Cheap vs Expensive chains

[Mojoman]

wash and lube after every ride has my Xtr seeing over 5000km on it

1 cassette, chainring and chain?

[Wyatt Earp]

I certainly view Johan's opinion as gospel!! BECAUSE he base his viewpoints on facts!! That is avery strong point to counter argue...especially if it is only your opinion...

 

Do yourself a favour - search this web for that topic...100's of pages has been written on it UNTIL Johan gave some very good facts!! And pictures & diagrams depicting chain wear....very difficult to argue that!!!

 

So, I read this, bit my tonge and just smiled to myself....pfttt...amateurs!!

 

PS: i still like the one about chain "stretch"...interesting phenomina that!!!

Cassie, you are right, I am just a mere rider, one day I will reach a level of technical expertise that has viewpoints and facts, even if those facts have no engineering integrity but just simple applied logic.

Then perhaps I can move from amateur level to your level of expertise.

As an aside, I still want to know the big secret of the crush washer, man it must be something really special for you not to share.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Dangle

[Slowbee]

oi, guys.

 

This is has been, will be and shall always be, a hot topic.

 

Dont let this become about personal attacks.

 

Play the comments not the person.

[Wyatt Earp]

Slowbee, if I may get personal, you are starting to make a habit of this lately, just because opinions differ, and take myself who actually makes his point quite straight forward, it doesn't necessarily mean they are being personal.

I for one get much more annoyed when asked advice via pm. and get no thank you back for it.

[Slowbee]

Yea Dangle you are right. I am making a bit of a habit of jumping into some things. Some people know the difference between a straight forward opinion and a personal attack. Very few people seem to know the difference. On most of the debates the regulars know how far to push the opinion - but someone always takes offense and it becomes personal. Call it pre-emptive.

 

My comment was just a heads up to anyone reading this debate and wanting to add to it, to keep it the opinion in play, not the person. Call it pre-emptive.

 

And (me) having hijacked this, which is also a reason for the reminder, to keep the thread on topic.

 

Edit: I edited it after Dangles post. Realised the hijack comment was incorrectly referring to others - and was meant as a reminder to me not to hijack.

[Bennie Dikwiel]

I rode up such a steep gradient today at Bruintjies hoogte, after standing for about 15 min I think I might have streached my brand new chain

[chris_w_65]

Those chain checkers are so inaccurate it should be illegal to use them. You need to measure your links with a ruler, old school.

 

I use the Park Tool checker as a guide. It is a quick check

 

Apparently the Shimano one is accurate but it is 5x the price of the Park tool

[Mojoman]

I rode up such a steep gradient today at Bruintjies hoogte, after standing for about 15 min I think I might have streached my brand new chain

It must be at least a foot longer now...

[Johan Bornman]

It must be at least a foot longer now...

 

 

No, not that much. Impossible. I recon he compressed the chainstays by pumping up that hill and it gives the appearance that the chain stretched by a foot. Half stretch, half compression, I recon. But then, we don't know whether he has a carbon, steel or alu bike. Alu is supposed to compress more, isn't it?

[Bennie Dikwiel]

No, not that much. Impossible. I recon he compressed the chainstays by pumping up that hill and it gives the appearance that the chain stretched by a foot. Half stretch, half compression, I recon. But then, we don't know whether he has a carbon, steel or alu bike. Alu is supposed to compress more, isn't it?

 

Fortunately my rear tyre is worn (now a 25 inch), otherwise the poor ows behind me wouldn't have been able to see a thing from all the smoke due to the tyre rubbing up against the seat tube...

[Wyatt Earp]

Call it pre-emptive.

And having hijacked this, which is also a reason for the reminder, to keep the thread on topic.

Mmmmmm, you have set a rather dangerous president here for yourself, to be quite honest I don't see your comments as being impartial but rather personal.

Here is just a simple sample of a thread where name calling and personal attacks are being used My link but I don't see you sticking your nose in that thread.

As they say "what's good for the goose is good for the gander"

So you have a lot of threads to keep on topic or else some might just take your pre-emptive instincts as personal.

 

Now that I have concluded that (so a promise no more from me on this within this topic), I will touch on the second part of the issue here, I thought that the discussion was very much on topic, chain length could possibly go a long way in explaining cheap chains or expensive chains.

So back on topic, for me a chain is a chain is a chain is a chain ...............

[Christopher Brunsdon]

I use the Park Tool checker as a guide. It is a quick check

 

Apparently the Shimano one is accurate but it is 5x the price of the Park tool

 

The Shimano one is the only exception but it also works on the ride, no-ride concept and does not give you an indication of how far your off from no-ride. I thought of getting one but they are so expensive, a could buy 7 Park Tool spoke rulers and pimp-em-up JB style for chain wear measurement.

[kosmonooit]

SRAM PC991 9sp chains are R212 ex vat etc in packs of three from CRC

[Cassie]

snip....

As an aside, I still want to know the big secret of the crush washer, man it must be something really special for you not to share.

 

Dangle....remember this tread??https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/81728-crush-washers/page__p__1142674__hl__crush+washer__fromsearch__1#entry1142674

 

you ordered 30... surely you know where to put them?

[Wyatt Earp]

Dangle....remember this tread??https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/81728-crush-washers/page__p__1142674__hl__crush+washer__fromsearch__1#entry1142674

 

you ordered 30... surely you know where to put them?

Well then I guess your secret is out, now stay on topic please.

[The Drongo]

I have been using cheaper chains and changing them every 1000km or so and have had about 6 on my current cluster.

 

What are the experiences out there on cheaper chains versus the more expensive chains - is it just the weight you pay for or durability??

 

Sheesh.

 

This 'fread almost went so far south I forgot what the question was!

 

So how far has that 'current cluster' gone then, and what brand of 'cheaper chain' is referred to here?

 

All I can say is this - I am not a SRAM fan, I am a Shimano fan, so have only ever run Shimano.

 

I have not noticed a difference between the wear on Deore and XT, which are the only two I have ever run personally. I can happily say I have never snapped a chain (I dropped a SRAM quicklink once, but only because it had run about 3 chains) and probably never will, but then I don't ride a clutch either.

 

Chains do not stretch, they wear, and that is why their 'length' increases. If you run a chain to it's death (1.0 wear on chain checker) you will simply be unable to place a new chain on old cassette or chainrings - you will spend your entire ride crunching your shins on your pedals as you slip through your power strokes.

 

The best advice I ever received was to run 2-3 chains, on rotation, swapping them out every few rides. Clean and deep lube the old chain and store it in a zip lock bag. From personal experience I can state that a Shimano XT cassette, with Shimano small and middle chainring, raceface large lasted 4 years and 1000's of K's. total Deore used 2 and XT 4.

 

I use a Park Tool cc3 chain checker. There is no difference between 1.0 wear on that and a ruler measured wear. Your personal chain hygiene is what goes a long way to reducing the wear of the entire drivetrain.

 

A chain is not a chain is a chain, just as a chainring or cluster is not a chainring or cluster or chainring. There is a significant performance difference between ramped and non ramped links on chains. Buy a chain to suit your drivetrain.

 

No chain - no ride.