Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Ah! The soft put down from the Trek dealer! This dog of yours won't
hunt. I don't "force feed" hot waxing to others, but I have done it
myself since 1990.

Here's my personal experience: I tried waxing solely in an attempt to
have a clean drive train. Unexpected benefits included longer cog,
chainring and chain life. Did shifting performance suffer? Never. My
bikes shift *at least* as well as any among the various groups I've
ridden with all those years.

No soft put-down intended, just personal experience. And didn't know you
were a "waxer."

Yes, and have been for many years. However, this year, I have decided
to experiment with other lubrication schemes to see what happens. Since
I'm anal enough to diary all my rides (mileage, avg. speed, weather,
terrain, etc.), I think I'll be able to get some useful data regarding
drivetrain wear (starting with a totally new drivetrain: cogs,
chainrings and chain).

If I can get an acceptably clean drivetrain allied to the kind of long
drivetrain life I've seen using wax, I'll happily relegate that pot of
wax to the dustbin.



I guess this is the ultimate "Your Mileage May Vary" sort of
thing. Our experiences are quite different.

Perhaps your customers who tried waxing didn't clear the excess wax out
of the chain prior to installation? Simply flexing the chain for a
minute drops alot of excess wax out of the chain. I could see how that
stuff might clog up the cogs a bit, especially in 9/10 SP cassettes.

When you solved those perceived shifting problems, did you just re-lube
the chain or was there more involved (e.g., cleaning excess wax out of
the cassette, re-adjusting the FD and RD, etc.)


Maybe it's those junk Trek bikes
we sell? :)


If you say so! ;-)


Anyway, we've gone too long without a serious disagreement on something, so
I'm relieved that the world now seems to be back in order again.


A return to normalcy!