Waxing your chain is all the rage, but is it really worth it? If you talk about waxed chains with road riders, you will get all sorts of praise and some disdain. The praise is normally how clean and efficient the chain is and the reluctancy is the effort and fiddling around thats involved. Hot wax typically requires removing chain from bike and dipping it in hot wax, some manufacturers try make this hot procedure as easy as possible, , but this is where Formula 100 Fast Wax comes in, I decided to investigate and test out some new liquid drip wax on the market called Fast Wax by Formula100.

My initial impressions of Formula100 Fast Wax were by large an easy to setup, easy to use wax system, a lot of which is because it’s very similar to the process of oiling a chain, which we are all familar with. To make an existing (oil) chain wax compatibile, you have to clean the chain. This is by far the messiest part. Formula100 also sell a degreaser product to make this conversion easy, but I din’t have it at the time, so I did some manual work. If you are using an existing chain the setup will require you to remove the chain from the bike, meaning you will need to install a new quick-link $15 then you clean the chain , put it back on the bike and apply some new Fast Wax, easy. I’m also impressed by the price, $17 will get you in the door to trying the system.

A bit of history: Formula 100 USA is an arm of a 50yr old global company, Dr Wack.. dating back to 1975 with the founding of Dr. O.K. Wack Chemie GmbH in Ingolstadt, Germany, a company developing innovative cleaning alternatives for hard metal surfaces. Following the business’s success, ZESTRON was created in 1990 and is dedicated to developing precision cleaning solutions for the electronics industry. Bike focused F100 USA is based and branded in California. , so they have been around for a while and leverage the capabilities of the parents, yet new to United States of America in Bike category.

In Use: I have been using Formula100 fast wax now for over 800 miles on my road / gravel bike. From install and re upping the wax. Shifts were smooth, chain stayed clean and gnerally no issues, for people who havent used wax before you will note that wax is a little noisier than oil by nature, it’s less dampening for the sound. I found I could generally get 200miles on a road bike before the gears got noisy and the wax needed to re-up or reapply some fast wax. (you don’t need to strip it again, just add more wax) Reapplication was quick and easy and I often did it the night before a ride, letting it sit and penetrate overnight.
The large advantage of the waxed type products is they are very clean and “dry”, they don’t hold onto dirt and you can touch your chain. Your drivetrain generally stays nice and clean and your cassette always looks fresh. Traditionally wax will come off with water easier than oil will, thus if you get caught out in a soaker, you will need to reapply for your next ride. So if you are always riding it the wet, this and wax products might not be the choice for you.

Specs & Price

1. Fast Wax in Two sizes – 50ml $17 , 120ml $25, link here:
2. Degreaser for first time new setup – $17: link here
3. Bike Wash (cleaner) and also intermittent wax chain cleaner $18 : link here

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Unlike chain oil, Fast wax is clean to the touch and generally offers a more efficient transfer of power
When compared to hotwax, there is less replacing links = cheaper. Links can be $12-15 each time and add up.
Resists gravel dust well
Economic – A bottle goes a long way, I found it takes less than 4grams per application	Lasts about the same as oil but doesn’t last as long as hotwax. Fast Wax lasts ~150-180miles between top ups.. (Hotwaxing lasts 250-300)
Easy & Fast maintenance – after the initial cleaning the drip wax can be topped up reapplied without removing the chain.	The initial prep cleaning is a little more labor-some than say a hot chain wax with strip chip, where you dunk it in the tank. Post application, solidified wax chunks will fall from chain, unlike an oil.
Low cost, compared to hotwax (17 applications per 50ml bottle, 40 per 120ml = $1 per application small bottle, and $0.63 per application on a large)
Making initial setup made easy with F100 chain & drivetrain degreaser– $17 to set up a new chain
Apartment friendly, no garage needed

MFG soundbites

I spoke with the guys at F100, here’s some real soundbites:

• What is the challenge when suspending wax in a solution?
  • I’m sending this off to the chemists for a full answer, …
• How is the product different than say a Silca Secret Sauce Drip Wax?
  • While both are drip waxes, ours stands apart in a few ways. Our aim was to create a wax that was quick and easy to apply while providing strong results in all aspects of how a chain lube should perform. Silca’s drip wax does perform well in several areas but not in all. We crafted Fast Wax to provide competitive or better performance in friction, operating temperatures and conditions, fling off/adhesion, dirt resistance, etc. We were able to deliver on all of those.
• The bonding technology to the chain, you don’t have to give away your trade secrets but what makes the F100 different in bonding than others?
  • You are correct that that is very much a trade secret, but I can share that this comes down to how our lubes (including Fast Wax) deeply penetrate into the chain and bond performance agents to the porous surface of the metal. This means that even as the lube wears away, your chain is still protected by this bonded layer of friction and anti-corrosion components. 
• Does it contain Tungsten Disulphide?
  • Asking our chemists. Not certain I’ll be able to divulge anything here.
• Other than not having a hot system… is the #1 selling point ease of use? and if so how do you see this different from other products out there?
  • Ease of use is definitely a major selling point but, as I mentioned, it is more about getting a lube that performs extremely well in all factors versus a few while still being simple to apply. While road and gravel have largely embraced chain waxing, MTB has been much more hesitant. We wanted to change that, so we need to design a wax that can hold up to the rigors of that style of riding. We have even been putting Fast Wax through its paces on eBikes with stellar results.
  • One other aspect that is related is that our system of products further accentuates the ease of swapping to Fast Wax. Starting with an oiled chain (new or previously lubed), a rider can simply use our Chain + Drivetrain Cleaner to spray, relax, and rinse to prep their chain. Once the chain is dry, the apply Fast Wax, let it dry and are ready to ride. Once converted to Fast Wax, if ever a rider wants to do a full drivetrain reset/clean, our Clean Machine Bike Wash is the perfect product to not only clean your bike, but your waxed drivetrain too. Again, just spray, relax, and rinse.

on the left : The Formula 100 Bike Wash (shown above) is good at cleaning bikes but also recommended for cleaning wax chains. I have yet to test this, but it makes sense, and could be a great option between full on rebuilds.
on the right: The Formula 100 Chain + Drive Train cleaner is what I really needed before converting my chain to wax. Unfortunately I didn’t have it at teh time, but it’s pretty much a strong synthetic chemical based degreaser. the big deal here is it’s pH balanced and water soluable. Very Eco.

Summary

My take here is Fast Wax is a oil chain lube replacement for someone that wants the benefits of a clean drivetrain with the lower friction of wax in an easier to maintain package. The upside is it’s easy to apply and you don’t have to take off your chain* the downside is that you will have to reapply or top up every 150-200miles.

Liquid wax doesn’t last quite as long as hot wax, and that the downside. Thoeretically you could ride for longer on a noisy chain as the mfg’s say the protection is still there, but who would do that? when topping up is so easy and inexpensive. The bonding of the wax is determined by the initial cleaning of the chain to remove non wax solvents. If I were to do this again, I would use Formula 100 specific chain degreaser on the setup, $17 and probably does a better job helping the wax last a little longer.

Is this for you?

It’s certainly great value for money, and an easy way to get into the world of wax. You don’t have to remove your chain, or spend extra on connectors plus it’s fast and clean to maintain. Hot wax chains may have the edge in more miles before being topped up, but they come with more maintenance needs and are not as friendly for apartments, small houses or condo life.

This wax has a place and I think it nails that proposition. As for next time, next new chain, I will degrease it better using the F100 system and see how many more miles I can get.

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