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mountaindave

I went ahead and tried a paraffin dip for a new chain on my '88 Specialized Sirrus because I ride it on dirt roads and it got the oil terribly dirty and gunky. I had heard mixed reviews about it, but I have to say that I am fairly impressed so far. I put it on last fall, rode it about 40 miles. Rode it another 50 last weekend and it hasn't squeaked a bit. It also had no rust whatsoever sitting over the winter in the garage.

I got a small (2 quart?) crock pot, melted down a bar of regular old paraffin, soaked the chain for about five minutes, then hung it above the crock pot to drip and cool.

I have one of those SRAM P-link chains (quick disconnect links) and I had to clean the linkages out a bit to get them to go together. I had to clean off a bit of excess paraffin that flaked off, but once I did that, it has worked great.

I also love not having a dirty chain, cassette, and chainrings. Keeps me cleaner as well. Wink

To be fair, I haven't tried dusty dirt roads yet...

Anyone else tried paraffin?

MD

BTW - Shimano Hyperglide SIS is the best darned indexed shifting system I have EVER owned. Granted, I haven't tried everything yet, but I sure love Hyperglide! Why the heck did they change things? Plus, when the cogs wear out, you can just flip'em over and use the other side!

sandranian · Site Admin

Years ago I tried a parafin-like lubricant. I think it was "White Lightning" or some such stuff. I thought it was great at first, but then it turned goopy and difficult to deal with. I went back to good-old Tri-Flo.

mountaindave

That's why chose the dip method. Once it cools down it's solid and not goopy at all.

I chose a crockpot, but you could just as easily used an old tin can or a pan from the thrift store to melt the paraffin in.

sandranian · Site Admin

I just found it got too messy and was too difficult to clean again. It was nice at first though.

mountaindave

We'll see how it goes cleaning the paraffin chain when it needs it. I had heard the same information about white lightning that you did which is why I avoided it. Supposedly it didn't hold up well in rain. The paraffin hasn't had a full workout in a a true downpour yet, so I'll report back when that happens.