Lightning Strikes Twice
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 5:47AM 
I've been using TriFlow as a bike lube for quite a few years now and think the stuff's great. But I was just cleaning my drive train and remembered how well White Lightning used to work on my mountain bike years ago.
My favorite memories were of how I never got bike grease everywhere (White Lightning is wax-based instead of oil) and my chain and gears lasted FOREVER. The stuff is fantastic.
My ownly frowning moment came when I finally had to clean up my bike for resale and I had wax buildup in places I couldn't get to. It was a real pain to get it all off!
I went to the bike shop and bought a bottle of the old WL. Kinda expensive nowdays for some reason. International wax shortage? Cleaned off the Tri-Flow and put on the WL.
I've never used it on a road bike and never used it when I'm riding as much as I do now. It dawned on me how Zen WL can be. Self-cleaning, simple, doesn't leave grease everywhere, just plain and simply works. I'm biking A LOT and I don't want to be cleaning my bike instead of riding it. Just a little dab now and then and that's all you need. When I finished the lube job and stood back, I actually felt a load lift off my shoulders. I apparently had some guilt building up about not cleaning my bike enough and this fixed it.
If I'm as happy with it on my daily beater as I'm thinking I'll be, I'll probably start using it on the BMC and my commuter/frankenstein/cyclocross thing.
So, I'm all waxed up and ready to rock. Just wondering what everybody uses to clean off the excess wax when needed. Tips?
Reader Comments (2)
I heard a local repair dude here in Tucson say that the only way he's ever been able to get WL off chains is to boil the chain. Never tried it myself cuz I've been using Triflow.
GASOLINE.
or
ACETONE.
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