Not another chain wear thread ...
Not another chain wear thread ...
I should coco.
Re: Not another chain wear thread ...
tl;dr is chain manufacturer Connex devised a chain wear test for 11 speed chains that surprise, surprise found their chain to be the most durable
They applied a load and squirted sand on it occasionally, running to 1% elongation. they did not use a cassette or shift gears, just two cogs of 52t and 17t
if you look at the numbers closest then the chain that was half the price of any of the others not surprisingly worked out cheapest per hour
there was a super light KMC chain that wore out very very quickly
the 1% elongation is a very dubious choice as the Record chain initially stretched very quickly to almost 0.5% and then.experienced slower wear
If you change at 0.5% then this will serve you very poorly as it is both expensive and initially fast wearing.
it is difficult to draw any conclusion other than to stock up on the £9 SRAM chains and change them regularly rather than the £52 winning chain which lasts 2.5x longer to 0.50% wear....
They applied a load and squirted sand on it occasionally, running to 1% elongation. they did not use a cassette or shift gears, just two cogs of 52t and 17t
if you look at the numbers closest then the chain that was half the price of any of the others not surprisingly worked out cheapest per hour
there was a super light KMC chain that wore out very very quickly
the 1% elongation is a very dubious choice as the Record chain initially stretched very quickly to almost 0.5% and then.experienced slower wear
If you change at 0.5% then this will serve you very poorly as it is both expensive and initially fast wearing.
it is difficult to draw any conclusion other than to stock up on the £9 SRAM chains and change them regularly rather than the £52 winning chain which lasts 2.5x longer to 0.50% wear....
Re: Not another chain wear thread ...
Ha ha...I love the way Shimano played the "total integration" card .... I guess to satisfy them the test would have had to have genuine Shimano sprockets and chainrings and the quality of each shift would have to be evaluated..to detect that special shimano sauce we all seek.
As a tandem owner shift quality is important of course but having a chain that is going to last is also pretty important to me.
Thanks for sharing this Valbrona...so rare we get to see a real head to head test like this..and the reaction of the vendors is telling I think ....some engage constructively and are keen to learn and improve..
As a tandem owner shift quality is important of course but having a chain that is going to last is also pretty important to me.
Thanks for sharing this Valbrona...so rare we get to see a real head to head test like this..and the reaction of the vendors is telling I think ....some engage constructively and are keen to learn and improve..
Re: Not another chain wear thread ...
the rear sprocket moves laterally to simulate changes in angle but it doesn't simulate the chain being pushed around by the mechs nor climbing the teeth and re-engaging a new sprocket.
$76 for a chain?
$76 for a chain?
Re: Not another chain wear thread ...
Valbrona wrote:https://www.velonews.com/2020/01/gear/we-went-to-germany-to-test-the-most-popular-bicycle-chains-heres-what-we-found_504284
Very interesting, thanks for posting.
I am another who is not surprised that Connex found their chains to be best! The last time I tried a couple of Connex chains on my MTB I found they completely were shot after a couple of rides each! Never again.
This recent article on Cycling Tips seems to be a lot more independent and comes to some interesting findings too, like YBN chains are great (never heard of them before myself), and that 11 sp chains appear to last better than 10sp chains (and last better than 9 and 8 sp too!)
Finding the best bicycle chain: What over 3,000 hours of testing revealed
https://cyclingtips.com/2019/12/the-bes ... cy-tested/
In both tests KMC chains didn't come out well, I tend to favour KMC chains on all my bikes now, ranging from 1/8" fixed, hub gear and 7 sp set ups. I do have one racing bike that uses 11sp chains, but I do change the chain by 0.5% wear so I do not endanger the cassettes and chain rings.
Maybe time to try and find some YBN chains to try out?
Re: Not another chain wear thread ...
all very interesting and worthy, but the reality is that in any such test the wear results will be very sensitive to exactly how the chain is lubricated, in relation to the materials used. Additionally I note the following;
- the chain is always under tension in the test machine, i.e. there is no slack run. This means that the way lubricant is refreshed in the chain bushings is not representative; normally when the chain is slack there is an opportunity for lubricant to reinstate itself in the bushings and this wouldn't have occurred in a normal way in this test. I.e. in a real situation the chain undergoes its largest flexions (through the RD) when it is least loaded. Possibly chains which showed a 'knee' in the wear rate were, once worn to about 0.5% able to run slack for parts of the run around the chainring, and started to wear more slowly as a result of the lubricant being redistributed in the bushings better.
- depending on the exact mix of rubbish on the chain the conditions may or may not have been bad enough to provoke localised corrosion in many of the chains. If there is any tendency for this to occur then the mechanism of wear isn't simple abrasive wear any more, it is an erosion/corrosion mechanism. Corrosion/erosion will start to occur inside loaded chain bushings well before the chain looks rusty per se. and with it wear rates are liable to be at least x10 higher than normal.
So overall I suspect that the results of these tests are heavily skewed by the (presumably non-accidental) selection of a test method which results in marginal lubrication leading to corrosion/erosion in ordinary chain bushings. In these circumstances, you only need to have a chain made with stainless steel parts in the test in order to virtually guarantee that your chain is likely to outperform most of the others.
Mendacity or accident, you decide.... but other makers make stainless steel chains too and they were not tested....?
cheers
- the chain is always under tension in the test machine, i.e. there is no slack run. This means that the way lubricant is refreshed in the chain bushings is not representative; normally when the chain is slack there is an opportunity for lubricant to reinstate itself in the bushings and this wouldn't have occurred in a normal way in this test. I.e. in a real situation the chain undergoes its largest flexions (through the RD) when it is least loaded. Possibly chains which showed a 'knee' in the wear rate were, once worn to about 0.5% able to run slack for parts of the run around the chainring, and started to wear more slowly as a result of the lubricant being redistributed in the bushings better.
- depending on the exact mix of rubbish on the chain the conditions may or may not have been bad enough to provoke localised corrosion in many of the chains. If there is any tendency for this to occur then the mechanism of wear isn't simple abrasive wear any more, it is an erosion/corrosion mechanism. Corrosion/erosion will start to occur inside loaded chain bushings well before the chain looks rusty per se. and with it wear rates are liable to be at least x10 higher than normal.
So overall I suspect that the results of these tests are heavily skewed by the (presumably non-accidental) selection of a test method which results in marginal lubrication leading to corrosion/erosion in ordinary chain bushings. In these circumstances, you only need to have a chain made with stainless steel parts in the test in order to virtually guarantee that your chain is likely to outperform most of the others.
Mendacity or accident, you decide.... but other makers make stainless steel chains too and they were not tested....?
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: Not another chain wear thread ...
Des49 wrote:... The last time I tried a couple of Connex chains on my MTB I found they completely were shot after a couple of rides each! Never again...
... In both tests KMC chains didn't come out well, I tend to favour KMC chains on all my bikes now, ranging from 1/8" fixed, hub gear and 7 sp set ups. I do have one racing bike that uses 11sp chains, but I do change the chain by 0.5% wear so I do not endanger the cassettes and chain rings...
I've found the contrary. Connex chains have worked well for me (on a campag 3x10 bike) & KMC are the only ones I've had trouble with (although one problem was probably a result of trying White Lightning "Epic Fail™" lube). My only quick link failure ever has been a KMC one.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
Re: Not another chain wear thread ...
RickH wrote:Des49 wrote:... The last time I tried a couple of Connex chains on my MTB I found they completely were shot after a couple of rides each! Never again...
... In both tests KMC chains didn't come out well, I tend to favour KMC chains on all my bikes now, ranging from 1/8" fixed, hub gear and 7 sp set ups. I do have one racing bike that uses 11sp chains, but I do change the chain by 0.5% wear so I do not endanger the cassettes and chain rings...
I've found the contrary. Connex chains have worked well for me (on a campag 3x10 bike) & KMC are the only ones I've had trouble with (although one problem was probably a result of trying White Lightning "Epic Fail™" lube). My only quick link failure ever has been a KMC one.
Just goes to show conditions and usage can lead to huge varations. My usage was on a hub geared MTB, literally a couple of not too demanding rides did the chains in.
The Cycling Tips article does suggest that better engineering and materials give superior lasting chains in some chains and more attention is given to some 10/11/12 speed chains.
Most of my non-fixed gear mileage is done on 7 speed chains and I change them often, as even 7/8 speed cassettes are getting harder to find and getting more expensive.
Things were simpler years ago when I used to buy plastic sacks of Sedis black chains as bulk buys. They seemed as good as any others and were cheap enough to change often. In fact I still use the original 30 year old rear sprockets on my old racing bike as a result of frequent chain replacement.