Are half link chains that bad?
 

I was doing a little adjusting on my 29er to try to get my wheel slammed in the dropouts and realized I can't do it without using a half link. It's either way too much slack or just barely too short. I want it all the way in the dropouts because it makes it harder to steal the rear wheel and it keeps the rear wheel from ever slipping while climbing.

I know I could use just one half link in a normal single speed chain but I like the looks of a fully half link chain better than a mismatched one. (ib4 utilitarians) Weight isn't an issue for me. My bike is heavy is crap already and a heavy chain would be the least of my worries. My main concern is if there are lots of safety or reliability concerns with half link chains.

Any recommendations on a good one if they shouldn't be avoided altogether?

Thanks bfssfg!

I've ridden a lot of miles on a halflink chain, no problems. Pretty beefy so i would imagine them being stronger, cant really see a concern with one.

I've just heard some people say they stretch a lot. :/

Half link chains stretch / wear rapidly, because the half link stretches / wears more than a regular link, so the entire chain stretches a lot
more. This in addition to being much heavier and more expensive makes them one of the dumbest inventions on earth. Just use a single half link, which will be hardly noticeable.

My bike has a half link. Not even the same color of the chain and it's barely noticeable.

I've never had a problem with a full half link chain, I've only used SALT. But maybe you could try a one tooth higher/lower cog(so if you have a 19 tooth now, try an 18 or a 20 tooth) and keep your current chain and you might be able to slam your rear. Plus it might be cheaper than buying a half link chain.

My bike is also just one one half link, No problems so far.

Samesies with the single half-link. It's really not a big deal...

"The major cause of chain "stretch" is wearing away of the metal where the rivet rotates inside of the bushing (or the "bushing" part of the inside plate) as the chain links flex and straighten as the chain goes onto and off of the sprockets." - Sheldon Brown

A half link chain would have no reason to stretch any more than a regular chain according to his reasoning.

Correcto! Also known as a pintle chain ... pivot points in any chain chain get worn creating more play between the links making the chain effectively longer. The cleaner you keep the chain (less friction) over it's expected life (1000-2000miles) the longer it will last. I go through a 10 spd SRAM chain about every 1500 or so.

Sheldon Brown was speaking about normal chains. The bent design of half links causes them to place side loads on the plates causing more wear on the pins.

Half-link chains are garbage. As others have said though, using a single half-link isn't anything to lose sleep over.

Twice as many links to wear, hence roughly twice the "stretch".

they also weight a ton......I rode with one on my BMX cruiser for a while. it felt like I lost a pound when I changed back to normal chain

Excellent observation.

only problem is it's wrong

Yeah. I thought about it some more, and I agree. There are exactly the same number of pin connections as a normal chain.

Couldn't resist.

OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM OM NOM NOM

In terms of pins yes... having trouble drawing a picture of why they wear more, damn medication (sick as hell, time to go back to bed).

the plate is shaped like a z of sorts right? Which implies a kink, right? Bend a paper clip in that shape then pull it straight. Once it's straight you can't pull it any more straight right? A traditional chain link (which is actually 2 outer plates-pin-roller-2 innerplates) has straight (flat-whatever) plates; the plates don't get longer the holes for pins just get bigger and the pins wear in as well. Bottom line if you clean and lube your chain regularly they will last longer, period. The pintle chain's achilles heel is the shape of it's plate.

Well I got a half link and a new chain today (black chains bug the crap out of me).

http://i.imgur.com/9goIp.jpg

Only problem is it's waaaaay to slack with that extra 1/2 of a link. So slack that I thought maybe the new chain was some how more stretched out but I tried fitting it without the half link and it wouldn't. It's like a millimeter away from being able to connect and if it did, the chain tension would be ridiculously high. I got it to connect once with a crazy amount of stretching and it was so tight that the eccentricity of the chainring made it bind up.

Here's a pic of the slack with the half. I could take the chain off without a chain tool or loosening the wheel.

http://i.imgur.com/Dp039h.jpg

My next thought was to file the dropouts to be just a little bit deeper but I'm almost positive i'd run into problems with my brake because it has 1mm of clearance when the wheel is slammed as it

http://i.imgur.com/StML0h.jpg

I'm confused, why don't you just pull your wheel back into the dropout more?

You're saying your 1mm away from connecting without the half-link, then you add the half-link and you get several inches of movement?

Maybe I mis-understood what you're saying.

Yeah from looking around it looks like I'll have to change my gearing up. I'd rather up the gear inches at this point and it seems like it would be cheaper and easier to get a 17t rear cog than find a 33t 4 bolt chainring. I was pretty disappointed with the wheel that came on this bike. You'd think they'd put a thread on freewheel hub on it. Instead it has this:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...s/IMG_4326.jpg

I have no idea what I'd need to change the gearing on this type of wheel :/ Anybody else know?

edit. nvm sheldon is my friend.

Just a cog, chainring, or both. Is that a Dawes BullsEye?

http://www.homebrewedcomponents.com/store.php

Buy some wheel tugs while you're at it.

But I still have no idea why you think you can't make a chain work on a certain gearing setup. I've yet to encounter a combination that wont work and can't imagine any that wouldn't.

O snap, and was just about to say it may be time for a tensioner. Upsell!

Well, you're looking at one. The whole point was to avoid having to use wheel tugs since the wheel would be all the way in the dropout. The chain is either too loose or way too tight in this gear combo. A half link adds a little more than 2" of chain slack so I'm either at 0" or 2+" - neither of which are good. Oh, and close with the dawes bullseye. It's a deadeye with discs since they didn't have the bullseye in my size. (bullseye was basically a deadeye with disc brakes and no linear pull posts for those not familiar with them)


So I'm looking into these splined cogs for cassette conversions. Is there an easy way to figure out what kind of cassette I have? It doesn't say on bd's website. Hoping it's campy compatable because this thing is sick: http://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...&category=2621

It's Shimano.

I'm guessing you don't realize you already have an 18t cog?

Thanks. I realize it's an 18 but I'm looking for a 17. Dang. I just now noticed the one i linked to only comes in 18 :(