Originally Posted by
reckon
why yes, we do.
my manly fixed gear is so cool and testosterone packed that I must use a 3/4" chain from backhoe or I snap them the minute I start doing my manly skids and skips.
yeah, seriously tho in twenty five years of just ridiculous mountain bike/bmx/jump/skatepark bicycle abuse I never ever snapped a chain, even ones that I had SERIOUSLY neglected.
until I used a lightweight road chain on a fixed hear bike, and did some skids.
so yes, I'd say just from personal experience I think my fixie puts much more stress on the chain, ESPECIALLY since the stress is in BOTH forward & backward directions and is why I like 1/8" GOOD BMX or track chains: the BMX chains are JUST as strong as the track legal chains and half the price.
I smell somthing stinky, and it's the above post. The stress is forward and backward? Interesting thought, but not really sound logic or mechanics. You can't push on a chain. Only pull, and it doesn't matter if that pulling is on the top or bottom of your drivetrain. Still pulling, same forces.
Geared drivetrains are harder on chains because of the differing chainline between gears, forcing the chain to bend side to side under stress. It has nothing to do with how much harder anyone thinks riding a fixed gear is. Most geared chains are of higher quality than so called singlespeed chains - better tolerancing, mushroomed pins, stronger alloys. Look at some of the quoted ultimate strength measurements for chains and you'll see the differences. One instance of a multi-speed road chain breaking on a fixed gear does not make bigger chains more better.