Not asking about lubrication, I use Molten Speed Wax already. But going to put on a new chain for this year for my Sram mechanical 11 speed drive train. Excepting exceptionally expensive titanium and such chains, are the typical Sram, Shimano, KMC, Connex/wipperman chains all similar enough to not give it much thought? I do see that the KMC quick link is $33.00! Ouch!
.
FWIW…
Both KMC and Shimano 11spd chains now include the quick link with the chain. Just make sure the place is stocking those and isn’t holding on to old stock chains that don’t include the link.
Beware of counterfeit quick links on Amazon/Ebay, I bought a card of them for like $10 and they wouldn’t even remotely fit together the tooling was so bad. KMC id’d it as a fake after I sent them pics.
For Shimano, over the years, I’ve averaged about 3000 miles for a chain. I saw no difference between Ultegra and Dura Ace. For Campy, I’ve averaged about 3500 miles per chain and saw no difference between Chorus and Record. About 3500 miles for a Wipperman chain, too. I’ve recently bought a chain from Premier, so I’ll be interested to see how long it lasts. But, since I only put about 700 miles/year on my TT bike, it may take a while to find out.
Premier bike has some optimized chains.
Premier bike has some optimized chains.
I believe they start with Wipperman chains. Premier’s optimized chains were a bit pricey for me, but figured that their starting point would be a good place for me to start.
are the typical Sram, Shimano, KMC, Connex/wipperman chains all similar enough to not give it much thought?
Are you asking about chain wear? https://bikerumor.com/2018/01/29/wippermann-11-speed-wear-test-finds-connex-11sx-chain-lasts-longest/
Thanks for sharing that article. I had missed it. I’m surprised at the low hours for everything except the Wipperman. Running those hours at a 20mph speed yields way fewer miles than I’ve been getting. Makes me wonder how a 600N load compares to the force a cyclist puts out.
This is an interesting topic and with everything - it depends:-)
As you can see from the testing in the chart above (I think that was done by Connex) - The Wipperman Chain lasts a long long time. The chart is consistent with what we have tested internally.
Lasting a long time is good and not so good. Good - If you put a chain on an want something that will not stretch and run forever - I would choose that 10SX or 11SX. The engineering and workmanship is second to none on this chain.
Good if you want a really nice training chain.
Not as good as others if you want to buy a chain two - three weeks before a race and go fast. It will take some time to break-in due to its’ nice tight tolerances.
If I needed a chain two weeks out from a race (my current chain was worn where the shifting was not good) and did not want to purchase a Premier Optimized chain I would purchase a Shimano - clean it with soap and water - apply Premier Lube or Squirt Lube and go race.
Most chains are assembled loose relative to Connex - so they are a bit faster out of the box. So if you clean off the factory lube and lube it correctly it will run nice out of the box. If you use a wax based lube it stays relatively clean - if you use an oil based lube it gets dirty and wears out faster (due to the oily grinding dirty paste on all the surfaces).
Next you get into “Optimized” chains - many of these chains are processed as follows: new-out -of-the-box, factory lube cleaned off and hot waxed. (not unlike what you can do at home). These will run a bit faster and will last as long as a new version of the same factory chain as long as you keep it clean and lubed. Some companies say they do a short run in.
The Premier Optimized chain process - takes the wonderfully engineered Connex chain (which is tight) and cleans the factory lube off, does a complete run-in where all the surfaces are smoothed through a process described on our website - it takes time and makes the chain super fast and then is hot waxed with a few additives. It will last a long long time and stay fast if you keep adding a wax based lube.
I don’t know of any other company that physically smooths the surfaces of the chain components.
With SRAM Red 10 speed- I found the 1091 chain to be noisy and very sensitive to dirt; it needed to be cleaned and lubed frequently.
Using a Shimano Dura Ace chain was marginally better and quieter.
Then switched to KMC. Much better; much more quiet and it shifts great.
I’ve since switched to SRAM Red 11 speed with KMC chain. Even more quiet than the 10 speed. This said you do need to clean and lube regularly.
I use Rock N Roll Gold.
This is an interesting topic and with everything - it depends:-)
As you can see from the testing in the chart above (I think that was done by Connex) - The Wipperman Chain lasts a long long time. The chart is consistent with what we have tested internally.
Lasting a long time is good and not so good. Good - If you put a chain on an want something that will not stretch and run forever - I would choose that 10SX or 11SX. The engineering and workmanship is second to none on this chain.
Good if you want a really nice training chain.
Not as good as others if you want to buy a chain two - three weeks before a race and go fast. It will take some time to break-in due to its’ nice tight tolerances.
If I needed a chain two weeks out from a race (my current chain was worn where the shifting was not good) and did not want to purchase a Premier Optimized chain I would purchase a Shimano - clean it with soap and water - apply Premier Lube or Squirt Lube and go race.
Most chains are assembled loose relative to Connex - so they are a bit faster out of the box. So if you clean off the factory lube and lube it correctly it will run nice out of the box. If you use a wax based lube it stays relatively clean - if you use an oil based lube it gets dirty and wears out faster (due to the oily grinding dirty paste on all the surfaces).
Next you get into “Optimized” chains - many of these chains are processed as follows: new-out -of-the-box, factory lube cleaned off and hot waxed. (not unlike what you can do at home). These will run a bit faster and will last as long as a new version of the same factory chain as long as you keep it clean and lubed. Some companies say they do a short run in.
The Premier Optimized chain process - takes the wonderfully engineered Connex chain (which is tight) and cleans the factory lube off, does a complete run-in where all the surfaces are smoothed through a process described on our website - it takes time and makes the chain super fast and then is hot waxed with a few additives. It will last a long long time and stay fast if you keep adding a wax based lube.
I don’t know of any other company that physically smooths the surfaces of the chain components.
Many of us are putting new chains on used cassettes/chainwheels? How do better chains react in terms or action/longevity to a used drive train?
I have not tested that specifically- but if they are still in good shape there should not be any negative effect.
I don’t know of any other company that physically smooths the surfaces of the chain components.
It kinds of sounds like SRAM might be something to that effect on their new chain?
“The Hard Chrome surface treatment on the pins, inner plates, and rollers also extends the life of the chain and keeps it shifting precisely over the long haul.” (sram.com)
Certainly a different process than what you do, but it sounds like it has similar goals?
Interesting results. The Connex 11sX chain seems to last 3x longer than a KMC 11.93, but it also costs 3x more. I find that for me, during peak season, my important races are spaced out enough where I can just keep swapping my KMC 11.93 chain just before an important races, train on them in between, then do another swap before my next important race while getting useful life. So I’m always racing on a fresh chain and not “wasting” a chain before tossing it in the trash.
If I were to move to this Connex 11sX chain, it wouldn’t save me any money in terms of dollars per hours of use. But for the second half of the race season, I won’t be racing on a fresh chain. Sure, I could buy a second chain to rotate with a training chain, but I don’t see it as an advantage one way or another.
The Premier Optimized chain process - takes the wonderfully engineered Connex chain (which is tight) and cleans the factory lube off, does a complete run-in where all the surfaces are smoothed through a process described on our website - it takes time and makes the chain super fast and then is hot waxed with a few additives.
Properly happy with mine, I’ve had some of the ceramic speed chains but I far prefer yours.
It will last a long long time and stay fast if you keep adding a wax based lube.
If the bike is mostly on the trainer any ballpark millage between throwing some squirt on it?
With my old chains every ~250 miles I’d throw a drop on every link, spin the cranks, wait a couple of hours & then wipe off excess. Sound reasonable?
250-300 or if you notice any sound. Excess will show up on the trainer😊
https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/chaintesting/
Take away: Shimano and YBN and Campy (even for the price) are good.
!(blob:null/d8f4f99c-0b5b-4b6c-bbce-c3e75ba5eaea)
are the typical Sram, Shimano, KMC, Connex/wipperman chains all similar enough to not give it much thought?
Are you asking about chain wear? https://bikerumor.com/...chain-lasts-longest/
Rank and price 2/28/19 google shopping
1 Connex 11xS $54-100
2 Campy Record $54-70
3 Connex 11xB $36-74
4 KMC x11sl gold $44-63
5 Shimano HG901 $33-50
6 Connex 11so $34-50
7 FSA N1 $18-29
8 Shimano HG701 $35-40
9 Shimano HG600 $30-40
10 KMC x11-93 $24-35
11 SRAM XX1 $39-57
12 SRAM 1110 $14-24
Basically you get what you pay for. If using just this metric plus price and assuming changing brands has no effect on watts or wear, cherry picking chains on sale seems to be the way to go.
Currently the FSA N1 seems to be quite the price performer.
Interesting results. The Connex 11sX chain seems to last 3x longer than a KMC 11.93, but it also costs 3x more. I find that for me, during peak season, my important races are spaced out enough where I can just keep swapping my KMC 11.93 chain just before an important races, train on them in between, then do another swap before my next important race while getting useful life. So I’m always racing on a fresh chain and not “wasting” a chain before tossing it in the trash.
If I were to move to this Connex 11sX chain, it wouldn’t save me any money in terms of dollars per hours of use. But for the second half of the race season, I won’t be racing on a fresh chain. Sure, I could buy a second chain to rotate with a training chain, but I don’t see it as an advantage one way or another.
This post is based on a presumption that it’s beneficial to using a fresh chain for races. Why?
Are you asking about chain wear? https://bikerumor.com/...chain-lasts-longest/
Hmmm. Confirms what was always evident. Campy is better than Shimano and SRAM’s quality sucks. 