Chain gang

Zacnici

Doesn't seem to be a lot on chains, the weakest link (excuse the pun - it had to be used) in the transmission system.

Can't see any posts on this (there probably are - sorry I'm having a stupid day - actually have a lot of those!)

Anyone have any faves?

ris

i run kmc 9.93 chains at the moment. they are a bit on teh budget end of the kmc range but seem to be ok. last one did 1500miles, maybe 2000 at a push, all weathers, late winter - mid summer conditions. i use a kmc or sram superlink as well, damn useful (although sometimes a total pain the arse to get off!)

Zacnici

Thanks Ris

We triatletes and cyclist talk endlessly about carbon this and that, ratios, chainsets etc. but as I suspected, after doing a search on the interweb on the matter, there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of discussion on this matter. The KMC 93 seems to get rave reviews on Wiggle so I think this will be my next chain.

ris

you're right, sometimes i think we'd rather talk about something that will defo make us faster, rather than keeping the gear we have ticking over the best it can! most of the bike forums i've spent time on seem to think kmc chains are pretty good, with mixed views on sram and shimano.

Britspin

I have never replaced a chain in my life.....

ris

main thing to watch with swapping to a new chain is cassette wear. if you have been running the same chain for years and years then the likelyhood is that you can't just bung a new chain on there - it will skip and shift badly.

the best way to get more life from a cassette is to regularly clean the drivechain and change chains when they are lightly worn (using a chain checker). i run 2 chains and swap between them regularly (4-6weeks).

you can leave a chain on as long as you want but after a while a worn chain will start skipping and shift less cleanly. once it has worn to a cassette you won't be able to fit a new one and you'll need to replace the cassette at the same time.