Originally posted by Jean Beetham Smith
My Specialized Rockhopper basic has a KMC narrow chain marked with a "Z". The rear derailleur is a Shimano, as is the front. Neither is marked SIS. I think they are the Acera line. The shifting is quite sloppy. Even on the middle of the 7 cogs it is quite hard to do a front shift. According to my chain gauge I will need to replace the chain soon. Would a Sram chain be appropriate (I like the idea of the power link)? Will a new chain help the adjustment on the shifting?
Jean, I had to replace the stock chain on my Giant after the original fell apart after 500 miles, and found a mid-range SRAM chain made rear shifting better , but it didn't have much effect on front shifting. I upgraded the front derailleur to the basic Shimano Deore multi-fit model (about £16 UK) which noticeably improved front shifting, the real difference though, was upgrading the SRAM Gripshift 3 shifter for the SRAM Rocket (equivalant of SRAM 9 ESP but for Shimano Mech's), it wasn't a cheap upgrade (£25) but it really made a difference (when I finally got the front derailleur set up right
). If you're one of these strange people who can't see theadvantages of Gripshift over the Shimano Shifters (and there's a worrying amount of the about
) I'd try upgrading the shifter to a better Shimano shifter.
One other thought what are the cables like? They might want lubing or replacing.
Richard