Silca Super Secret Lube 3000km review

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by MikeD

In my experience, wax washes off when exposed to water. It's a poor lube/doesn’t last long if you ride in wet conditions.

I always thought that about dry lube like White Lightening when it first came out

[ripvanrando]

I have been using the Silca melted wax product for a few months. It seems to last a little longer than MSW and the viscosity seems different, maybe more bees wax or something in it. Dunno. No long rain rides yet. Better than MSW? No idea but very good stuff

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

That would be a miracle, wax is insoluble in water. Melted wax let to dry on the chain will not wash off. The zerofriction tests prove it as does the velonews link. I have done quite a few very long rides in bad rain and the wax was a great lube.

Hot water removes wax from a chain.

Water can wash oil based lube from a chain. Oil isn't soluble in water either, so solubility is irrelevant.

There's plenty of evidence that wax doesn't hold up in the rain https://jimlangley.blogspot.com/2009...ain-lubes.html

A: Good questions, guys. Whether or not a wax-based bicycle lube, or basic paraffin will work as a bicycle chain lube depends mostly on where and how you ride. Wax is best for relatively dry, clean climates and on bikes that aren't ridden in the rain or wet.

Even the ZFC site you quoted says that after a wet ride, the chain should be wiped down and rewaxed, as the chain will rust.

[joshatsilca]

Originally Posted by MikeD

In my experience, wax washes off when exposed to water. It's a poor lube/doesn’t last long if you ride in wet conditions.

This is dependant on the wax used and what additives are in it. For drip waxes, the carrier evaporates and water has a path of ingress into the chain, so none of them do as well in the wet as hot melt, but the data show that proper hot melt is untouchable in wet (block 4) and wet/muddy (block 6) contidions:

[drewskey]

I can chime in on extreme conditions usage.

This past year’s Rule of 3 gravel race was a total weather monster.
Raining, single track, gravel, heavy clay-based soils and super sandy soils then finally somewhat dry single track. Everything was mud.

It was both operator and equipment hell. I’ll load a photo of post-race bike.

Most everyone’s bike sounded like it wanted to fall apart after 10 miles. I couldn’t hear my chain until around mile 75.

I washed my bike, cleaned my chain and relubed and it still has almost no wear.

[ripvanrando]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Hot water removes wax from a chain.

Water can wash oil based lube from a chain. Oil isn't soluble in water either, so solubility is irrelevant.

There's plenty of evidence that wax doesn't hold up in the rain https://jimlangley.blogspot.com/2009...ain-lubes.html

A: Good questions, guys. Whether or not a wax-based bicycle lube, or basic paraffin will work as a bicycle chain lube depends mostly on where and how you ride. Wax is best for relatively dry, clean climates and on bikes that aren't ridden in the rain or wet.

Even the ZFC site you quoted says that after a wet ride, the chain should be wiped down and rewaxed, as the chain will rust.

Ok.

I get 10,000 miles before the chain is at 0.4, less than halfway to recommended replacement. That is about where I replace. I do not do much off road riding but I do a decent amount of riding in the rain, for instance, I never skip a training session because it is raining.

I am interested to learn or understand the difference from Silca to MSW. Both are excellent in all conditions. If Josh's wax does last longer than MSW, it would be well worth the extra money. I have a hard time extrapolating from the zerofriction to real world results....But it is really great so far.

[weaponsgrade]

Great review. I picked up a bottle of Super Secret mostly to help extend mileage between hot waxings especially on trips. One thing I noticed is that it's very drippy. I haven't found the proper speed at which the cranks should be rotated while dripping the wax onto the chain such that the drips end up on the rollers instead of falling in between.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by drewskey

I can chime in on extreme conditions usage.

This past year’s Rule of 3 gravel race was a total weather monster.
Raining, single track, gravel, heavy clay-based soils and super sandy soils then finally somewhat dry single track. Everything was mud.

It was both operator and equipment hell. I’ll load a photo of post-race bike.

Most everyone’s bike sounded like it wanted to fall apart after 10 miles. I couldn’t hear my chain until around mile 75.

I washed my bike, cleaned my chain and relubed and it still has almost no wear.

HOLY **** you should sell that photo as a testimonial. I didn't catch which product?

Nuts

[drewskey]

charliedid, it was the super secret, but on a new chain Dura Ace chain that had just been cleaned, left in the tub of super secret for 24 hours (with LOTS of shaking), and then hung up for a couple of months, only being brought out day-of.

And yeah, Josh - i'll trade you a photo and testimonial for another jar

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by drewskey

charliedid, it was the super secret, but on a new chain Dura Ace chain that had just been cleaned, left in the tub of super secret for 24 hours (with LOTS of shaking), and then hung up for a couple of months, only being brought out day-of.

And yeah, Josh - i'll trade you a photo and testimonial for another jar

Nice!

[jimoots]

Firstly I'm glad my review was well received and has added some value for you guys

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

Waxed chains are the most impervious to water. Shown in many tests.

https://moltenspeedwax.com/pages/velo-lube-test-1

200-300km is the time to rewax or apply drip wax.

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/w...017/12/MSW.pdf

All of the literature around wax is that as soon as it is exposed to water / wet riding, you need to clean it off and rewax. I haven't gone down the full tilt immersive wax pathway because of that... I get you can 'rack up' chains ready for use, I may go down that pathway after I get through my supply of Super Secret. I ride so much (and like you, I don't skip a ride or training session because of rain) that the water resistance piece - and having to rewax after rain - has always scared me off.

Originally Posted by pgrizzwald

Curious along with the poster above…what are your thoughts on Synergetic vs Super Secret? I’ve been running super secret for the majority of this past year. Very happy with it performance wise, but it does seem to require more frequent application than advertised.

As noted, I found Synergetic similar to NFS in that it was very quiet/smooth but also got dirty quickly and I did find that in mixed weather conditions (with similar level of chain cleaning) that the chains hit the 0.5 marker within a few thousand kilometers.

If you are in dry and non dusty conditions it would be a fine lube IMO.

Originally Posted by 9tubes

Then I pedal backwards and run it through my fingers. I wear nitrile gloves for that. The tungsten disulfide is inert and has no negative health attributes from my research, but OTOH these are nano-sized metal particles that will not biodegrade ever. I don't need them in my pores even if they're inert.

Thanks for the call out on the gloves and a valid point to consider. I will do the same in future.

Originally Posted by weaponsgrade

One thing I noticed is that it's very drippy. I haven't found the proper speed at which the cranks should be rotated while dripping the wax onto the chain such that the drips end up on the rollers instead of falling in between.

My steps are:

1. Shake bottle
2. Undo nozzle to about halfway
3. With chain at relatively straight chain line in big ring, drip onto top section of chain as backpedalling
4. After one revolution of entire chain (i.e. one drop per roller) massage in with fingers

That process tends to not leave any of the solution on the floor, it only gets there if i clumsily miss the chain when squeezing.

I do find it absolutely imperative to be applying onto a clean chain OR a chain that has previous build up of super secret (i assume previous build up of MSW would be find too). When attempting to apply on top of any other lubes that haven't been fully removed (via turps/metho) it literally slides right off the chain.

Originally Posted by 9tubes

I'm waiting on research to see if cassettes and chainrings last longer too.

The ZFC site is a bit of a rabbit warren - so, so, so much information but it is tucked away deep in pages, PDF's, etc - but this page here has cost to run per 10,000km

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/

[NHAero]

How much solvent are you folks going through? And it looks as though Silca wants three separate types, sequentially. Can any of it be run through a coffee filter and re-used? Or do you do several chains at once in each container?

[jimoots]

Originally Posted by NHAero

How much solvent are you folks going through? And it looks as though Silca wants three separate types, sequentially. Can any of it be run through a coffee filter and re-used? Or do you do several chains at once in each container?

600ml of turps, 400ml of metho per chain, I don’t reuse as the baths are visibly mucky. This is on a new chain only, you would need a lot more for a dirty used chain.

Steps I followed are in the guide below

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/wax-at-home/

CLEANING NEW CHAINS WITH FACTORY GREASE

*recently there was a marginal gains podcast covering the issue of hydrogen embrittlement and people soaking chains too long / running in ultrasonics too long – and in the end recommended 2 mins shaking in a gatorade bottle. Unfortunately factory grease can be stubborn stuff, and alas 2 mins in a gatorade bottle just wont do it. I have prepped over 3000 chains for commercial sale and in all that time i have had to replace two (2) snapped chains at time of writing this process – so I am rather confident my recommended process does not risk any corrosive stress, and ensures a perfect prep for lube ever time*

1. Soak factory grease chain in bath of mineral turps for 10 to 15 mins in a closed container (200ml per chain) then shake vigourously for about 30 secs.
2. Move into 2 x agitated baths of 2mins per bath of mineral turps(YBN, Shimano). Campy chains normally need an extra round, sram chains normally need 2 to 3 extra rounds thanks to their factory glue they apply. ZFC does not at this time recommend KMC chains for waxing / wax based lubes as have found their coatings tend to repel wax lubes, leading to very short treatment lifespans which has chains feeling and sounding very dry very quickly – this has also led to very short chain lifespans despite running the best know lubricant choices.
3. Move into 2 x agitated baths of methylated spirits (this is basically pure alcohol and ensures no film left behind from cleaning).
4. Dry, wax or apply top drip lube.

[Likes2ridefar]

I don’t use anywhere near that to clean my chains, fwiw, and only use bio degreaser and denatured alcohol.

[nobuseri]

[QUOTE=drewskey;3006121]


If there were ever a pic that could sell a product, this would be it. I bought some Silca wax, but I have been too lazy to set it up. This will get me moving, this off season, for sure.