Debuting in the Tour de France pits in Lidl-Trek’s booth, the upcoming Cyclowax Nex Gen makes hot melt chain waxing cleaner and easier. Designed for high-volume use cases (like Pro Tour teams, but also shops that want to add a valuable service), it applies a hot wax directly to the chain while it’s still on the bike.
Full tech details, pricing, and availability will come later this year, but the gist of it is this: Install a clean chain on your bike, set it on the Nex Gen machine, and it slowly pulls it through and applies melted chain wax to the chain.
It pulls the chain through backwards, essentially backpedaling the bike, and appears to full support the bike while doing so. I’ve seen a couple of 4-second clips and it’s slow, but requires virtually no oversight, letting you do other things while it works.
I first spotted Cyclowax at Sea Otter, showing off their Chain Waxing Starter Kit, which is a more traditional hot melt waxing kit. Check that out if you can’t wait or just want something for home use.
No word on whether the machine cleans and degreases the chain for you, so you may still need to start with a clean chain for the first application. After that, waxed chains typically stay clean enough that simply wiping it down before reapplying is enough (barring extreme use, use your judgement), so you may just be able to throw the bike on here every couple months for a top off.
More details as we get it, check their product teaser page at link below.