Originally Posted by
dennis336
Thanks all for the replies. I did reach out to the contact Crankycrank provided and got a quick and helpful response. Here it is:9 speed:
X9 NPGY (silver outer plates and grey inner plates) is our new name for X9.93
X9 NPNP (full silver) is our new name for X9.99
Comment: We found the 93 and 99 names to be confusing so we simply reverted back to the outlooks for descriptions. Both of these chains have the same durability with the only difference being coating. The NPNP will have better protection from rust specifically on the inner plates.
I only use KMC chains and the only thing confusing is the KMC website. Good luck finding any naming consistency.
Some chains are called:
Silver (which I guess is nickel plate)
Nickel Plate (which I guess is silver)/Grey
Nickel Plate/Black (which is better or worse than grey)
Grey/Grey (which I guess has no plating but not the same as black)
EcoProTeQ that is grey (which has double rust protection as opposed to the grey without any rust protection)
Unfortunately I couldn’t find NPNP, or NPGY designation on the site.
I’ll still use their chains, but at least a .73, .93, .99 gave a conclusion that higher was better.
John