snutkin@gmail.com

Oh boy. Now that is interesting. I have an occasional ticking sound too which I have never been able to identify. Time to take a good look at things.

Thank you. Understood. Please allow me to withdraw my previous comments.

"Riders often speak of "chain stretch," a technically misleading and incorrect term. Chains do not stretch, in the dictionary sense, by elongating the metal by tension. Chains lengthen because their hinge pins and sleeves wear. Chain wear is caused almost exclusively by road grit that enters the chain when it is oiled. Grit adheres to the outside of chains in the ugly black stuff that can get on one's leg, but external grime has little functional effect, being on the outside where it does the chain no harm." https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/chain-care.html

Chains don't stretch. They wear. And no, it's not the same thing. There's no such thing as "allowable stretch". So nobody knows what you actually really said. Including yourself. I reckon you probably measure kms the way you measure chain wear.

If you think 1% is " "allowable" stretch" on *any* chain, much less a 12 speed chain, good luck to you!

It could be tension failure. Tension failure is caused by improper engagement between the links and the sprockets and sometimes by the chain riding up on the sprocket teeth. Sometimes this can be caused by dirt and debris between the sprocket and the chain. This can create an overload condition which brings about the cracking that you are referring to.

I am not sure about the "backwards forwards" movement thing on this rather fancy "wobble board", but for what it is worth, the Tacx Neo already has some lateral movement built into it. I was very hesitant about this before I bought my Neo and was quite concerned that I might find it negative. Having used the thing for a good few months now though, I can say that while at first I found it a little disconcerting, I am quite used to it now and it's… Well… Okay. It's not really a big deal. It's quite nice but I was quite happy with my old "fixed" setup which had no lateral movement. Speaking purely for myself, for my own purposes, this kind of thing simply doesn't make much sense. It doesn't change the experience so much that it's worth the money and the hassle. Maybe if you combine it with a set of VR goggles or something… But not on a standard kind of trainer arrangement. YMMV.