Bike chains

Paul Kopit wrote:
On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:11:17 -0500, JCrowe
wrote:

Serendipitous posting. I am currently refurbing my tandem and I have
to link two chains together for the length between the captain and
stoker cranks. I bought two SRAM chains which come with two removable
lengths. I suppose I should just shorten the second chain to length and
use both removable links or would pressing them together do the trick?

You can use the 2 links for the 1½ chains you are going to use. If
the timing chain is tensioned properly, you won't be able to get the
link to come apart. On my timing chain, I usually put a rag on the
chainrings and force the chain off the ring. I never rejoin chains by
reinserting pushed links.

Thanks again for the input. I still have chains on my bikes that are
pretty old. The newest bike is a 1990 Burley tandem. I think my old
80s vintage Rohloff chain is about done for so I'll use SRAMs on the
various bikes with the removable links.

Dieter Britz wrote:

I have just put a new chain on my bike, the old one starting to get
a bit noisy (stretched). I once read here that chains stretch because
grit grinds away at the bearings, so I assumed that it didn't matter
much how much I pay for a chain. The bike shop tells me, however, that
there are various qualities of chain.

Does it pay to pay more for a chain, and if so, why?

Thank you all for the answers. I will continue to buy next-to-cheapest
chains, as advised. Here in DK we use bikes every day, to get to work
and back home, and a lot of bikes, like mine, have hub gears rather than
derailleurs. I myself have a single-gear Torpedo hub with back-pedal
brake, a great hub, probably about 60 years old, indestructible. So I
need to cut off a definite length of chain, and I hope I never buy one
of those fancy types you mention with peened pins, that you should not
break and reassemble. Actually I doubt that these are sold here.

Someone wrote "when I was waxing chains..." - why did you stop? I do
that, and the wax lasts longer than oil and, it seems to me, repels
water better (it rains a lot here).
--
Dieter Britz (britzatchem.au.dk)

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:38:40 +0100, Andrew Price wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:19:24 -0400, Matt O'Toole
wrote:

In my experience, the expensive ones don't last any longer than the cheap
ones.

I used to wear out chains in 2-3 months of mountain biking. Always
looking for more chain life per dollar I tried all levels of quality, and
found there's no difference. A decade of this is a pretty good sample.

That may be true for mountain bikes, but it isn't for road bikes, in my
experience. Campagnolo 10-speed chains are expensive, but they last
considerably longer than their KMC equivalents.

Mountain bike chains just get dirtier faster -- a sped-up duty cycle from
which to gather data. Come back to us when you've worn out 40-50 chains
of several types, under the same riding conditions.

There are not too many road riders who go through more than a chain a
year, and 10 speed drivetrains haven't been around for too many years.

Matt O.

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:20:49 +0000, Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

"Dieter Britz" wrote in message
...
I have just put a new chain on my bike, the old one starting to get
a bit noisy (stretched). I once read here that chains stretch because
grit grinds away at the bearings, so I assumed that it didn't matter
much how much I pay for a chain. The bike shop tells me, however, that
there are various qualities of chain.

Does it pay to pay more for a chain, and if so, why? --
Dieter Britz (oldnobatyahoo.dk)

The best ways to make a chain last longer are-

#1: Become a lightweight. Somebody 180lbs wears out chains much faster
than someone 120lbs. Dramatic difference.

#2: Become a clean freak. A spotless chain lasts much longer than one
that's dirty. Unfortunately, this often means spending as much time
cleaning your bike as riding it.

#3: Avoid hills.

#4: Don't buy the cheapest chain available. Usually the chain one-up from
the bottom works almost as well as the most-expensive chains. But the very
cheapest tend to be pretty bad.

I have yet to see a bad 9 or 10 speed chain. Go cheap! There may be some
older 7 and 8 speed chains still lying around that are terrible though.

If you've got a 10-speed drivetrain, the KMC & Shimano chains work very
nicely. I'm not a fan of the SRAM. Noisy, seems to wear more quickly,
and break more often than I'd like. For 9-speeds, same thing, except
that there's no wear or failure issue with the SRAM chains (although I
don't find they shift as well up front as the other chains).

I agree about the KMC chains vs. SRAM -- KMC do run quieter and shift
smoother. Not to mention they're a lot cheaper if you shop wisely.

Shimano chains are fine but don't come with a master link. So forget
that. However KMC sells a good master link for Shimano chains for about
$2.50.

Matt O.

KMC chains work? no kidding...

http://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...p?category=276

unneeda chain guard
see: CHAIN GUARD 2$ in RBT archives
we're trying to dekelp a $25 guard with gear indicator

On Mar 26, 8:53*pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote:
On 3/26/2008 5:30 PM wrote:

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:20:27 -0700, Mike Elliott
wrote:
Wait -- modern chains should not be taken apart with a chain tool? I did
not know that! That's how I remove mine to clean. So . . . what's the
more correct procedure?

Don't know if that's a typo.... You do use a chain tool to take it apart, you
aren't supposed to use one to put it back together.

It wasn't a typo so much as an incompletion. I use a chain tool for
removal and re-installation. Or have done so until now. I have
reconsidered this now that the error of my ways has been pointed out.

A lot of mixed experience on this. I re-riveted a Shimano 8s chain (instead of
using the magic pin) and got about 200 miles before it took the der hanger off
my mountain bike. Others seem to have no problem.

Like me, on many bikes. So far.

Mostly I use the Sram links - cheap, easy and reliable.*

Ron
[*] Just how I like my women

That's just common sense. Who'd want a costly, difficult, or unreliable one?

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"

does she own a 500SL ?

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:12:53 -0700, Michael Press
wrote:

The on-bike chain cleaning tools are very little help.

Sheldon didn't share that view:

http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html#cleaning

"The on-the-bike system has the advantage that the cleaning machine
flexes the links and spins the rollers. This scrubbing action may do a
better job of cleaning the innards."

Andrew Price wrote:

The on-bike chain cleaning tools are very little help.

Sheldon didn't share that view:

http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html#cleaning

"The on-the-bike system has the advantage that the cleaning machine
flexes the links and spins the rollers. This scrubbing action may do
a better job of cleaning the innards."

I've tested that "may do a better job" by cleaning such a "cleaned"
chain in a clean bowl of paint thinner to produce a dirty grey slurry
from which gritty sediment settled in a short time.

http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/8d.2.html

Jobst Brandt

MORE! as tested in our secret lab hidden deep inside DUNE 4 !
4 grams silica in a HG50 lubed synthetic Valvo Trans 'oil'
reduces efficincy 3-4 gears ridden by a recreational rider in good
physical condition.
4 grams ! masonery fineness

Mike, what do you have to say about the venerable PC-48, PC-58, and
PC-68 SRAM chains? I have been pretty happy with SRAM PC-68's.

- Don Gillies

Don: Good chains that last well but don't shift as well up-front as the
Shimano. We have fixed many a front-shifting problem by replacing a PC-48
with a Shimano chain (any HG variety). We have had customers fight us over
this, insisting that their PC-whatever chain is not causing the front
shifting to be not as they'd like... and accuse us of doing something else
to magically bring their shifting performance back up (after we replaced the
chain and all was well).

Some people are far less picky about front shifting than others. Examples
are those who say they have no problem using non-standard chainrings and
size combinations with STI shifters.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA


"Donald Gillies" wrote in message
...
"Mike Jacoubowsky" writes:

If you've got a 10-speed drivetrain, the KMC & Shimano chains work very
nicely. I'm not a fan of the SRAM. Noisy, seems to wear more quickly, and
break more often than I'd like. For 9-speeds, same thing, except that
there's no wear or failure issue with the SRAM chains (although I don't
find
they shift as well up front as the other chains).

Mike, what do you have to say about the venerable PC-48, PC-58, and
PC-68 SRAM chains? I have been pretty happy with SRAM PC-68's.

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA