I ride vintage racing bikes and yesterday I replaced the chain on my Medici Pro Strada. I only recently acquired this bike and by all appearances it is a very low mile bike with no rust. I noticed the rotten tires first thing and thought the bike had been sitting for a really long time , AND the grease in the bottom bracket had solidified. The anodized Mavic wheels had zero brake rub and the paint is very nice. After cleaning up the bike I was still not happy with the bike. Oh , it was a blast as far as handling and speed , but when I was in low gear , it felt rough as I really pedaled hard up the hills. The cogs were not worn and the chain rings were like new. I took it to my local bike shop yesterday and Mark put it on the stand and immediately suspected a worn out chain! He had a gage and it only took a few seconds. I chose the KMC chain as it was very close to the original width of the original chain. This is important when running 5 or 6 speed free wheels , too narrow and the chain will slip between gear changes( don’t ask me how I know ) . I am so stoked that Mark figured out the problem . I have never had a chain give this symptom before where it feels like the bearings in the BB are bad. Joe

I took the plunge.It just arrived today.Time will tell if the Ti Nitide coating really offers the longevity they promise.

I know from experience that titanium nitride is excellent for wear resistance. It also has some lubricity properties that would be favorable for this application. Although there are other PVD coatings that would be better. I would like to see AlTiN with a molly coat , now that would be a good chain! Joe

How's that chain working out?

I haven’t installed it yet. Trying to get through til spring on my current chain.

For TiN to be of value, the coating has to be applied to certain critical areas, like the ID of the roller and the holes in the inner plates, or the pins. TiN on the outer plates, where is looks pretty isn't of much value.

I just measured a popular KMC X11.93 chain over it's full length and found substantial elongation, compared to my Campy chains with the same my mileage that had no significant elongation. Elongation that creates a change in pitch is entirely due to the wear between the pins and the inner plates. The only way to measure it properly is between the pin center lines, not between the rollers.

A chain can show little elongation, but still be extremely worn. I dissected a Campy 10 chain, many years ago, that was meticulously maintained over 6,000 miles of use. It had very little elongation - not even .25%, but the wear on the hole in the rollers was huge, the roller ODs significantly worn and side clearance between the inner and outer plates was twice that of a new chain. I now take measurements of the space between rollers, to get a better idea of when to toss a Campy chain. That one should probably have been tossed a 3,000 miles. With the different wear patterns between brands, there's no specific measurement that gives the user any assurance that the chain was completely used before it was tossed. Most chain checkers add roller wear to the true elongation. Those that don't tell you nothing more than a check with a precision 12 inch machinist's ruler.

Rather than toss chains prematurely in an attempt to avoid new-chain skip, I alternate the use of several chains. Even a few hundred miles of use can make the difference that avoids the new-chain skip problem.

That article had me looking thru an online etailers listing. Hadn't heard of YBN, so what else is there? A run thru Universal Cycles pages, you can get in 11speed, chains from all sorts of (to me) obscure (or at least didn't know they made/sold chains) companies.
FSA Team Issue chains (only $25)
Gusset GS-11 chains.. over $50 - putting it in a similar league to YBN's normal retail or Campy Record
Sunrace still makes chains evidently

No complaints at all about FSA Team Issue-- I put on a decent amount of miles, so $ per mile is significantly more important to me than possibly saving a third of a watt.

I do a two chain rotation on each bike, with two bikes roughly splitting my annual mileage. Buying the cheapest 11-speed chains I can find has me spending $80 a year on chains, and it's usually a cassette every other year.

I've used Connex (Wippermann,) SRAM, Shimano, FSA, and KMC. They all last the same mileage, within about 10%. I buy whatever's cheap at the time. Brand doesn't seem to matter.

Currently running the FSA chain, as they were $16 each some months ago (now $27 each.) The cheapest SRAM, the PC-1110, was out of stock for ages but now back at it's $15 pricepoint, and I've never gotten less than 3,000 miles out of one.

The same I've gotten on every chain.

I use YBN quick-links since they are advertised to be good for 5 uses instead of 1 like everybody else which adds up pretty quickly if you wax your chain and rotate through 3 different chains. Molten Speed Wax sells their products and their chains aren't cheap but are suppose to be good.

I use the same quick-link for the life of a chain, removing and reinstalling it at least 10 times. It's fine.

I was thinking about trying it out when I need a new chain for the new bike, because it's the only reasonably priced black chain I've seen. Would look great on the new bike with a black sunrace cassette.

Black chain and a black cassette screams "I'm cheap".

OTOH, black rotors...

How is that when none of them are cheap? I can get silver cassettes and chains for half the price of a sunrace cassette and YBN chain. lol

You don't think black would look good on this?




Well, black arms at least lol When I get new wheels they'll have RT-81s, clean and simple.

Wippermann Connex

I resemble that remark! LOL

Reading comprehension on my part..."black cassette"....carry on! LOL

BITD, all low end bikes had blackish/dark brown freewheels and chains, and the new black chains/cassettes look about the same.

this is an example

https://www.amazon.com/SunRace-Speed.../dp/B00XIFI9LQ

Gotcha, I haven't been around bikes long enough to know any previous trends.

Reviving this thread. I'm about to replace my Shimano R8000 cassette and am considering the YBN or Shimano Dura-Ace chain after reading the Cycling Tips article. I'm curious if anyone has personal experience with YBN and the Ultegra cassette. Comments appreciated.

Update on the TiN? I know TiN works wonderfully on my firearms. As wellas Robar NP3.

What I'm getting once my current KMC chain is dead (efficient & long lasting):

https://www.connexchain.com/en/11-speed-chains.html
https://bikerumor.com/2018/01/29/wip...lasts-longest/

What do you gain by getting a different brand than from your groupset manufacturer?

Better efficiency & lifespan.

Enough improved efficiency relative to, say, the Shimano DA chain? I read that there's a 1/2 watt difference and wonder if this is really worth the bother. But if there's better shifting or a smoother experience, then that's something else.