Originally Posted by
MudPie
Is there an industry standard for bicycle chain, like ISO or ASTM?
I'm sure there is, but don't have the time to pull it up. Years ago, (before ISO for bikes) Any decent 3/32" chain had a tensile breaking load of 1,100 or 1,200kgf. Today there are still chains rated at 1,200-1,300kgf.
With all that reserve strength you'd think chains would never break, and in fact they very rarely do just from tension. As I said earlier, chains break because a plate is forced over the end of the pin. This doesn't reduce the strength by half, but closer to 95 or more percent, because with only one plate the chain is free to bend that plate, allowing the other to slide free of the pin.
That process accounts for just about all the breakage we see, with a small percentage breaking because of a structural defect, or stress crack in a plate.
If you close chains properly, and don't spread the plates by shifting under load, a chain should never break. Consider that we're all riding solo bikes using the same chains as those used by world champion hill climbers using chainrings as small as 24t (mtb). Those same chains are also used as final drive chains on tandems, often with two strong riders, so they obviously have reserve strength well beyond our needs.