Originally Posted by T-Mar

Chain wear occurs between the rollers and the bushes (or the formed flanges of the inner plates on bushless chains). Chain wear took a significant leap with the introduction of bushless chains, which do not provide as much of a bearing surface with the roller as bush style chains. The first bushless chains appeared circa 1981, shortly after the move to 6 speed. Bushless chains were less expensive to manufacture than bush style, so the increased wear was not a concern for most cyclists, especially when you took into consideration that they ran notably quieter and shifted better due to the increased lateral flex provided by the design. Of course, the increased flexibility led to a proliferation of cogs, which led to even narrower chains, increasing the loads and wear rates. Designers tried to mitigate the wear and maximize roller width by decreasing pin protrusion and using thinner plates but this was offset by consumer preference for chains with bulged plates that provided better shifting. If you have wear concerns, the only solutions are to be more diligent with lubrication or buy higher grade chains with more durable materials but I don't consider chain wear rates to be an issue. When I consider performance and inflation, moderately priced modern chains are a much better value than their C&V forerunners.