Why Wax?
1. Wax is the fastest lube for your chain, period. Check out the Velo magazine test where simple paraffin beat 29 other industry lubes hands down:
Still not convinced? Take a look at Velo’s second test where Molten Speed Wax (now MSPEEDWAX) knocked off every competitor in the bunch (and that’s without our Race Powder that reduces friction another 6%!).
Velo Lube Test #2
2. Wax is the cleanest lube available. Go ahead, we dare you to drop your chain on your white 70’s shag carpet. Why is wax so clean? It’s not a liquid, greasy or oily so it doesn’t attract dirt, sand or other debris from the road or trail.
3. Wax is easy to apply. Waxing a chain is easy, just melt the wax in a crock pot; dip and agitate your chain with our Swisher Tool; and hang to cool. Kind of like a cheese fondue party.
4. Wax stays efficient in dirty, wet conditions. In the first Velo test, gravel, dirt and water were poured onto a chain before running the chain under a load of 250 watts for an hour. Amazingly, the chain waxed with paraffin actually got faster during the test! To quote Velo directly concerning paraffin: “it was completely unperturbed by water, sand and dirt; in fact, it was over 0.5 watts faster after being run for an hour in the grime.”
5. Wax saves time. If you total up the time spent cleaning grease off your drivetrain, hands, clothes, carpet, car and cat, you’ll realize just how efficient waxing is. The secret to saving time: wax two or more chains at once and use a master link for quick chain removal.
6. Wax increases drivetrain life. If you’re using traditional spray or drip lube on your chain, you’re making some outstanding industrial grinding paste. Wax, conversely, repels dirt and has an incredibly low coefficient of friction. Both of these attributes extend the life of chainrings, cassettes, derailleur pulleys and your hardworking chain.
7. Wax is safe for the environment. The paraffin we use in MSPEEDWAX is fully refined and contains less than ½% oil by weight (in other words, food grade paraffin). Remember how grandma canned vegetables with paraffin? This is the same stuff, only we mix it with WS
₂ and MoS
₂ in 2,000 lb. batches.
8. Wax lubricates completely. By submersing your chain in wax, every nook and cranny between pin, roller and plate is penetrated with wax. There is simply no better way to lubricate a chain. Waxing also cleans your chain at the same time.
9. Wax has impressive longevity. A waxed chain in dry road conditions can be ridden 500 miles or more with one waxing (we’ve had a test chain go over 800 miles before squeaking). We don’t recommend this long an interval - stick with around 350 to 400 miles - but it demonstrates how doggedly wax clings to metal surfaces. Note: wet conditions shorten the life of wax like any lube, just wax more often.
10. Wax is being used by your competitors! The performance difference between wax and traditional lubes is significant, as much as 4 watts. Input your own riding data at bikecalculator.com to estimate the time savings you can expect. Why give your competitors a head start each race?
11. Waxing hones your slow cooking culinary skills. Imagine how impressed mom will be with your next pot roast.