I've been riding on a generic $3 Pyramid brand chain for about a month now, and I'm asking for it to break at the worst possible time. It's time to make the sweet upgrade and all I hear about is Wipperman. I just want the quietest 1/8" chain that isn't titanium and gold plated...I know they make some chains that are several hundred bucks. My price limit is about $50, I'd say... recommendations?

SRAM PC-1 would run you about $14 and you wont have a problem. KMC Z Chains as well...

+1 KMC Zs.. and you can get them in neato colors. Wippermans are supposed to actually be quite loud in comparison to everything else, but I have no experience.

Find one with nice big smooth beveling (?) on the inner plate if you want it to be silent. Which leads us to why you want a PC-1 and not a KMC.

I forgot to mention that I had both Sram PC-1 and KMC Z chains in the past, and stretched them both in a month. I'm just curious about people's experiences with more expensive chains that may (or may not) be worth the extra cash.

I have the Wipperman and it is a very nice chain. they aren't that expensive..I don't think I paid more that $20-25 for it? It has the clip style masterlink.

I have three Wippermann chains, but none are on fixed/singlespeeds. I have been very happy with the 908 and 808 chains that I've used. They have been quieter/smoother than the SRAM chains they replaced. The shifting is improved as well, but I doubt you care. I run an old Shimano XT chain on my singlespeed with no problems or stretch over the last five months/250 miles.

I have a Wipperman on my track bike, which is used for racing in-season and road riding in the off. It's the nickel-plated version, I think? Cheap, like 15 bucks. No complaints.

I like my wipperman chain. The track chains are fairly inexpensive like $20.

I also liked my Wipperman chains. Have used several of them through the years and have never had a problem. They are a bit noisy though.

i have heard the wippermann 1g8 which is one of the strongest chains they have. and personally i dont think that it makes much more noise than any other chain.

How much do you ride and what do you measure stretch with?

i think the pc-1 is also crap after stretching a couple ridiculously fast. but have no problems with even cheaper kmc chains.

i hear the pc-1 is made in two vwersions i forget which but one (THE NON-COATED ONE?) is supposedly crapier than the other. judging from my experience i must have had 2 crappy ones so far

iirc, one is nickel plated and the other isnt. i had the non plated one rust on me pretty quickly, probably my fault though.

yes which wippermann chains do you mean ?
i got the full-bushing white star (nickel plated) one from business cycles for $15
i have no idea how much is on it.. maybe 4000 miles ?
i've cleaned it maybe 3 times
i think my tool says it's about 50% stretched

just to throw a curveball into this, the izumi eco is very quiet as well and will only run you about 20 dollars.

I currently run the 808 on my fixie, quiet and nice. Sram PC1 is a good choice for 1/8" as is Wipperman White Star