FastJake

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here but none of the threads I found were useful. Lots of them were full of clowns discussing chain strength among other things, completely irrelevant...

Anyway, I put a lot of miles on my fixed gear, mostly commuting. Looking at about 8000 miles this year on that bike. I've been using $8 stamped cogs and $11 KMC X8.93 chains in 3/32" width. I'm wondering if I can get more miles per dollar out of an 1/8" setup, possibly using higher quality parts if there is some benefit to that.

There is lots of speculation on which width lasts longer, but it would be really helpful if anyone has some ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with this. Such as, "my old setup got me about 3000 miles per chain but this setup gets me more like 5000."

fietsbob

Have used a full bushing 3/32" Whipperman for several years on my Brompton and Rohloff bike .. It was a NOS Buy from Harris

I dont use a bike computer to log data on a bike I ride every day , so I cannot play that game .

For my replacement I have another Whipperman , but to get A Full bushing chain I bumped Up that extra 32nd in width.

I had been using a 3/32" thick 15t cog on the AW3 .. it came from the spares for the Sachs Made 3 by 2 hub on the Mk3 bikes

that skipped 1 tooth in 5, to work better as a shift gate to the 13t cog next to it. new cog is 4/32 thick & has all 15t at full height ..

maybe I'll check back in another 5 years and compare that wear life..

I had a online chat many years ago with someone at Whipperman , in Germany , they offered confirmation that
the separate Bushing pressed into the inner links is offering a Longer wear life, than using a 5,6,7,8 speed derailleur chain
which has its 2 partial bushings formed from the steel punched out to form the Hole in the inner link,

On those chains there is some benefit in Lateral Flexibility for faster shifting . A Moot benefit on a fixie.

In short, More than Brand there is also the Type of construction of the chain ..

FWIW, I bought a Whipperman/Connex 108.

DiabloScott

I have had four fixed gear bikes - three used 3/32" and my current one uses 1/8". I've yet to wear one out.

How many miles do you get on your chain now? And how many miles would you be happy with?

I would guess though, that the 1/8" chain might last longer and there's no reason NOT to try it if you need a new one anyway... so I suggest you do it and keep track and then you can report that (for example) one size gives you a chain economy of $0.0022/mile and the other gives $0.0023/mile.

79pmooney

I doubt you are going to save money by upgrading to 1/8". I think you have hit the sweet spot for an ultimately cheap per mile drive train! Better quality 1/8" will be a lot nicer riding and will last longer, but price/mile? Your Audi would have to go a long, long ways to do better per mile than that $200 salvaged VW!

Your drive train is a lot better than that VW; don't take offense, but I think you see my point. I ride 1/8" Eurasian or Dura Ace cogs and an Izumi chain. $35/cog and $20/chain. Long life and beautifully running. I do it in part so I can swap cogs readily and not sweat cog/chain matches and in part because i have been riding fixed long enough that I feel I deserve a classy ride. (No, not to impress anyone else, just to feel like the drive train I am on is solid.)

Ben

hueyhoolihan

i wouldn't waste my time thinking about it. if there are indeed any differences it would cost more time and money to determine them than could be saved, assuming climate conditions, road conditions, and maintenance were considered.

BTW, my experiences involve inexpensive cogs, (i get them from a BMX online store) and the KMC PC-1 (for 1/8) and the KMC 7 (for 3/32) chains they are dirt cheap. but whether or not i use 3/32 or 1/8 depends on the the chainrings i'm running. these days i'm gravitating toward 3/32".

FastJake

Around 3000, I think. But I don't have the exact date I changed my last chain so I'm just estimating. This includes dry, wet, and winter conditions.

This is part of my thinking as well. I put more miles on my commuter than all my other bikes combined. So it might as well have some decent stuff. For example, I built a new rear wheel for it with an old Campy Record hub and a Velocity Aerohead rim. The grand total for that wheel was still a very reasonable $55 including spokes, but it's nice to have good stuff where it matters.

I should clarify: it's not all about saving pennies for me. If I can improve my experience with the bike with nicer stuff that's worth something to me.

Spoonrobot 

The benefits to better components flows as follows,

Chainring->Chain->Cog

I've always gotten about 1,500-2,000 miles out of my chains but I noticed the better rear cogs last longer than the cheap ones by a few thousand miles.

JohnDThompson 

I don't think you'll find any appreciably difference in wear, and fixed gears are much more tolerant of chain wear than derailleur bikes. I prefer 1/8" chain for the simple reason that it allows me to freely mix & match 3/32" and 1/8" cogs and chainrings.

ThermionicScott 

If anything, I've been disappointed in the life I've gotten from the various 1/8" chains I've tried. The KMC Z510HX (two of them so far) and the K710 have all lasted about 1000-2000 miles before they reached 1/16" elongation. In contrast, the humble SRAM PC-870 that I used at one point (3/32" chainring and cogs) barely showed any elongation at the 1500 mile mark, and I only took it off because I decided to switch to a larger chainring and cog for which it was too short.

I've got a couple of SRAM PC-7X chains on the shelf, and they are described as having the same hardened pins as my beloved SRAM PC-850/870 chains, so I'm cautiously optimistic that I will get decent mileage out of them. If not, I might well switch back to 3/32" chains.

FWIW, I use the same chain on the fixed-gear all year, only replacing it when it wears out. So it'll see nice weather in the summer, rain in the spring and fall, and snow and salt in the winter. It could be that I have unrealistic expectations for that chain, but I'm always disappointed by how soon I see evidence of elongation on the KMC chains. And it's not like I don't take good care of my chains...

andr0id

Does anybody run the KMC X101?
It has real bushings like a road bike chain in a 1/2"x1/8" chain.
I've got one here to go a my new bike when it arrives, but have not used one before.
It looks like a top notch road chain, only more massive.

ThermionicScott 

Please keep us posted! I've resisted buying models like this because it would have to last about three times as long to be worth the price.