Clean Speed: Why Our Tour de France Team Relies on Waxed Chains
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Dan, as Head of Engineering at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, you're responsible for optimising every technical detail of our race setup. What makes waxed chains the go-to choice during the Tour?
Our primary driver for chain waxing is to reduce drivetrain friction and therefore either save energy in the bunch or maximise speed when attacking. It has secondary benefits such as a cleaner drivetrain which saves time and effort on behalf of the mechanics every evening. We also see significantly longer chain life when waxing, so use less chains and keep them performing at their best for longer.
Dan Bigham, Head of Engineering at Red Bull -- BORA -- hansgrohe
© Sebastian Marko / Red Bull Content Pool
What's the difference between waxing and traditional chain oiling?
Waxing is a process of submersing the chain in a hot bath of molten wax, enabling greater penetration between links, rollers and bushes. The increased penetration improves efficiency through better lubrication and therefore also reduces wear. The external surface is largely clean and dry, therefore not attracting dirt particles that embed themselves inside the chain that would otherwise reduce drivetrain efficiency and accelerate wear. Traditional oiling applies a liquid oil based lubricant, coating the entire chain both internally and externally. Due to being a liquid, it flows and brings external contaminants inside the articulating chain components.
Dynamic Bike Care took over the entire waxing process.
© Maximilian Fries
How many watts can a waxed chain actually save?
Typically we see around a 1% increase in drivetrain efficiency, which literally means 1% less input power required by the rider to maintain the same speed!
Typically we see around a 1% increase in drivetrain efficiency, which literally means 1% less input power required by the rider to maintain the same speed!
What does our waxing process look like during the Tour?
Dynamic handle the entire process from start to finish, which makes for an easy life for our mechanics who are hard at work maintaining our race bikes. In practice this means Dynamic clean, treat and break in nearly 100 SRAM Red chains ahead of the Tour de France, and then visit us on race around half way through to clean and retreat all used chains. This process means all riders across all stages can use a Dynamic-treated waxed chain.
The chains are completely immersed in hot wax.
© Maximilian Fries
How many chains does one rider use during the Tour?
21! One for every stage. This means every rider always has an optimally prepared chain for every day. Even if it is an "easy" stage, by using a waxed chain we can make it 1% easier.
How do we manage waxed chains in wet or dirty conditions?
Thankfully we have enough for every rider to use a fresh chain every day. However the rain does impact up longevity of the wax, reducing it by around half, depending on the severity of the weather. This still means that we can benefit for a complete stage, but the wax has done its job and then needs retreating.
The freshly waxed chains are ready for the next stage.
© Maximilian Fries
