Road Cycling

[Junglist]

It isn't i'd also get the cheaper wax and drop that degreaser.

I do need some new tools, where do people normally get their park tools from?

Do you have any preferred brand of wax? I just like the idea of using the degreaser because one of the biggest faffs that stopped me from trying waxing earlier was stripping the chains.

You'll also need a tool to remove the quick link in future. Some tools do both in one, but i think mine are separate.

Ooh good spot, that could've been a frustrating experience lol.

Though this one says it's for the install and removal of the links.

 

[SoliD]

dont need degreaser, just wash it with boiling wax and the wax will melt off, then get some cheap white spirit from screwfix and chuck it in a jar with it. done for £2.

I used molten speed wax before but the price isn't that much cheaper nowe i've looked.

 

[Junglist]

I assume you mean wash the brand new chain is boiling water and the factory grease will melt off?

 

[fez]

My experience is that the factory grease is pretty hard to shift effectively. I used white spirit and methylated spirit along with some other degreaser and it still didn't get the chain as clean as it probably should be.

 

[Junglist]

Yeah, again why I like the easy option. If it costs £4 per chain but saves messing around with chemicals, I'm all for it.

 

[SoliD]

Ah sorry thought you were talking about refreshes, i'll leave this as I just persisted iwth the cheap stuff, although when I did my chain waxing the chains already had a few hundred miles on them.

 

[Martynt74]

Guess it makes senses to try it. Ow and then you’ve got the learning out the way for the new bike.

 

[Junglist]

I like the thought of a quiet drivetrain, more so indoors because outdoors I often have headphones in anyway, and not getting gunky fingers if you ever need to touch your chain. Plus I'm a cheap ******* so if it prolongs the lifespan of things I buy it also seems appearing.

The giant con is that I am also lazy. I'm sure if I have 2 chains on rotation it's probably not that much work since the chain only takes a minute or so to install. Hmm. I'll make my mind up tomorrow and if I go for it at least it can all be delivered before the weekend... where it's going to rain!

 

[Roady]

A slow cooker generally doesn't boil - or certainly not quickly! Takes them 1-2 hours to reach a 'simmer' which I would guess is 70-80 degrees? The cheaper the slow cooker likely the lower quality the heating element/pot so they take even longer - or don't get that hot. Many of them have a 'High' setting, which does boil (100 degrees) but can take 2+ hours to get there, but I am talking meals, so really 1-2L of fluid compared to what you're heating for the wax. Most of them will not tell you how hot they get. I've no idea the thermal properties needed for the wax - nor how you would get the corresponding details for an off the shelf slow cooker.

We've got 2, a Crock-Pot and a bigger Morphy Richards - the MR definately get hotter faster and reaches a higher temperature, even with it being bigger than the other. Makes much nicer meals for things which need the higher temperatures (like pasta bake) compared to the other, so we only tend to use that for currys and things which take longer.

It isn't i'd also get the cheaper wax and drop that degreaser.

I do need some new tools, where do people normally get their park tools from?

Sigma, but will always shop around as they're not the cheapest for many things...

Did you ever do the bath thing when stripping components? Pretty sure it wasn't a slow cooker, sonic bath/Sonic cleaner thing? Something like that.

Plus I'm a cheap ******* so if it prolongs the lifespan of things I buy it also seems appearing.

So spending £110 on a SINGLE chain & waxing stuff?!

I can buy 2-3 years worth of chains (4-5) for that and my lube while spending far less time faffing around...

I don't look after my chains so see less life out of them than someone who does (who would still be spending half the time you will be waxing chains). For me a 'winter' chain I generally see 5-6 months life, a summer into winter chain will last me 7-8 months. £25 gets you a good chain. £45 gets you the gold 'ultra light' version which although it looks great, may not last as long.

 

[Junglist]

I said a cheap *******, I never claimed to follow logic or sense! Well, it's £99 for the slowcooker, wax, degreaser and pliers.

I've been debating all day long now lol. Leaning on the side of "just buy it and you'll have it then".

The whole having a clean drivetrain and not black gunk everywhere is quite appealing

 

[SoliD]

A slow cooker generally doesn't boil - or certainly not quickly! Takes them 1-2 hours to reach a 'simmer' which I would guess is 70-80 degrees? The cheaper the slow cooker likely the lower quality the heating element/pot so they take even longer - or don't get that hot. Many of them have a 'High' setting, which does boil (100 degrees) but can take 2+ hours to get there, but I am talking meals, so really 1-2L of fluid compared to what you're heating for the wax. Most of them will not tell you how hot they get. I've no idea the thermal properties needed for the wax - nor how you would get the corresponding details for an off the shelf slow cooker.

We've got 2, a Crock-Pot and a bigger Morphy Richards - the MR definately get hotter faster and reaches a higher temperature, even with it being bigger than the other. Makes much nicer meals for things which need the higher temperatures (like pasta bake) compared to the other, so we only tend to use that for currys and things which take longer.


Sigma, but will always shop around as they're not the cheapest for many things...

Did you ever do the bath thing when stripping components? Pretty sure it wasn't a slow cooker, sonic bath/Sonic cleaner thing? Something like that.

I had a slow cooker until I left it on for 2 months with my wax in need to get a new one, although think it'll be quicker and easier to just use an old pan with a thermometer.

Yes sonic bath here roady, works a treat with white spirit.

Ordered from amazon for park tools stuff in the end. managed to lose my quick link pliers somewhere in my garage, so thought i'd buy that and 5 other tools whilst I was at it

 

[Junglist]

Part of me can't wait to move house just so I can build a dedicated corner of a shed into a space to do bike maintenance. The pain cave isn't really big enough to work in comfortably

Decided I will give the wax a go. Though my idea of going up to a 32t at the back has been ruined as apparently my short cage derailleurs only supports up to 30t.... Which is worrying because I have 11-32 on my trainer

So I'll stick to a 11-30 at least the chain sizing is already completed

 

[fez]

Part of me can't wait to move house just so I can build a dedicated corner of a shed into a space to do bike maintenance. The pain cave isn't really big enough to work in comfortably

Decided I will give the wax a go. Though my idea of going up to a 32t at the back has been ruined as apparently my short cage derailleurs only supports up to 30t.... Which is worrying because I have 11-32 on my trainer

So I'll stick to a 11-30 at least the chain sizing is already completed

You'll be fine with a short cage and 32t capacity wise. The issue would be chain length as you said.

 

[Junglist]

You'll be fine with a short cage and 32t capacity wise. The issue would be chain length as you said.

I actually just checked and it’s a 11-28 on my trainer. No idea why I thought it was an 11-32.

I’ll just play it safe and get the same 11-30 cassette just in case - just rule out something rude I can break lol

 

[fez]

I actually just checked and it’s a 11-28 on my trainer. No idea why I thought it was an 11-32.

I’ll just play it safe and get the same 11-30 cassette just in case - just rule out something rude I can break lol

I would guess that you probably want the same on your bike and trainer simply from an indexing/b-tension point of view at any rate.

You pushing an 11-30? Beast. I regularly regret that I thought I wasn't a noodle and run 36-34 as my easiest gear.

 

[Junglist]

I would guess that you probably want the same on your bike and trainer simply from an indexing/b-tension point of view at any rate.

You pushing an 11-30? Beast. I regularly regret that I thought I wasn't a noodle and run 36-34 as my easiest gear.

Yeah, which makes me wonder. I'm sure the cassette on my bike needs to be replaced but it doesn't look too bad. Will it do much harm if I replace the 11-28 on the trainer with the 11-30 currently on my bike or will that end up ruining the new chain?

52/36 up front with a 11-30 on the back. It was bought in ignorance but I have found myself on a few hills while already in 36x30 and looking at my rear wheel as if to say "Are you sure there isn't another gear back there... somewhere?!"

It's why I'm very tempted to go 50/34 and 11-34 on the new bike. I imagine it would make hills feel so much nicer more manageable!

Edit: Also found this actual wax melter on Amazon for £24 which seems like a much more sensible option than a slow cooker. Plus a few of the reviews are from people doing bike chains

 

[fez]

Yeah, which makes me wonder. I'm sure the cassette on my bike needs to be replaced but it doesn't look too bad. Will it do much harm if I replace the 11-28 on the trainer with the 11-30 currently on my bike or will that end up ruining the new chain?

First think you need to do is get a chain checker. Without that you don't really know much until things start looking proper ******. And no, its not a good idea at all to run a new chain on a worn cassette. You'll end up with a bad situation where your worn cassette buggers your chain faster than it should then you replace the cassette and the cassette gets worn by the buggered chain too quickly.

You should be replacing the chain at 0.5% wear which will be a point where you don't notice anything wrong with your drivetrain at all. That should mean you get 2-3 chains per cassette as long as you keep on top of lubrication/cleaning. Just be careful if you buy one of the latest park tool chain checkers. I don't know if the one I bought was fake or just damaged but it was suggesting that all my chains were worn and that a brand new chain was on the cusp of being 0.5% worn. I had an old checker that suggested it was completely wrong so I returned it but just be aware.

52/36 up front with a 11-30 on the back. It was bought in ignorance but I have found myself on a few hills while already in 36x30 and looking at my rear wheel as if to say "Are you sure there isn't another gear back there... somewhere?!"

It's why I'm very tempted to go 50/34 and 11-34 on the new bike. I imagine it would make hills feel so much nicer more managable!

Ouch! I regret the 52/36 with a 34 at the back regularly. I can't imagine pushing a 30 at the back on the hills around here. You don't exactly live on the flats either! Its quite disheartening when you hit the end of the range and hope there are another 3 gears. On di2 (sorry) you get a beep when you hit the end of the range but I still occasionally try to shift again. You know, just in case the computer was wrong.

And yes, I would go 11-34 at the back on your new bike no matter what you do at the front. I'm still debating whether I move back to 50-34 when my chainrings need replacing. I like the extra top end but I spend quite a lot of my time in the smaller ring at the front.

I spend 38% of my time in the big ring and 62% in the small.

 

[Junglist]

It's definitely way too late for the bits I have on my bike at the moment! But I'll grab a chain checker at the end of the month. I have to decide if I'm going to do the order from Sigma soon so I can get it all delivered tomorrow.

Just had a look and a 105 11-30 cassette is only £35 on Sigma so I'll just buy and replace the trainer cassette. Not in a huge rush to do that as it's still too warm for turbo sessions but once I get the feeling I'm going back indoors, I'll grab one then.

Oh if I knew then what I know now I'd have went for the easiest gearing option, not that you get a choice with Canyon. I enjoy hills but I don't enjoy the suffering I go through once I get to the lowest gear. I'm under no illusion that a 34x34 would make climbing easy but just being able to find a nice cadence without feeling like I'm mashing would be a game changer.

As soon as I know a hill is coming i'm straight into the small ring lol.

This is probably my favourite local-ish hill (about 40 minutes away) but I find myself wishing for lower gears by the time I reach the false flat a couple of hundred meters into it

 

[fez]

This is probably my favourite local-ish hill (about 40 minutes away) but I find myself wishing for lower gears by the time I reach the false flat a couple of hundred meters into it

Thats a good old hill! Just looked at the KOM and its that damned Andrew Feather

 

[Junglist]

Thats a good old hill! Just looked at the KOM and its that damned Andrew Feather

He basically has every hill around me ticked off! There's so many nice little hills (ok when does a hill become a climb? Because i just call anything i struggle on a climb lol) There's one slight bump in the road that I have beat him on, where he was probably on the phone or something, and I take wear it as badge of honour