Chains. What do you use?
 

Chains! Which do you use on your 5-8 speed? Do y'all go with the 8 speed chains, or use a 9-10 speed?
Which has proven most practical?

20 dollar 8 speed sram on amazon, or the cheapest nickel plated kmc that's 8 speed.

SRAM on Shimano and SRAM
Connex-Wipperman on Campagnolo

I detest Shimano's pins.

sram pc830 on 5- and 6-speeds.

kmc x9.93 on 7-speeds.

white lightning clean ride chain wax.

SRAM 8 speed chains on 5-7 speed bikes, and SRAM 9 speed on 8 speed bikes.

Been using SRAM PC870 but for the last chain I replace I used one of the cheaper SRAMs, maybe PC830. Just not as pretty shiny.

I buy SRAM PC-850s in bulk, and use them on anything between 5 and 7 speeds. Double the longevity of the 830 thanks to the hardened pins, for only a couple dollars more.

I've always had good luck with KMC chains but if I'm pinching pennies then a Sram PC850.

Good point. I think every chain maker has a sort of threshold in their lineup, below which you get a noticeably inferior chain.

I can most readily identify the cheapies when I use my "5.2 inch minus 1.2 inch" (compensated) stretch measurement method using the inside-measure pins of a digital caliper.

The lesser chains produce inconsistent readings from one measurement to the next, whether new or used.

I've identified Z-series KMC chain, HG30 Shimano chain, TaYa chain and Sunrace chain as having these noticeably-loose tolerances, which makes me suspect that they might increase sprocket wear rate on my most precious freewheels.

My "5.2 - 1.2" measurement method is for eliminating the effects of roller diameter tolerance and roller freeplay on the "stretch" measurement metric, since the caliper pushes rollers in opposite directions.

In use, the chain rollers engaging any single sprocket are all stressed in the same direction, and so cannot have an actual effect on chain link pitch wear.

The subtraction reduces the freeplay component to zero by canceling the freeplay component of each of the two measurements.

A net sum of 4.00" equals new chain, while a sum of 4.020" is at 100.5% of new and is considered worn out, to be replaced immediately if there is to be any chance of using the old sprockets with a new chain.

Measurements need to be repeated until proven consistent, with the sharp edges of the inside-measure pegs centered on the rollers.

Shimano makes a "3-peg" chain measurement tool which accomplishes the same compensation by applying force in the same direction to the two rollers between which the "stretch" length is being measured. But it is a "GO NO-GO" measurement and as such does not tell the user how much that the chain is worn, only whether the chain is still good for a subsequent service interval of some normal duration. It tells the shop whether it is time to replace it. This simple-looking tool is rather expensive, over $50 iir.

I'll add one little tidbit, that the Shimano 9s chains have the biggest difference in terms of how much wider that the sideplates bulge out versus the width of the pins, more than any other chain. They thus give a most aggressive "early" sort of shift behavior toward larger cogs, which works especially well in many friction-shifted setups, and especially with Suntour narrow-spaced freewheels.
...Not to say that other modern chains don't also work very well.

had to use a kmc 5-speed chain on this 12-speed '87 letour (with sugino double and shimano sis), 'cause an 8-speed chain skated between the rings when downshifting.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/309/1...7bf92d75_b.jpg

good point about the price diff -- only $1.50 on ebay.

i'll have to get an 850 for a keeper and move its 830 to the next flip in need of a chain.

There is always the option to modify the teeth of the small ring slightly, either by beveling the non-driveside of the teeth using a file held against the rotating crank and ring, or by removing the ring and bending each tooth a half-millimeter or so toward the big ring.

It's a pretty quick procedure that I do several times per year, and it never fails to allow me to use the narrower chain of my choice.

KMC or SRAM.

I just bought a SRAM 8 speed chain for $14 at REI. Is it really $20 on Amazon?

For my next project I'm going to try Izumi "Click Index" chain. It promises that my cycling will become "quieter and more accurate". We'll see how that goes.

As it happens, KMC or SRAM 8-speed is what I buy when I'm replacing. I've got so many bikes though, I don't wear out chains so much as notice that they're getting rusty or something. (OK, they were actually rusty when I bought the bike, and I'm just getting around to noticing. Yeah, I find a lot of "those" bikes.)

For my Grandis I bought some whiz-bang hollow-pin chain from Porkchop BMX. It's the bee's pajamas!

SRAM Chains.

I have a 7/8 speed chain on my 7 speed. On my 8 speed I recently bought some Race Face 9/10spd chainrings on clearance for $18. I'm using a 10spd chain with it and it shifts better than an 8spd chain ever did.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...psszco2pko.jpg

I've also got a Wippermann Connex on my Cannondale H400 running a 3x6 setup. I don't remember what model exactly since they have like a bazillion different models for the Connex line. I'm looking for a gold chain with drilled pins and plates for a 2x6 project.

KMC or SRAM...both seem to work pretty good...

No, no, no. The real question here is what chain lube do you use.

Sram. Their connecting system beats campy and shimano hands down. On 11 speed campy, I will use a campy chain, but with an sram connector.

The best SRAM chains I can get at one of my LBS... recently ordered the KMC X8 EPT though, supposedly impervious to rust, salt, etc.

That is not something I would have thought of. Interesting. Did you create some sort of jig to verify your work, or just eyeball it? You use channel lock pliers or something more elegant?

The 850 is like 12 bucks. the 870 seems to be 15 dollars. had to go and look it up. i think nickel plated/shiny is more money for every single company. gotta have dat bling.

SRAM PC850 or the KMC 6,7,8 (not sure the model number) are primarily what I use