sram makes an excellent 8-speed chain, you can usually find one at your local bike shop or www.nashbar.com i would never go back to a shimano chain. with sram you no longer need a chain tool, also the directions for chain length will be in the box.

There is nothing wrong with an eight speed system. I haven't used SRAM chains, but I am very happy with Wipperman chains. They both have a master link that allows you to attach the chain. It is really easy to work with. Pushing in those pins is major pain. I have never been able to do it well consistently.

Run the chain through the derailleur and over the big chain ring and the smallest cog. The jockey wheels on the derailleur cage should align vertically when you have the correct chain length.

les. i am not aware of any limit to the number of pressed in pins you can use. i have never broke one, and will put in as many as i like before throwing the chain away. personally i find those sram master-link things to be a pain in the butt - they do go in nice, but undoing them is often a chore, as they stick together over time, at least for me. i would rather just use a chain tool and pop the sucka out.

The correct way to determine chain length is to run it over the smallest cog and SMALL chainring, so that there is just enough length to keep the chain from rubbing the jockey pulleys on the rear derr. Any other method and you will run into problems.

tommy

There is no one "correct" way. Different things work for different people on different bikes. When setting up customer's bikes, I always used your method, but it's not one I follow myself--my chain is always a bit longer.

Try this: Shift into the big cog and big ring then spin your cranks backwards. Now shift to the small ring and small cog and spin the cranks backwards. See how much better it spins in the small/small combination? That's because chain tension causes a lot of extra friction. I don't think anybody wants any more friction than they need.

If you ever happen to find pictures of Alexi Grewal from the '84 Olympic road race, you'll notice in some of the pics his chain is hanging with very little tension. Just after that race (he won, by the way), someone asked him about it. He said it was a friction reducing method he learned from some Russian team or something. And I've been following that method since. I set my chain length just short enough to work in all the gear combinations I use. There are some gear combinations I know I'll never use, so it doesn't matter if the chain is too long in those combinations. When I shift into the small/small combination, my chain has no tension at all. I've been using this method for many years.

I agree with "use the most amount of chain you can" method. It is not typically preached, but more chain will wear longer, shift faster, especially into the larger cogs in the large chainring (this "bailing out" can never happen soon enough for me on some climbs!) The dangling appearance of the chain in the small x small combination should serve as a reminder to never use that gear anyhow.

A side note: The bigger the difference between the small and large chainrings, the poorer the from shifting performance. I use a 10t difference now 42t/52t and it shifts like my rear cassette, no hesitation and never a dropped chain. On the other hand, my 650c bike with the same derailleur and 42/55 ring sizes is slow shifting and "noisy" in some gear combinations. There are many factors at work here, but one certainly is the 13t difference in size. Most derailleurs won't even function with a differential greater than 14 teeth.

Good Luck,
SD

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thanks for the help all!

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