I shall try that next time
Need to get on top of this for a wee mini-tour on the gravel bike.
Good for 700km with river crossings?
Yes
Sorry more questions.
So I've done 5 mtb rides since applied, about 100km - (some very very wet) and after I washed the bike down when you twisted the chain it felt gritty. Is this a good sign that you need to reapply
I've been washing the bike including drivetrain with muc off maybe this would be washing it out?
Still happy with it as thats way more than any other lube would have lasted but would be keen to get it to last longer if possible
Another question for all those on putoline...
My good bike only really gets used during the summertime. This summer in Glasgow has been pretty wet so I've been using wet lube. The bike is white with white cables. The frame is slowly turning black, the cables near the drive train are pretty much black already. This is driving me crazy!
Will putoline do anything to help this or does it leave black gunk smeared everywhere that under washing turns everything black as per wet lube?
I've not had that problem since changing to Putoline. The frames are about as spotless as you could hope for and anything that does appear cleans off easily enough. Even my cassette looks pretty good.
after I washed the bike down when you twisted the chain it felt gritty. Is this a good sign that you need to reapply
I live in a wet gritty place and I've not had that. When it's bad, what I do is direct the hose straight at the drive train and spin it, to wash the grit out. Because Putoline is so sticky, water alone does not wash it out, but it washes the grit out nicely. I do use cleaner on the rest of the bike - I don't put it on the drivetrain but I am not super careful.
does it leave black gunk smeared everywhere that under washing turns everything black as per wet lube?
No - that black gunk happens when wet lube sprays about. Wax lubes don't do this as they are waxy of course.
Here's my drivetrain about four months and ooh, 30-40 hours of riding. Largely in the dry but not exclusively as you can see. It is still silent and smooth at this point. It didn't really have any cleaning just a couple of hose-downs.
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At this point you can just hose the dirt off it and ride again, it still remains clean.
Cheers,I think I will take it off and redo. will also be able to tell better when off the bike if there's actually wax still in it.
I'm probably going too heavy on the washing as I have been using soap and giving it a scrub along with the rest of the bike which it probably doesn't need
"
Huh, so to compare with Molly's images, this is my drivetrain, with about the same useage, (3/4 months mostly dry with some recent rain) I use Juice Lubes Viking