duane041

I will need to repace the chains on two of my road bikes before the real season starts (its still winter in Chicago), and was wondering if some chains are heads above others. Both of the chains I have now are on older 12 speed bikes, and both chains are rusty and/or pitted in areas. I don't think I will do this on my own, but are there chains I should look towards? One bike is a commuter which will see roughly 30 miles each day, 5 days a week. I don't know the first thing about chains, but I'd like to learn.

MudPie

My favorite is the SRAM chain. They're a good, no-nonsense, reliable chain. I've been using them for 5+ years without a problem. The best feature I like is the "Powerlink", which comes with their chains. The Powerlink allows you to disassemble and reassemble the chaiin without the use of tools - just your fingers. It's so easy to use. On the other hand, most chains require a tool to disassembly, and in the case of Shimano, a new pin is required every time the chain is reassembled.


Just my $0.02

JDP526

Can the Sram Powerlink be installed or used on other brands of similar chain?

khuon

Yes. They'll work on Shimano chains. However, bear in mind that there's currently no 10 speed SRAM PowerLink available yet.

As for quality of chains, some are better treated than others. I tend to go for full nickel chains because they're less prone to rust. Some chains are only partially nickel plated. For instance, they may have only nickel on some of the plates and not others. Some may or may not have hardened rollers. Generally speaking the middle pick of any chain manufacturer's lineup is good enough for durability. The more expensive ones from that are just lighter or look nicer. For purposes of high-quality for a 6-speed setup, I would go with the SRAM PC58 or Wippermann ConneX 808.

MarkS

What's the difference in quality between the various SRAM types? They've got silver and gold and maybe one other ... and there's a big price differential. Can one chain go longer than the other without needing to be replaced? How much longer? The packages don't give any indications about the relative levels of quality.

khuon

For SRAM PowerLinks, silver is for 6/7/8-speed drivetrains and gold is for 9-speed drivetrains. The widths are different. As far as chain quality goes:


6/7/8-speed Chains
-------------------

• PC-38 - Standard steel, no nickel-plating, no additional hardening
• PC-48 - Standard steel, no nickel-plating, hardened pins
• PC-58 - Nickel-plated outer plates, no nickel plating on inner plates, hardened pins
• PC-68 - Nickel-plated inner and outer plates, hardened pins

9-speed Chains
---------------

• PC-951 - Standard steel, no nickel-plating, bulged sideplates for improved shifting and durability, hardened pins
• PC-971 - Nickel-plated bulged outer plates, no nickel-plating on chamfered inner plates, hardened pins
• PC-99 - Nickel-plated inner and outer plates, Cross Step reinforced and hardened pins
• PC-99HP - Nickel-plated inner and outer plates, hardened hollow pins (lighter)
• PC-991 - Nickel-plated chamfered inner and bulged outer plates for improved shifting and durability, hardened pins
• PC-991HP - Nickel-plated chamfered inner and bulged outer plates for improved shifting, hardened hollow pins (lighter)
• PC-991CS - Nickel-plated chamfered inner and bulged outer plates for improved shifting and durability, Cross Step reinforced and hardened pins

msheron

I use the PC991 SRAM. I was told it was one of the best chains out there..........hummmm? Don't really know if it is or not, but I have no complaints!

sch

You would probably want a 5-6 speed chain, rather than the ones mentioned. Advantage of the 5-6 spd chains is they last a lot longer, than 8-9-10spd and are compatible with the somewhat geriatric 12spd system you have. SRAM for this is the
PC10, which is available with the powerlink. Good luck finding one. It will also be cheap, you pay for the 8-9-10spds in more than one way, they cost more and have shorter life spans as they increase speeds.
Steve

jbrians

I'm not arguing with the statement "Advantage of the 5-6 spd chains is they last a lot longer, than 8-9-10spd". If my information is correct, chains don't break as much as they wear and elongate. Granted the pins in the 9/10 speed chains are a slight bit shorter, resulting in more stress being concentrated over less metal, does this really impact on the longevity of a chain? The only chains that have ever broken on me were KMC 9 speed. Everything else has gone at least a whole riding season (3-6000km) when I look after them (I'm anal about oil) and that includes MTB, commuter and road bikes.

I think the true advantage to the 5-6 speed, is they are so cheap for a good quality chain. A trip to CTC will get you an ofshore something or other that should last for a ton of miles if you maintain it. Another advantage is, a chain tool is good enough (if you don't have a quicklink) to remove it without worrying about having it come apart on a ride.

I have a quicklink on my 9 speed which has laughed at me for a year now every time I try to disconnect it lol.

khuon

6/7/8 speed chains use the same width. 9-speed is slightly narrower and 10-speed narrower still. The PC-10 has the same width as the PC-x8. The PC-10 is a budget version of the PC-38 which also does not have any hardening nor plate treatments. Also, the PC-10 does not have any shift improvements features which are meant to work with ramped gears such as HyperGlide clusters. However, the PC-38 does include a PowerLink whereas the PC-10 does not. If you want a PowerLink for the PC-10 then you'd have to purchase a silver PowerLink seperately but then you'd be better off just buying the PC-38. The only issue with the PC-10 is that the plates are not treated nor is the rivet pin hardened so I would say that PC-58 and PC-68 will actually last longer even though they may be slightly thinner at the edges due to chamfering and beveling to improve shifting. Remember that the thickness of a chain does not contribute as much to the overall longevity because the majority of your stresses are aligned along the longitudinal axis of the chain links. Additionally, while more material can distribute stresses better, we're also not talking about the same exact material as one is hardened and the other is not.

duane041

Very informative, I really appreciate it. I will look into the SRAM chains. I would guess my LBS would be able to get these, correct? And will I notice a difference between my old, worn, 20 year old rusty chain and a new, correctly-fit chain? Boy, that's a dumb question.

Thanks again everyone.

khuon

One thing to note about replacing chains. A really worn chain will also wear the cassette and chainring. When you replace a chain that has worn to such a condition with a new chain and mount it onto a drivetrain that's been equally worn, the new chain will also "wear" in to a condition that will almost be as bad as your old worn chain. For this reason, it's advisable to replace both the chain and cassette/chainrings when the gears have shown signs of considerable wear. Inspect the teeth of your gears. Look for "sharktooth" shaped teeth and the chain not seating correctly into the teeth. See Sheldon Brown's article on chain and sprocket wear.

San Rensho 

Buy the cheapest one that is for the freewheel/hub you have, lubricate often. Measure for chain stretch often and replace while its still well within specification. This will save prematurely wearing expensive freewheel/hub and chainrings.

duane041

Maybe I should have only used the adjectives "old" and "rusty", as the chains don't really have much wear in them at all. Both of these bikes were the type that the original owners purchased, rode twice, and then hung in the garage from the rafters. Both bikes still have lots of gear left on the cassette and rings.

Thrifty1

These work GREAT for quicklink disassembly!
https://www.parktool.com/products/det...t=5&item=MLP-1

capwater

Wipperman Connex has a 10 speed link. Run ya 5 bucks at Performance.

khuon

Yep. Connex-10S links for Shimano chains or Connex-10 for Campagnolo. I personally prefer Wippermann chains to SRAM and the ConnexLink to PowerLinks. Bear in mind that ConnexLinks have a direction and must be installed in the proper orientation otherwise shifting performance suffers.

thekorn

If you put a lot of miles on your bike, your chain will wear out from stretch before it will wear out from corrosion problems. My local shop told me that there is no difference in shifting performance between SRAM chains. The difference is in the metal coating. They told me to buy the less expensive chain, because it will have to be replaced before it corrodes. So that is what I do. If you will have the same chain on your bike for 5 years or you live where there is a lot of salt corrosion, then the nickel plated chain is probably worth the extra money.

khuon

That's a good point. Environment plays an important role in chain selection. I ride in some pretty hostile conditions. We have a lot of wet/inclimate weather here. The grit and dirt is all volcanic based too so it's very abrasive. As such, even for a commuter and some would say especially for a commuter bike, a higher quality chain is recommended for the Pacific Northwest.

duane041

I live near Chicago, and as much as I would like to be riding all year round, I refuse to ride when the roads are so filled with salt that the dust blows up when cars pass you by. I normally stop once the first heavy snow hits, and then wait til about Spring (or if we have some heavy downpours in between to wash away the salt).
Thanks for the help, I'll be seeing my LBS guys today to get the two bikes done.

khuon

Having grown up and lived in Chicago (and vincinity) for two decades, I know exactly what you mean.

Johnny Vagabond

Let's not forget that the PC-1 is also gold, for all you single-speeders out there!

HillRider

Very interesting comment on today's RoadBikeRider.com weekly E-mail newsletter.

Their tech guru, who owns a bike shop in Colorado, wrote that his shop won't carry SRAM chains anymore since his customers have had an excessive number of breakages in MTB use. He said that since SRAM moved chain production to Portugal the quality has plummeted and, while they were his favorite in the past, he doesn't recommend them anymore.

He agrees that MTB's are harder on chains than road bikes but notes that failures there are still a warning about poor durability and quality.

khuon

Interesting. When did they move production facilities? The last time I used a SRAM chain was over two years ago and I was using the PC-89R on my RB and the PC-99 on my MTB. I now run the Wippermann ConneX 911 on my RB and the 908 on my MTB.

Avalanche325

I have used both SRAM and Shimano on my MTB. There was no differance in shifting whatsoever. I do like using the full nickel plated chains. If a chain is not lubricated and gets wet, it will start to rust in a few minutes. The nickel ones are a lot more forgiving in harsh conditions.

I have only used Shimano on the road. I use a Park chain cleaner, so I don't have a need to take my chain off very often, if ever.