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Chains 101


Uni

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I heard that you can buy a book about chains from Amazon.......  :ph34r:

One can. And it's highly informative and may help dispel some of the old myths about chains :)

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One can. And it's highly informative and may help dispel some of the old myths about chains :)

A book written from a persons own personal myths to dispel the myths about chains ?

Sounds like a winna winna chikkan dinna plan .

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Seems everyone is on Shimano and SRAM only. From my dirt jumping/street riding days I found that KMC chains (8 speed)  were the only ones that survived. But running both SRAM and Shimano ( 9 and 10 speed respectively) chains on my two MTB's and for normal riding they both seem to perform the same?

 

Agreed. KMC are bombproof.

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Not that it will add anything but for the record. A track chain on my S/S (with horizontal sliders) was my best chain choice ever (and it is gold and very bling).

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Not that it will add anything but for the record. A track chain on my S/S (with horizontal sliders) was my best chain choice ever (and it is gold and very bling).

 

Track chains are wide and heavy and last fairly close to forever. The thinner a chain is, the faster it will wear (all other things being equal...)

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Track chains are wide and heavy and last fairly close to forever. The thinner a chain is, the faster it will wear (all other things being equal...)

That is the magic

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Have not been through all 8 pages, but, (!!) how much oil/lubricant does one put on a chain ? A few dribbles and then wipe off? And then how often does one do this ? After everyride ?

 

I had my chain snap on me and it was a disaster having to work covered in black sticky stuff that covered everything from my chain fix it tool, to my hands and backpack to the frame on the bike. What a shamples, so it got me to thinking about lubricating the chain.

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Track chains are wide and heavy and last fairly close to forever. The thinner a chain is, the faster it will wear (all other things being equal...)

 

It is more the fact that track chains run in a straigh line, and thinner chains are being used on geared systems hence the chain "bends" side to side and that is where the "wear" comes from.

 

Take a thin chain and run it straight, it will also last a long time

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Have not been through all 8 pages, but, (!!) how much oil/lubricant does one put on a chain ? A few dribbles and then wipe off? And then how often does one do this ? After everyride ?

 

I had my chain snap on me and it was a disaster having to work covered in black sticky stuff that covered everything from my chain fix it tool, to my hands and backpack to the frame on the bike. What a shamples, so it got me to thinking about lubricating the chain.

 

 

I like to follow the Rock and Roll Lube instructions, move chain while sprayin lube for 1 or 2 goes around, stop, rotate the chain 2 or 3 times. Wipe off all excess on the chain. I redo mine after I wash the bike, which is pretty much every weekend ride.

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I like to follow the Rock and Roll Lube instructions, move chain while sprayin lube for 1 or 2 goes around, stop, rotate the chain 2 or 3 times. Wipe off all excess on the chain. I redo mine after I wash the bike, which is pretty much every weekend ride.

I think this is where I miss out - I wash my bike once a year, if that. Life is to short, mostly the LBS washes the bike and I dont mind if they charge me a wee bit extra.

 

So the key is to wipe of the excess. Do non black chains exist on normal bikes ?

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I think this is where I miss out - I wash my bike once a year, if that. Life is to short, mostly the LBS washes the bike and I dont mind if they charge me a wee bit extra.

 

So the key is to wipe of the excess. Do non black chains exist on normal bikes ?

 

Bwahhaha, yeah might need a bit more. Mine stay's pretty clean. But it gets run through a chain scrubber every wash and once a month or so (I don't ride much) into some parrafin to clean out gunk.

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It is more the fact that track chains run in a straigh line, and thinner chains are being used on geared systems hence the chain "bends" side to side and that is where the "wear" comes from.

 

Take a thin chain and run it straight, it will also last a long time

 

This is also true.

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  • 9 months later...

I recently upgraded my drive train and I'm running a 10 spd SRAM chain with the provided quick link that came with the chain. I subsequently had the misfortune of snapping the chain whist out on the trails (I suspect dodgy workmanship on my part :blush: ). I hauled out the spare quick link form my toolbox and was up and riding again. This got me thinking, how many quick links can you have on a chain, is the integrity of the chain compromised in any way with 2 quick links or could I theoretically make a chain from scratch from quick links only!

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I recently upgraded my drive train and I'm running a 10 spd SRAM chain with the provided quick link that came with the chain. I subsequently had the misfortune of snapping the chain whist out on the trails (I suspect dodgy workmanship on my part :blush: ). I hauled out the spare quick link form my toolbox and was up and riding again. This got me thinking, how many quick links can you have on a chain, is the integrity of the chain compromised in any way with 2 quick links or could I theoretically make a chain from scratch from quick links only!

 

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so go wild.

 

If you make a complete chain out of quicklinks you can disassemble it for cleaning between rides...

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