Chain and sprockets.

[Spanner Man]

Morning Guys (& idiots).

There is indeed a lot of confusion regarding chain specifications nowadays. Especially as it seems that people now think that if it's gold with 'X' rings, it has to be better that a 'black' chain with 'O' rings. Not so, there are an awful lot of rubbish chains on the market that have a pretty gold finish, but seemingly have the tensile strength of knicker elastic!

A good rule of thumb when perusing lists of chains from a single manufacturer, is that the more expensive a chain is the higher grade it is. i.e. a DID VM grade is a lesser chain that a ZVM & so on.
Unfortunately as there's no comparison list between manufacturers, one has to rely on word of mouth to determine which make lasts the longest.

European chain manufacturers are well behind the Japs in the quality stakes in my opinion. So if you stick to a high grade (read expensive) Jap made chain from Tsubaki, DID, or RK, you wont go far wrong.

My recommendation is for Tsubaki, their SG grade chain is an excellent chain, infact their premium (SGX) chain is exactly the same chain but has 'X' rings & a gold finish.

As the 'Idiot' says, good quality steel sprockets will always outlast alloy ones. Derbybiker is on his 2nd Tsubaki/steel sprockets combination. The 1st one lasted 20k, & the 2nd look as if it'll do the same.


Cheers.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Spanner Man

Derbybiker is on his 2nd Tsubaki/steel sprockets combination. The 1st one lasted 20k, & the 2nd look as if it'll do the same.

But... that's RUBBISH surely? I got over 15 from the Tsubaki-and-Renthal setup, with an ally sprocket, and even then it was neglect that killed it. And my OEM chain still has plenty of life, it's in the box as a spare with a mere 22000 on it, but if it didn't see out 30 I'd be surprised...

[Spanner Man]

Morning all.

Northy old chap, aside from pointing out the fact that you're known for talking complete bollix I'd like to say that 20k out of any C&S kit on a bike that is ridden all year round in all weathers is pretty good in my opinion. & I've seen a hell of a lot more that you have so ZIP IT!.

Also Windbag old chap, you're not all that good at maths either! As you obviously can't work out that a C&S kit doing 20k versus one that has done 15k represents a 33% increase in lifespan. & let's not forget that the steel sprocket option is around 10% cheaper. So shut up & work out the overall saving in percentage terms. (if that doesn't keep you quiet for a while nothing will)

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Spanner Man

20k out of any C&S kit on a bike that is ridden all year round in all weathers is pretty good

+ 1, steel sprockets and a quality chain is the way to go. Remember that looking after your chain will only improve its overall performance!

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Spanner Man

Northy old chap, aside from pointing out the fact that you're known for talking complete bollix I'd like to say that 20k out of any C&S kit on a bike that is ridden all year round in all weathers is pretty good in my opinion. & I've seen a hell of a lot more that you have so ZIP IT!.

Fightin' talk!

Yeah, I've only seen 2 one the SV But mine gets ridden all year round and pretty much ignored most of the time, we get salt on the roads for about 2 months longer than dahn sarf too.

Think you may have misunderstood my point about the renthal one, which was that it got most of the mileage you mentioned for that steel one, and even then it was total neglect that killed it not everyday use. I reckon it would have cleared 20000 if I'd looked after it right, but I didn't. So if I can get 15K on a daily, through winter, while neglecting it and using a cheese sprocket, then steel ought to last a fair bit longer if looked after properly. My OEM one already has, like I say, and it's got a lot of miles left in it. I'm not saying ally's a good economic option, in fact I said the exact opposite

Me, I'd sooner replace a chain early and spend less time cleaning it, but that's because I'm lazy.