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This is about Friction.....or simply put when two surfaces rub together, it creates a opposing force that requires energy to both overcome and create forward movement.     

Why does this matter...well for us, this is bad when it comes to wanting to go fast.  

On a standard bike drivetrain, the chain normally has  9 contact points which therefore create "friction"...now given the chain on average has about 55 links (110 pins), lets take an average cadence of 90rpm these combined would be causing over 44,000 contact points per minute.  Its a lot isn't it??  If you then think about it, each one of those frictions points effectively requires an amount of energy to move, and that energy is produced by you, the rider, in the form of watts.  Therefore, some of the power you produce is being used to simply turn the chain of the bike and not being sent to the wheels (or the road) to generate speed.

Our aim therefore, to go faster, is to reduce the amount of "watts" lost to the drivetrain.   And we do this by maximising the efficiency of a chain by using a "lubricant" which reduces the friction at all those contact points. The lower the friction, the less energy required to make them move.  

Testing has shown that a chain using a hot wax lubricant, combined with clean drivertrain (cassette, jockey wheels and chain rings) a rider can reduce the watts lost by as much as 10-15watts.   So if you want to go faster....and guarantee the power you produce is being used to create speed....you need to switch to a waxed chain for those rides that matter!!

Click here to go faster....

These days there are some excellent drip lubes and some are starting to bridge the gap to immersive waxing, but all drip lubes have a double edged sword that make it very difficult to match waxing for day in day out low friction & wear as well as cleanliness. 

Whilst some drip lubes may perform extremely well and low friction when prepped on perfectly cleaned chain for a race – typically lab testing / manufacturer claims reflect this situation only in their performance claims.  

Most – I would say 99.99% of riders do not perfectly clean their chain every 4 hours. They drip on more lube and wipe chain. For the vast majority of drip lubes, real world friction and those lab results quickly reside in the different postcodes. 

In short – with wet lubes airborne dust and contamination sticks on contact so friction will start to increase from km zero. 

The top wax emulsion lubes can be highly contamination resistant for a good stretch, but the chain is operating completely exposed, contamination is inevitable, and once it is pressed into set wax, it is land locked in there – adding more lube and wiping will not shift the contamination that has penetrated and been pressed into set lube. 

“Dry lubes” like Muc-Off Dry, Finish Line Dry, White Lightning Clean ride & similar contain so little lubricant by volume that you pretty much need to add half a bottle every ride to have half a chance of keeping the chain somewhat lubricated inside where it is needed. 

Immersive waxing completely flush cleans and re-coats chain with a solid coating of super slippery wax. 

For nearly 500km’s after a re-wax, the chain metal is basically left out of it as all parts are sliding on a coating of solid super slippery wax. Simply stay on top of re-wax intervals and change to fresh wax at recommended periods, and you have race day low friction every day, exceptionally low wear rates, along with next to no ongoing drive train cleaning maintenance. 

There is a reason why you so often read drip lube manufacturers claiming things like “immersive waxing performance in a bottle” – and that is because immersive waxing with the top known wax (mspeedwax is current proven best) is by its very nature is extraordinarily difficult for a drip lube to match over multiple re-lubes. 

Information & Writing Credits 

Zero Friction Cycling  https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au

Cycling Tips https://cyclingtips.com