Sure that would be nice, but that ain't happening on these kind of roads, it would be a huge effort to do that. It was on the road up to Col de la Bonette, it is relatively narrow. I also don't think this is a transit pass, only tourists and joy riders go up there really. And lots of cyclists. The road did not have much traffic at all today, and everybody seemed very careful.
If it's just for joy riding it's fine then. I'm more critical of valley roads where there is a lot of traffic. It's not because cars have reigned supreme there for decades there that we shouldn't adapt the infrastructure for bikes.
It's a lot of work for sure. But it's sustainable development.
The hot wax was gone from the chain in under 200 miles.
Wow, that makes it functionally useless imo. My current approach is really simple:
Clean chain with a cleaning tool - 1-2 min
Rinse and dry with a paper towel - 30s
Add oil lube and dry with a towel - 30s
I do that whenever I remember (and check the chain stretch), and it seems to work pretty well. I keep a bottle of Simple Green for cleaner and dilute ~50/50, then lube with whatever my LBS sells. It seems to do a pretty good job...
I don't think they applied the wax right though, just hitting it with some WD40 isn't sufficient to completely clean off all the grease. Most people soak the chain in degreaser or even use one of those heated vibrating cleaners to really knock everything off and once it's completely clean/dry, then submerge it in a wax bath for at least a half hour to make sure it gets into everything.
Yeah, that could lead to pre-mature flaking of the wax. But the question is, is it closer to 200 miles, or the average time most people do between lubes (I do the shorter of 500 miles, every season, or if I went on a nasty wet ride).
Idk, it probably depends on where you ride. I mostly ride on dry bike paths, and I always store my bike inside. If I were riding on wet roads/muddy paths, I'd probably lube more often.
Silca makes a pretty good degreaser that's one step and is pretty effective. It won't work as good if the chain is caked with crap and well used, but it's quite robust and will certainly do a good job with a newer chain. Anything more is overkill. It takes like 15 minutes too, start to finish, and if you do a good enough job you will only need to wash with hot water in the future.
Perversely, while it would be easier for someone with no equipment to maintain in their home, it would be a bigger pain in the ass for a bike shop here to maintain than a typical cargo bike would be.
It makes me sad that these sorts of things never get released in the US, even on a "pay twice the price to get one for you and fund one for the needy" kind of scheme. We want them too!
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