Fremantle
· cycling ·
I rewaxed my bicycle chain this morning, for the first time since I switched to wax a bit over a month ago. It was so much easier than the first time! I was less involved than making a cup of coffee. In fact, I made coffee while I was waxing the chain! I had the moka pot and the waxy double-boiler on the stove at the same time.
Taking the chain off was simple, thanks to the new Wippermann Connex quick link. Then I wiped down the chain with a clean rag (there was not very much grime come off), and bundled the chain into the pyrex dish that I used last time, laying it on top of the solid wax in the bottom of the dish. Then that went into a saucepan and onto the stove, and within five minutes it'd all melted and the chain was immersed. I jiggled it around a bit with a wire, and the wax got a little bit grubbier when I did that. Then out to the shed, where I hoisted it out of the dish and hung it on a hook I put in the ceiling, dripping down into the dish.
The most time consuming part of the process was probably waiting for it to cool enough to handle. (Although I did idle over my coffee a bit I guess.) And then getting it back on to the bike is certainly the fiddliest part. That was helped by the hooks of the wear gauge.
All up, I'm still super glad to have switched to waxing. It does feel like cycling on butter!