Are New Chains Getting Shorter?
 

I put a new 8 speed SRAM chain on my tourer, a long wheelbase triple. I used every link, a perfect fit but nothing to spare. That stuck me as odd, I expected to have 3 or 4 links left over for sure. Are manufacturers saving money by reducing the number of links in new chains?

the packages have a link count, did you keep track of what the link count was before?


a long chainstay bike will take more chain than a short stay one.


my old stumpjumper always needs a section of extra chain to be requested at the LBS, when I replace it.

left from installing the chain on a shorter stay road bike

I don't believe anything's changed in the last few years. Decades ago 116 or 114 links were most common. These days 112 seems to be the norm.

OTOH if you bought a chain marketed as a single speed chain, it might have been 108 or fewer links.

In any case, they usually tell you how many links on the box.

Didn't see it on the packaging; looked it up, it was a 114 link SRAM chain. A 112 would have been a little tight, I guess it's something I'll have to look out for in the future.