We spotted the Lidl Trek team at the 2024 Tour de France with a prototype of an automatic chain washing machine.
The device – made by Belgian brand Cyclowax – is considered the ‘holy grail’ of chain immersion waxing, as it can wax a chain without removing it from the bike.
The device, which looks somewhat like a smart trainer, holds the bike in place via the rear wheel and slowly pulls the chain through a chamber of melted paraffin wax (and other friction-reducing additives).
According to Cyclowax, the device will be used by the Lidl-Trek team during this year’s Tour de France, alongside the team’s more traditional chain waxing equipment (two heated ultrasonic cleaners), allowing the team to work with waxed chains at every stage.
In theory, this could give the team a performance advantage over riders and teams using more traditional chain lubricants.
Before the start of the race, we spoke to Cyclowax about how the device works and the company’s ambitions for the machine.
A revolution in bicycle chain waxing?
Chain waxing is often touted as an energy-saving, wear-reducing solution for lubricating bicycle chains.
According to Cyclowax, one of the biggest obstacles riders face when using waxed chains is the fact that the chain must be removed from the bike in order to re-wax it.
Waxed chains will typically last about 300 to 400 km in dry conditions before needing to be re-waxed.
After riding in wet conditions, waxed chains should be dried immediately and re-waxed to prevent corrosion.
For professional or enthusiastic amateur riders, it may be necessary to remove the chain from the bike for re-waxing after almost every ride.
Not only does this require a significant investment of time and effort – which is a burden for professional team mechanics who have to clean and maintain dozens of bikes every day during races like the Tour – but the costs of replacing chain pins or quick-release links can easily add up over time.
With the automatic chain washing device, Cyclowax wants to solve this problem.
How does the Cyclowax automatic chain wax machine work?
A bicycle is mounted to the prototype device, in a manner similar to a smart trainer or a bicycle stand.
Next, a section of chain is placed under the non-drive side chainstay into a compartment that is clamped around it.
According to Cyclowax, this compartment contains a small ‘valley’ of wax, a heating element, and a mechanism to slowly pull the chain through the valley.
When the heating element is turned on, the wax melts and the chain is automatically pulled through it.
Once the chain leaves the compartment, the wax on the chain solidifies as it cools to ambient temperature.
After about 30 minutes the entire chain is waxed and freshly lubricated. The wax compartment then automatically pops open to release the chain and the bike.
At this point, the rider simply needs to cycle the bike through the gears (e.g. on a work stand) to remove the solidified wax from the links and get the chain properly aligned before riding.
According to Cyclowax, the device is only designed to re-wax chains that have been previously waxed or from which all factory grease has been removed.
It doesn’t compare to Silca’s StripChip and Ultimate Chain Waxing System, which allow you to degrease and wax your chain in one go.
For riders who don’t want to degrease their chains at home, Cyclowax sells ready-to-use waxed chains for a variety of drivetrains, from 10- to 13-speed, and for track bikes.
Chain waxing during the Tour de France
As official partner of the Lidl-Trek team, Cyclowax has supplied the team with pre-waxed SRAM Red AXS chains for the 2024 Tour de France, as well as the equipment for the mechanics to re-wax them.
Because the automatic machine can only wax one chain at a time (we saw Giulio Ciccone’s bike being put through the machine after his final training ride before the Tour), Lidl-Trek mechanics will also use more traditional methods to re-wax the team chains.
Cyclowax provided the team with two heated ultrasonic cleaners, which are used in a two-step process.
The first ultrasonic cleaner contains the ‘Basic’ washing mix and is intended to flush away the chain of contaminants.
The second step consists of dipping the chain in a special ‘Performance Pro’ wax, which is mixed with additional friction-reducing additives (Cyclowax is cautious with its specific formula).
After this the chain is removed and the stiff links can be broken. The chain can then be refitted to the bike.
How much does the Cyclowax automatic chain wax machine cost?
Cyclowax told us that it could not yet give an indication of the final price for the automatic chain washer, because it is still a prototype.
Considering the brand’s standard off-bike wax kit (comprising a 500ml wax warmer with an integrated stand) costs £101, we’re guessing it won’t come cheap.
Despite this, Cyclowax says it is primarily focused on making the device attractive to individual cyclists, rather than just local bike shops.
At first glance, that seems like an ambitious goal, but we can certainly imagine this being a way for bike shops to quickly and easily provide their customers with chain waxing.
Anyway, we’re curious.
Cyclowax says it has done everything it can to get the prototype ready for use during the Tour, so it doesn’t yet know when a final, production-ready version will hit the market.
But as always, when the time comes, you can rest assured that we will send you all the details.