Bicycle Mechanics - 9 speed chain

I have a shimano 8 speed road cassette, will a 9 speed chain provide a smoother & quieter ride?
The HG91 chain is noisy and the chain seats very tightly between the spockets with almost no tolerance.

A 9sp chain may help, and it certainly won't hurt. You could try one of the less expensive SRAM models like PC59 or PC69.

A 9 speed chain won't work on an 8 speed set up for several reasons. 1st, the chain is narrower than the 8spd model and you will run the risk of it jamming between the chain rings. 2nd the 9sd chain will be even tighter on your cogs than the 8spd, as there is less space with a narrower chain.

A better solution for you would be to go to a sachs pc-58 or 68 dedicated 8 speed chain as they are a bit wider then the shimano versions.

Chuck

"A 9 speed chain won't work on an 8 speed set up for several reasons. 1st, the chain is narrower than the 8spd model and you will run the risk of it jamming between the chain rings. 2nd the 9sd chain will be even tighter on your cogs than the 8spd, as there is less space with a narrower chain. "

I don't understand. The spacing between cogs on the 8 speed is 4.8mm and the 9 speed spacing is 4.34mm. A 9 speed chain internal width is 3/32 in = 2.38mm and external width is 6.6mm.
The 8 speed cog width is 1.8mm and 9 speed is 1.76mm.

Over 3 cogs the spacing is 7.6mm for 8 speed and 6.9mm for the 9 speed. In theory the 9 speed chain should be quieter as there will be last rubbing against adjacent cogs when the chain is not perfectly straight.

I am already running a 9 speed chainring so there should be any risk of the chain jamming between them.
Thanks for all the reply and is interested whether anybody has actually used a 9 speed chain on a 8 speed cassette.

I have used a 9 speed chain on my mountain bike equipped with an 8 speed rear and a 9 speed crank. It worked fine, with relatively no catastrophic problems such as jamming, however, I found it necessary to make minor adjustments to the rear shifting (cable tension) more often because sometimes it would not want to shift to a larger cog (pulling on the cable) on the first try - it would hesitate as a poorly tuned drivetrain would. I attribute this problem to the narrower chain not being wide enough to properly engage the next cog without some more persuasion. When it was tuned perfect it worked great. I say go for it, I cannot say that it was quieter than a standard 8 spd chain but it is worth a shot - your theory makes logical sense. FYI in my setup it was a SRAM PC-99 chain and a SRAM 5.0 8spd cassette.

-Ryan

Been running the shimano DA chain, (CN-7701) on 7, 8 and 9 speed drive tranes for years, it's the only chain I use because it's the only chain I haven't broken. They shift well, run quiet and go around 3500 miles.

I use a Rohloff 9 speed chain with an 8 speed front derailer and crankset. The 8 speed chain shifted better on the front, but the 9 speed is OK. I wouldn't use a 8 speed chain unless I had to, just because the wider chain will generally be cheaper, more reliable and easier to deal with.

A 9spd will work on the 8spd. However, in my experience (17kmi with 8spd
chains and 21kmi on 9spd ) the 8spd chains last about 2x + longer than the
9spd chains. I suggest sticking with 8spd. Steve

The 8speed chains do last longer than the nines. Using a narrow nine speed chain with eight speed drivetrain can cause slow shifting, esp. on the front der. There is a slight diference in the width of the cage.

Hey this is a great find. I have been upgrading my wife's 8spd sora setup, so far the front large chainring, front & Rear derailleur. Last night I chopped out the 8spd chain and put a tiagra 9spd one on. I will be replacing the shifters with 105's soon but in the meantime it is an 8spd rig. I chucked it up on the trainer last night and can say that shifting seems smoother & quieter. I also noticed that the 9spd chain was significantly lighter than the 8spd as a side advantage. Less rubbing on the inner of the large chainring & front derailleur cage.

A 9 speed chain won't work on an 8 speed set up for several reasons. 1st, the chain is narrower than the 8spd model and you will run the risk of it jamming between the chain rings. 2nd the 9sd chain will be even tighter on your cogs than the 8spd, as there is less space with a narrower chain.

A better solution for you would be to go to a sachs pc-58 or 68 dedicated 8 speed chain as they are a bit wider then the shimano versions.

ChuckThat is just all total BS....A 9 speed chain won't get jammed.Ya ever actually tried doing that? A 9 speed chain won't be a tighter fit,coz the overall width is narrower, and the inside width is the same. A sram 8 chain is actually a bit narrower than a shimano 8.

A 9sp chain may help, and it certainly won't hurt. You could try one of the less expensive SRAM models like PC59 or PC69.
Yeah, and a sram 8 is slightly narrower in total width than a shimano 8.