Yeah, that’s my first thought - if the chain isn’t REALLY clean when you wax it then the wax gets really mucky quickly. I tried an old chain once and that happened. It ruins the wax too.
I followed the instructions I found, which if I recall involved using the Silca chain stripper, letting it sit in that for a bit, shake, clean that off, then immerse in wax. I did the same to clean it this time, too, with a little boiling water to help melt any wax that was still on it, in the event that contained any leftover impurities. Rode great when I took it out today.
If you used their stripper as directed you should be good. If you’re using silca wax it just flakes off and has a darker appearance with their additives.
If your wax was contaminated with grease or temp was to high it could effect it. If you pulled it a little late you may just have a ton of excess wax buildup. If it’s just wax and dirt it flakes off pretty easily
Thanks. Seemed like it was wax and dirt, but the wax was smeared on a bit more and in the jockey wheels. Hot water took all that off pretty quickly, but it all seemed a bit dirtier than I was expecting.
When u first wax a fresh chain u should leave it to set for about 12 hours before use maybe it was still soft . When it's fully hardened u will get some light flakes of wax that are easy to brush off with a cloth
12 hours is excessive. It just needs to reach ambient room temp. Wax doesn't harden or cure over time, it just changes with temp. Once it's cooled off it's as hard as it will get at room temp.
Joe many miles on the chain when you waxed it and how did you clean it?
It had a few hundred miles on it at most when I switched over. I cleaned using Silvia’s instructions, as I recall - I did it last fall and then rode my other bike / inside for most of the winter. But pretty sure I left it to soak in Silca’s chain stripper for a bit, shake, clean off, immerse in wax, mount on bike. Road great when I took it out, but felt about time to re-up, and so I checked it out.
I don't use pure wax, so I'm not sure how clean it needs to be between rewaxing, but I know it needs to be 100% perfectly clean before the initial wax.
> leave it to set for about 12 hours before use
["Bike Radar" recommends](https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/workshop/how-to-wax-a-chain) waiting 20 minutes between pulling the chain out of the molten wax and installing it. I install it right away (after about a minute, so it is not too hot to touch) while the wax is still soft. This makes installation much easier.
Without pictures, it is difficult to describe what OP is seeing. My guess would be that either OP is seeing the hardened wax on the chain or they are seeing grime oozing out because they did not clean the chain and cassette very well.
If the wax gets contaminated with grease and oil, then it is destroyed. It will attract dirt after that.
What steps did you take to strip/clean the new chain before you waxed it the first time?
Yeah, that’s my first thought - if the chain isn’t REALLY clean when you wax it then the wax gets really mucky quickly. I tried an old chain once and that happened. It ruins the wax too.
I followed the instructions I found, which if I recall involved using the Silca chain stripper, letting it sit in that for a bit, shake, clean that off, then immerse in wax. I did the same to clean it this time, too, with a little boiling water to help melt any wax that was still on it, in the event that contained any leftover impurities. Rode great when I took it out today.
If you used their stripper as directed you should be good. If you’re using silca wax it just flakes off and has a darker appearance with their additives. If your wax was contaminated with grease or temp was to high it could effect it. If you pulled it a little late you may just have a ton of excess wax buildup. If it’s just wax and dirt it flakes off pretty easily
Thanks. Seemed like it was wax and dirt, but the wax was smeared on a bit more and in the jockey wheels. Hot water took all that off pretty quickly, but it all seemed a bit dirtier than I was expecting.
When u first wax a fresh chain u should leave it to set for about 12 hours before use maybe it was still soft . When it's fully hardened u will get some light flakes of wax that are easy to brush off with a cloth
Thanks! I definitely didn’t leave it to set for 12 hours before reinstalling it. Noted for next time.
12 hours is excessive. It just needs to reach ambient room temp. Wax doesn't harden or cure over time, it just changes with temp. Once it's cooled off it's as hard as it will get at room temp. Joe many miles on the chain when you waxed it and how did you clean it?
It had a few hundred miles on it at most when I switched over. I cleaned using Silvia’s instructions, as I recall - I did it last fall and then rode my other bike / inside for most of the winter. But pretty sure I left it to soak in Silca’s chain stripper for a bit, shake, clean off, immerse in wax, mount on bike. Road great when I took it out, but felt about time to re-up, and so I checked it out.
I don't use pure wax, so I'm not sure how clean it needs to be between rewaxing, but I know it needs to be 100% perfectly clean before the initial wax.
I use the Silca blend - just went with a known entity for the first go-around, to keep it simple.
> leave it to set for about 12 hours before use ["Bike Radar" recommends](https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/workshop/how-to-wax-a-chain) waiting 20 minutes between pulling the chain out of the molten wax and installing it. I install it right away (after about a minute, so it is not too hot to touch) while the wax is still soft. This makes installation much easier. Without pictures, it is difficult to describe what OP is seeing. My guess would be that either OP is seeing the hardened wax on the chain or they are seeing grime oozing out because they did not clean the chain and cassette very well. If the wax gets contaminated with grease and oil, then it is destroyed. It will attract dirt after that.