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  • I need to find all the aero gains in the world, for next season.

    Is there a single ring setup that actually works?
    Rear derailleur, those ceramic speed things, worth it?
    Which waxed chain is best?

    All the gains, so I don’t need to bother training!

  • Similarly, I'd like a recipe for a good wax solution for race days if anyone has done some experimenting...

  • if anyone has done some experimenting...

    Plenty of people have, all the evidence seem to point to stripping the OE grease being the greatest part of whatever gains are available. After that, you're chasing tenths of a percent gains.

  • Since this time last year I have just used good old fashioned melted paraffin wax on it's own. Clean living bejesus out of chain, heat to 200 degrees in oven (preferably at least a day after cleaning if you have used white spirit or paraffin as the degreaser), dip into pot of wax melted using a wax heater as used by beauty therapists when they do a back, sack and crack, give it a few wiggles and remove 10 mins later.

    They do defo need breaking in tho as the first 30 minutes of using the chain it feels very laboured. But once done it does feel super smooth.

    Why all the effort for someone who will always finish in the bottom half of a results sheet? Well, to be honest, more than anything, it keeps the whole drive chain so much cleaner, to the point that I do it on all my bikes, from TT to road, CX bike to Brompton. And a fixie.

    Saying all that (tl;dr), I have bought the ingredients as first used by a waxed chain specialist that I can't remember the name of, which is PTFE powder (used in pianos as a lubricant so bought from a specialist) and molybdenum disulfide (eBay). Once my current money issues are resolved (in other words I am broke) I will be buying a sonic cleaner and will start using the extra things.

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