Thinking of immersive waxing but unsure if it is for you? The below video’s should help decide. There are A LOT of incorrect myths as well as misconceptions with regards to immersive waxing. One thing we can assure you straight up with you needing to take the time to watch a quick vid – it is generally a time SAVER and much easier to maintain drivetrain vs most drip lubricants, as opposed to being a time consuming task it is often portrayed to be. There is a reason why immersive waxing has moved from being niche to very mainstream – to the great benefit of the cyclists bike and wallet! If unsure – watch the first video below. Any deeper questions not covered in the 2 vids below can be found on other Zero Friction cycling you tube videos (ie waxing and wet, waxing and cold), as well as online resources found in the instructions tab.
Have fun!
Immersive waxing – concise version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwXdeOBXlBQ&t=1s
Waxed life like a boss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVzhm-yTojk&t=799s
*Note that you can select this pre-prep treatment when purchasing chains from Zero Friction Cycling to save you the faffy part of correct solvent cleaning & solvent disposal. ZFC ultrasonic clean and silca hot melt wax gets rid of factory grease and perfect initial prep for a super fast chain out of the box*
*Also pls note ZFC sells products at recommended Australian RRP set by company. Some online sites may sell at prices which are literally $1 to $3 above landed price. This may work for high volume stores who can afford to make $1 per sale, but not for a small boutique store, where around 10% of revenue is put back into covering the cost of testing projects which provides knowledge for us all to use to save friction and wear on our drivetrains. By purchasing from ZFC, you are supporting the worlds most robust and referenced independent test model, and one where test results do not need to sit behind a paywall but open to all. If the manufacturers RRP for Australia price fits in your budget, your support is of course greatly appreciated*
SECRET CHAIN BLEND IS THE HOTTER AND WAXIER VERSION OF THE SUPER SECRET CHAIN LUBE!
SILCA Secret Chain Blend (Hot Wax) brings all of the super speed and silence of our Super Secret Chain Lube in a hot-melt wax-dipped chain. Secret Chain Blend also utilizes the world’s fastest, most lubricious additive, nano-scale Tungsten Di-Sulfide. NanoPlatelet WS2 has less than 1/3 the dynamic coefficient of friction of PTFE and 1/4 that of Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2).
The best part of this product is the submersible pouch!
Don’t want to dedicate a crock pot to hot-waxing your chain? Simply put the chain in the bag and immerse in hot water!
Consisting of highly refined laboratory-grade paraffin and a high concentration of 3 specific sizes of nano-scale Tungsten disulfide, Secret Chain Blend not only acts as a lubricant but actually acts to modify the surface of the chain, filling in all of the crevices of the metal with highly lubricious and wear-resistant tungsten disulfide particles. As a result, chains waxed with Secret Chain Blend and Secret Chain Lube will actually get faster over time and after repeated waxings.
Secret Chain Blend is the only hot wax lubricant to have a specifically matched and compatible drip wax which can be used to ‘top off’ the wax as needed, extending the duration between hot wax applications, and guaranteeing the quietest running drivetrain possible. Using the combination of Secret Chain Blend and Secret Chain Lube can dramatically extend the chain and drivetrain component life (up to 10x).
IT’S ALL IN THE BAG
Even if you are new to hot melt wax for your chain(s), we’ve made the process simple. You don’t need fancy equipment to melt the wax with chain submersion; although, if already have your method then use it. For newbies: you will need water, a pot, and a heating surface (like a stove), and it’s that easy.
Stove Top Method:
- Open Secret Chain Blend pouch.
- With a hanging hook, bent spoke, or zip tie attached to the chain and insert your completely clean chain into the pouch.
- Place the pouch with the chain into a pot of water (room temperature).
- Bring your pot of water to a just below boiling (below 100°C/212°F).
- You should start to see the wax melt. (Melting point is at 72°C / 162°F). If you face the transparent side of the pouch toward you, you can check the progress.
- Carefully remove pouch from water using tongs to avoid burns.
- Using the hanging hook, bent spoke, or zip tie, remove the chain from pouch. The chain will be really hot. Use caution.
- Allow the chain to dry (Tip: Hang the chain over the open pouch to allow the excess wax to return to the pouch for later use).
- Install chain.
Product Information from Zero Friction Cycling
ZFC invests an enormous amount of time and resources into finding the genuine best lubricants on the planet to stock, because your chain and its lubricant is the big huge low hanging fruit of either friction savings and very low drivetrain wear or big friction losses and high rate of drive train wear. Part of this is ZFC strives to also bring you the best independent information. At this time ZFC has NOT tested Silca HOT melt (testing is running behind, very busy) through the ZFC torture test, however after discussions with Josh Poertner and based on recently released performance data from Ceramic Speed test labs, Zero Friction cycling is extremely confident to stock this product as top low friction lubricant choice, as well as one that will save significant drive train wear (and of course immersive waxing is exceptionally clean).
ZFC note re the sous vide bag – *If at all possible just buy a $20 slow cooker from woollies. This is not fancy expensive equipment. When you use a swisher to swish chain in wax in a pot, you get vastly better distribution of the friction modifiers through the base wax. In the sous vide bag, they will settle to the bottom. Yes you can shake the heck out of bag, but this will still be inferior to swishing in a pot using a swisher tool (you can easily make one, you don’t need to buy one) and you still have to then fish chain out of bag. The $20 slow cooker and swisher method is easier and superior.
If have “keeping up with re-wax” anxiety then ZFC also stocks Silca Super Secret drip lube for top ups in between.
Re ultrasonics – Generally for a lot of reasons i wont go into here zfc does not recommend ultrasonics for most riders as they simply will not get value back / know how to use properly. Half the time they do a worse clean vs manual container method. However, IF you plan on using the Sous vide bag vs swishing in slow cooker, then an ultrasonic to aid friction modifier penetration MAY be of assistance – just be aware its a crapshoot out there if you buy cheap – sometimes units last one or two uses and you have no warranty support really if buy some rebranded chinese thing of alibaba, ebay etc. If you are going to buy, buy quality from an australian company so you have warranty support, and an industrial quality small but mighty unit with heating which you need for waxing / ultrasonic cleaning of wax chains. Refer to ultrasonic cleaning & race chain guide for further info on the latter.
I personally would just buy the $20 slow cooker unless you are going to really get into fully optimising / re-optimising dedicated wax race chains.
*Note this can also be used with Mspeedwax**
*Note you can also use Tru-Tension Tungsten All weather or Race Lube as great top up lube*
Or Ufo drip v1 or V2…. It really is good times for consumers nowadays, there is just no excuse for a dirty, high friction, fast wearing drivetrain!!!
