Chain Recommendations

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

In the past six weeks I have had three chain breaks - (all happened on the way home from work :mad:)
Note that I have only done around 600km in that time in total.

These have happened on two different chains on two different bikes. In each case the chain has been a SRAM PC-971 - Are these chains prone to breaking or is it likely a set-up issue or am I just too damn powerful or just unlucky !!

Can anybody recommend a good strong 9-speed chain as I am seriously losing confidence... ?

Dexif

A SRAM PC-1 that I have on one of my bikes has broken twice recently (chain about a year old with less than 500miles). The first time I was out of the saddle and turning the front wheel so when it snapped I completely face planted - was one of the worst spills I have ever had as was completely unexpected. The first break was in the middle of a face plate and the second time around a link. Both breaks were in places where I had not joined the chain. Crap chains methinks.

Are yours breaking where you have joined the chain? Or are you using a power link?

Hungrycol

KMC

smacl

I've had > 4000km out of an SRAM PC 971 on my hybrid and its still going. I do make a point of keeping it cleaned and lubed, and store the bike indoors which probably helps. I reckon cycling style also plays a part, e.g. shifting late on a hill will usually clunk the chain a bit, as will accelerating suddenly rather than smoothly.

IMHO, 3 breaks in 600k suggests something wrong somewhere.

Flandria

Powerlink bad - rivet good

letape

It doesn't make sense to have chains break like this. Are you using quick links or are you fitting them using a normal chain tool? If they have been fitted properly they shouldn't break.

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

Thanks for the replies folks - in answer to your questions, I am using a normal chain break tool not power-links.

I don't know if the chains broke on links that I had prepared as I hadn't marked it (how do people normally mark the link?)

Further info, all breaks occurred under pressure either on a steep hill, or accelerating away from lights or at a junction.
I don't think I am in the habit of changing late on hills - I also tend to be quite conscious of not using bad front rear gear combinations.

Could it be down to a badly aligned chain break tool?

ibebanging

KMC the best I've purchased so far !

ibebanging

KMC the best I've purchased so far !

Dexif

Joey Joe-Joe Jr wrote: »

I don't know if the chains broke on links that I had prepared as I hadn't marked it (how do people normally mark the link?)

...

Could it be down to a badly aligned chain break tool?

Check for tool marks on the face plate or the rivet. (However if the chain is mangled after a break this may not be possible).

Did it break by coming apart (rivet coming loose from one face plate) or a face plate breaking?

bcmf

Am on the fone so can't really search but if you search my posts with shimano and I have posted links to a bad batch of shimano chains that snap.
AFAIK sram and shim chains are made by the same people.

ashleey

Buy Wipperman. Marvellous German engineering and you can undo them with your fingers to remove them. Removing Powerlinks on SRAM chains on the other hand requires safety glasses when the link flies off when you get the pliers in the right position. You'll need a chain breaker to get the length right first though. KMC also do a Powerlink type link now too. Have given up with Shimano because of the lack of Powerlink type. Having said that they lasted longer than SRAM for me.

route66

Nothing wrong with SRAM chains. Nothing wrong with powerlinks either - all but the 10 speed one are removable without tools.

I can't be sure what actually is wrong though. If it broke at the links on either side of the powerlink or at the powerlink itself, then I would suspect a problem with the installation. If not, you're either very unlucky, very hard on the drivetrain or there is a major alignment problem

Mr. Grieves

Don't join a 9 speed chain without using a powerlink. It's too easy to end up with a stiff link joining with pins on the narrow 9 and 10 speed chains. I've had 2 chains break on me within a few hundred kilometres doing this.

Using a powerlink I've gotten thousands of kilometres from SRAM chains. One should have come with your chain.

Flandria

route66 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with SRAM chains. Nothing wrong with powerlinks either - all but the 10 speed one are removable without tools.

I can't be sure what actually is wrong though. If it broke at the links on either side of the powerlink or at the powerlink itself, then I would suspect a problem with the installation. If not, you're either very unlucky, very hard on the drivetrain or there is a major alignment problem

In any industrial roller chain (that's what bike chain is, after all) a slip-fit connecting link (like the Powerlink) is generally considered to be 20% weaker than the rest of the chain,with some manufacturers suggesting up to 30% weaker. A riveting pin connection, like Campagnolo and Shimano, will be much nearer full strength. This is important as the larger tolerances imposed on the bearings and bushes cause them to wear much quicker, which in turn accelerates chain stretch.

It could well be an alignment problem...

route66

Flandria wrote: »

In any industrial roller chain (that's what bike chain is, after all) a slip-fit connecting link (like the Powerlink) is generally considered to be 20% weaker than the rest of the chain,with some manufacturers suggesting up to 30% weaker. A riveting pin connection, like Campagnolo and Shimano, will be much nearer full strength. This is important as the larger tolerances imposed on the bearings and bushes cause them to wear much quicker, which in turn accelerates chain stretch.

It could well be an alignment problem...

I won't dispute the science, but my own direct experience of powerlinks over very many thousands of ks on different bikes generally cycled on hilly terrain has shown them to be 100% reliable.

doozerie

Some chain tools have a "shelf" which you can use to loosen a tight link. You drive the pin in as normal, and if you end up with a stiff link (which is typical in my experience), you rest the nearest face of the link on the shelf and drive the pin a tiny amount - it essentially pulls the link face towards you, loosening the link.

If your tool doesn't have such a shelf on it, then just hold the chain either side of the tight link and and bend it a little side to side. It's not as precise a method, since you can't influence which face plate moves, but it works too and should be just as safe assuming the pin was making solid contact with both face plates initially. Ensuring that the pin is all the way through both face plates is obviously important to ensuring a reliable chain.

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

Thanks for all the input folks -

My drive-trains appear to be set-up OK - no obvious mis-alignments that I can see. When I built up the bikes I was very careful in making sure they ran very smoothly aswell with no grinding or rubbing noises. Based on that I'm going to assume a cause of bad luck on the chain that broke once and on the one that broke twice I will assume that the second break occurred at the link that I repaired myself.

As a matter of interest is there a rule of thumb for setting your chain length in the first place - I did it by "feel" as in no scientific method. I think I just put it on the big ring front, somewhere around the middle on the back and set the length so that the rear derailuer was roughly vertical.

DirkVoodoo

I would guess that your chains, being new, broke due to being fitted incorrectly. Without having seen you do it, it's hard to confirm.

I've had two chains break, one was a newly fitted chain with the poxy campagnolo pin and the second was a very old single speed chain that was at the end of its life.

New chain, very high chance that failure was improper installation. Even higher I would say as you have had a few of them fail.

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

Hi Dirk, when you say fitted incorrectly, do you mean that I drove the pin in too far or not in far enough?

route66

Joey Joe-Joe Jr wrote: »

As a matter of interest is there a rule of thumb for setting your chain length in the first place - I did it by "feel" as in no scientific method. I think I just put it on the big ring front, somewhere around the middle on the back and set the length so that the rear derailuer was roughly vertical.

I used these sites: link, link & link, compared the results - they were not all the same - and then cut the chain to the longest length suggested, tried it out, and (IIRC) cut a link off, tried it again, and good to go. Before cutting the link I measured, measured again, checked, double checked, and then did it all again just to be sure - I didn't want to experience that horrible feeling when your lovely new chain is a link too short !

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but as far as I know, you can only join a chain once - be it with a powerlink or joining rivet. Did you use more than 1?

DirkVoodoo

Joey Joe-Joe Jr wrote: »

Hi Dirk, when you say fitted incorrectly, do you mean that I drove the pin in too far or not in far enough?

I don't think I could realistically offer any comment on how you may have fit the chain, all I'm saying is that 3 chains in 600km points to either getting three very dodgy chains in a row (highly unlikely) or not fitting them correctly (more likely).

It's annoying because not only are you burning through chains faster than you should, but it's leaving you stranded. There is also the potential for injury.

smacl

One thing about power links, weaker as they may be, is that they're very easy to fit. As per route66, I've never had a problem with one, nor any chain problem on the road over the last three years.

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

route66 wrote: »

Did you use more than 1?

There was only one powerlink on each chain.

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

It's annoying because not only are you burning through chains faster than you should, but it's leaving you stranded. There is also the potential for injury.

Too right, the first break happened as I was making a right turn across a busy road, spotted a gap in oncoming traffic and accelerated off - or so I thought - chain snapped and I came to a halt in the middle of the oncoming traffic lane, managed to clip out and "shuffle" across to safety.