Wax On for Winter: Why the Off-Season Is the Time to Switch to a Waxed Chain
Wax On for Winter
Wet lanes, salty roads and short days. Here’s why the off-season is the best time to switch to a waxed chain, and how to keep it running sweetly until spring.
Winter is brutal on drivetrains. Oily lube grabs every speck of grit the Surrey lanes throw at it, turns it into grinding paste and quietly eats your chain, cassette and chainrings. A waxed chain works differently, and the quiet months are the perfect time to make the switch.
Hot-melt wax goes on liquid, soaks into every roller and pin, then sets hard. Because there’s nothing wet and sticky on the outside, dirt has far less to cling to. The result is a drivetrain that runs cleaner, quieter and longer, and no more black stripe on your calf after the club run.
In our workshop we wax with two brands we trust: Silca and CeramicSpeed. Both supply WorldTour teams, both take slightly different approaches, and we’ve drawn on guidance from each throughout this piece.
Why the off-season?
Converting to wax takes a little set-up. Winter gives you the time, and the riding gives you the biggest pay-off.
The first wax is the one that matters most. Every trace of factory grease has to come off before the chain goes into the pot, otherwise the wax can’t bond properly. That’s much easier on a brand-new chain at the start of winter than on a grubby one mid-season.
It’s also when your drivetrain is under the most attack. Gritted roads, wet gravel and muddy lanes are exactly where an oily chain wears fastest, and where the clean-running nature of wax makes the biggest difference. Get set up now and you’ll start spring with a drivetrain that hasn’t been ground down by four months of winter paste.
Two brands, two approaches
Both make excellent hot wax and drip wax. Here’s how they differ, and where each one shines.
CeramicSpeed UFO
You’ll know CeramicSpeed for their bearings and oversized pulley wheels. Their UFO range applies the same obsession with friction to the chain, and every product is non-toxic, PFAS-free and biodegradable, developed in their own lab and tested with WorldTour teams.
UFO WAX Ultra Endurance is the winter pick: a hot-melt wax built for long-lasting, all-weather protection. UFO WAX Speed is the race-day version. Both pair with UFO DRIP, a liquid wax in three formulas. The Wet Conditions version was refined with pro team mechanics for rain, mud and long winter rides.
Silca
Secret Chain Blend is Silca’s hot-melt wax, and their Ultimate Chain Waxing System makes the whole process tidy: melt, dip and hang in one unit. Their StripChip even lets you strip a new chain and wax it in a single step.
For top-ups, Super Secret 2.0 is Silca’s drip wax, developed with Team Visma–Lease a Bike. And for the filthiest days, Silca point riders to their Synergetic oil rather than wax.
Which wax for which rider?
| If you… | We’d reach for |
|---|---|
| Ride all winter, whatever the weather | CeramicSpeed UFO WAX Ultra Endurance, topped up with UFO DRIP Wet Conditions |
| Want the easiest home set-up | Silca Ultimate Chain Waxing System with Secret Chain Blend and a StripChip |
| Race, or chase every watt | CeramicSpeed UFO WAX Speed |
| Spend winter on the turbo | UFO DRIP Indoor Conditions, which won’t shed wax flakes on your floor |
| Ride proper mud | Silca Synergetic oil on the worst days |
Wax isn’t magic, and we’d rather you knew the trade-offs before you start. Silca typically see around 250–350 miles per hot-wax application in good conditions, dropping as low as 50 miles in the very worst. Wax also doesn’t give quite the rust protection of an oil, and salt is the real enemy: CeramicSpeed’s advice is that after any wet, salty ride the chain should be washed until every trace of salt is gone, then dried and re-coated.
None of that is a reason not to wax through winter. It just means adjusting your routine:
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Tip 01
Run two chains
Wax two chains at once and swap them with a quick link. When one gets soaked, fit the spare and re-wax the other at your leisure.
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Tip 02
Rinse, dry, top up
CeramicSpeed’s rule of thumb: if a wet ride was under 100km and the chain still feels lubricated, rinse it, dry it and add two coats of UFO DRIP Wet Conditions. Any longer, or if it feels dry, do a full clean and re-wax.
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Tip 03
Top up after, never before
Drip wax needs time to cure: Silca quote 4–8 hours, CeramicSpeed say overnight. Do it as soon as you’re home, not five minutes before you leave.
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Tip 04
Know your mud days
For properly muddy riding, Silca point to Synergetic oil. If you swap to oil, have the chain stripped before it goes back into the wax.
Waxing at home
It’s simpler than it looks, and it fits around a coffee. Here’s a full wax day with CeramicSpeed’s UFO WAX kit; the Silca process follows the same steps. Always follow the instructions on your wax.
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Step 01Strip
Get the chain spotless. Soak it in Silca Chain Stripper for 5–10 minutes, or use CeramicSpeed UFO CLEAN Drivetrain, then rinse and dry thoroughly. Silca’s StripChip strips and waxes in one go.
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Step 02Load up
The UFO WAX basket holds several chains at once, so do your spare at the same time. If you’re only doing one or two, a simple wire hook works just as well.
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Step 03Melt
UFO WAX melts in its own cylinder in a pan of hot water, and CeramicSpeed warn never to go over 100°C or use a direct flame. Silca’s Waxing System melts Secret Chain Blend and gives you somewhere to hang the chain afterwards.
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Step 04Dip & time it
Lower the chains in and give them a gentle swish. Bubbles rise as the wax pushes out trapped air and water. Set a timer and follow your wax’s instructions: Silca find bubbles stop after about two minutes.
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Step 05Lift, hang, ride
Lift the chains out and let the excess drip back into the pot, then hang them to cool and set. Flex each chain through your hands to free the stiff links before fitting. It’ll feel a little tight for the first few miles.
Shop hot wax & prep
- Winter pick
CeramicSpeed UFO WAX Ultra Endurancefrom £34.99Shop now - Start here
Silca Ultimate Chain Waxing System£115Shop now 
CeramicSpeed UFO WAX Speedfrom £44.99Shop now
Silca Secret Chain Blend£48Shop now
CeramicSpeed UFO CLEAN Drivetrain£22.99Shop now
Silca StripChip£25Shop now
Silca Chain Stripper & Wax Prep£40Shop now
Silca Wax Starter Pack£40Shop now
Swipe or scroll to see the full kit →
Shop drip wax & winter top-ups
- Wet roads
CeramicSpeed UFO DRIP£19.99Shop now 
Silca Super Secret 2.0£24.95Shop now- Mud days
Silca Synergetic£32Shop now 
CeramicSpeed UFO TECH Pulley Bearing Oil£7.99Shop now
CeramicSpeed UFO CLEAN Microfibre Towel£9.99Shop now- Run two
Spare chainsShimano & SRAMShop chains
Swipe or scroll to see the full kit →
Your winter wax routine
Stick this on the garage wall.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| After every ride | Quick wipe of the chain with a clean microfibre towel. No degreaser needed. |
| After a wet ride | Rinse off grit and salt, dry the chain thoroughly, then top up with UFO DRIP Wet Conditions or Super Secret 2.0 and leave it overnight. A drop of pulley bearing oil keeps the jockey wheels spinning. |
| When it gets noisy | Swap to your spare waxed chain and re-dip the old one, or drop it in to us for a re-wax. |
| Proper mud days | Consider Synergetic oil, then have the chain stripped before it goes back to wax. |
| Come spring | Check chain wear, refresh your wax pot if it’s looking dirty, and switch to a faster wax like UFO WAX Speed for the dry miles. |
SLT headset + BB ALPHA
Winter doesn’t just attack your chain. Your headset and bottom bracket sit right in the spray off the front wheel, and once water and grit get past the seals the grease washes out, bearings turn rough and creak, and the bike is back on the stand. While it’s apart for a winter service, fix that for good.
SLT headset bearings swap grease for a solid, oil-filled polymer that can’t wash out, even with a pressure washer. Stainless steel resists corrosion, and the design is built for the slow, high-load movement a headset sees. OHD kits fit most current frames, from Specialized and Canyon to Pinarello, ENVE, Cannondale and Cervélo.
BB ALPHA is CeramicSpeed’s longest-lasting bottom bracket: grade-3 silicon nitride balls in hardened stainless races, with custom seals and dust covers giving up to 500% better moisture protection than their previous BBs. CeramicSpeed put it through more than a million kilometres of lab and field testing, and it’s available for BSA, T47, BB86, BB386 EVO, PF30, BBright, BB92 and Italian shells.
Both are hand-built in Denmark with a lifetime warranty. Not sure what your frame takes? Bring the bike in: we’ll identify the right kit and fit it in the workshop.
Rather we did it?
Our workshop strips and hot-waxes chains every week using Silca Secret Chain Blend and CeramicSpeed UFO wax. Drop your bike in by 10.30am and we’ll aim to have it ready the same day, subject to parts.
New chain prep & wax
A brand-new chain fully stripped of factory grease and hot-waxed, ready to fit. The best way to start.
£25 + chain
Re-wax
Your waxed chain cleaned and re-dipped to bring back that fast, silent feel.
£25
Winter service + wax
Pair a chain wax with an Intermediate or Pro service, so the whole drivetrain starts the winter properly clean.
£120 + £25 wax
Why pair it with a service? Putting a freshly waxed chain on a cassette and chainrings still coated in old oil undoes much of the good work. Our Intermediate and Pro services strip and degrease the whole drivetrain, so your new waxed chain starts on a properly clean slate.
Ready to make the switch?
Not sure whether to wax at home or leave it to us, or which wax suits your riding? Pop in or drop us a message and we’ll talk you through it.
- Silca: How to maintain a waxed chain
- Silca: Chain wax FAQs from their customer service team
- CeramicSpeed: UFO Ultra Endurance Wax chain care tips
- CeramicSpeed: UFO DRIP Wet, perfected in the field
Mileage figures are each brand’s own guidance for their products. Your results will vary with weather, terrain and how carefully you look after your chain.