actually the eai is the only cog I have found to be remotely similar to my suntour superbe pro cogs and I love em cheap well made and pretty

EAI cogs appear to have the highest quality of machining, compared to some of the others.
Appearance doesn't necessarily mean anything.

That said, an article by Sheldon Brown or Phil Wood (can't remember) has me thinking a person should stick with one brand of cog, since the various cog manufacturers have tiny respective variations in their threading, and these variations, when one goes from one manufacturer to the other, will cause premature wear on the threads of the hub.

According to this thinking, if one goes back and forth between a DA cog and an EAI cog, each time he does so the new cog will rethread the hub to match the new cog's slightly different threading, and this will remove metal from the hub threads each time one installs the new cog.

Hm.

If so, then I say pick a manufacturer and stick with that manufacturer.

I like EAI for the appearance of EAI's machining, and for the broad range of teeth in both 3/32's and 1/8, and my current hub has never "seen" anything except an EAI cog.

As for chains, I started out with a KMC 610 and have since switched, following my lbs's recommendation, to a KMC 810.
I find the 810 quieter.

I have a separate chain for each chainring and cog combination.

With all due respect, I think we must have different standards for "silent" -- or perhaps you've never exerienced the Izumi V with a tuned cog. I personally have never seen a quiet running KMC chain, and in my past life as a track coach I have been around perhaps more than a thousand track bikes. Of course, just because I haven't seen something doesn't mean it's never happened, but IMO the odds are getting a bit steep.

If it works for you, of course...

FWIW, it's a lot easier to get a quiet running combo on 3/32. SRAM's "6-7-8" chains are good for the application. 3/32 does create a few potential problems, but most of them are solvable.

I run a kmc and im just a step above silent. I mean, im sure if I had an izumi V with a super star cog it would be stealthy, but this works fine.

Here are two easy steps to get a "silent chain":

1. Loosen chain tension
2. Clean/lube chain

Yeah, it can be a pretty subtle thing, and I'm sure lots of folks don't care. The question, though, was about the best chains available, so...

Sure, it's got to be clean and lubed. Chain tension, though, is either correct or it isn't. Any chain will make noise if bar-tight, but a good chain will be silent if just a bit looser than that. If the chain has to be really loose it's not a great chain -- and will still make noise under harder pedalling.

Izumi V, boys and girls... </ soapbox >

why fix it if it aint broke?

thanks for the tip ken. looks like i'll be sticking to EAI on one side of my hub, and dura ace on the other.

I'd say "second highest" with Phil Wood at the top, but the E.A.I. sprockets are really nice.

Nonsense. That's an imaginary issue.

You may be thinking of some B.S. that Surly put out to try to explain away the deficiencies of their first-generation fixed sprockets.

Sheldon "Interchangeabilitude" Brown

So are the minute differences in cog threadings a non-issue?

Sounds like that's Sheldon's story and he's sticking to it. I think I'm still gonna stay with EAI cogs though anyway, but Six Jours almost makes me want to go out and pick up that fancy Superstar, or better yet, the new Gold Metal one (a cool $99). But alas, I don't even race track and when I do go to the velodrome, it's for fun and laps.

I'll actually disagree with Sheldon, at least mildly, on this one. I know for a fact that EAI cogs have slightly different threading than Suntour and Shimano, and that Campy is slightly different from all three. My personal experience has been that an EAI cog will slightly distort the threads on Campy, Shimano, and Suntour hubs and that from then on it will take a bit more effort to install any cog onto that hub.

Does this mean that repeatedly swapping from one cog brand to another will eventually strip the threads on a hub? I've never personally seen it happen, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that it has.

All of this, BTW, is on track bikes which see several cog changes per night. On a "street" fixie where a cog usually stays put for months or years at a time, it's probably not worth worrying about.

Andre, you can also "tune" a cog yourself. Use a round jeweler's file and "break" all the sharp edges around the teeth. The same file -- or a dowel with jeweler's rouge, valve grinding compound, or emery paper -- can then be used to polish between the teeth where the chain runs. Finally, you can use a flat file, or -- carefully -- a Dremel-type tool to smooth the machining marks on the teeth themselves. This is essentially what EAI does with the Superstar cogs.

I have no experience with the Gold Medal cogs, but don't think the idea has much merit. I believe the shape and smoothness has much more to do with the feel of the cog than does any coating -- and I'll bet the coating doesn't last more than a dozen hours of use.

Don't waste your time. Just ride the cog for a couple hundred miles and the thing will polish/machine itself.

+5



chains

So you've tried both ways and are now reporting your findings to us? Maybe you should drop a line to all those professional track racers who tune their own cogs. To think how much time they've wasted over the years...

you mean they used to...

luckily, i picked up 5 last time they were that cheap.

and usually by the time they REALLY need a cleaning (for me anyway) the chain gueage shows enough stratch that i need to chuck it anyway. i have been averaging about 2 a year. i abuse the hell out of them so 6 months seems like a good long time to me.

the KMC chain has been much better to me than all the sram stuff i ran in the past.

i think i heard something about that coating keeping the cog from ever wearing away. marketing hype maybe?

either way, i'm a dumb idealist and a $99 cog is not in my realistic future budget, i'm just gonna sell off this 19T EAI for an 18 or 17T phil wood.

I'd bet on it. The first guy to come up with a metal coating that never wears will be a billionaire -- not to mention revolutionizing hundreds of different industries. I mean, I like EAI and everything, but I don't think they've advanced quite that far...

Yeah, maybe.

That's what she said

EIA makes a good product, but, they are very thick cogs, which can mess up your chainline.
The superstar is also a bit soft. I have been running a superstar for about 3 months, and because the chainline was out 1mm (because of the thickness) I have chain wear grooves on the outside of the cog. I am going Phil now, the thickness & quality is perfect.

i'm using a HKK Vertex. runs smooth and silent. can't tell any difference between the vertex and izumi v.

using the vertex b/c it's cheaper than the izumi v. $25 vs. $30. the all blue (more like black tho) vertex is even cheaper about $15US.

packaging for both is very nice too. reminds me of a chocolate bar.

man ****... chainline is perfect with an EAI, which means it may get thrown off w/ a phil wood huh? oh well, i think i'm just gonna keep pushing 49x16, because it's all around fun except when pulling out of stop lights.