No wonder that chain failure often occurs after just a few thousand kilometres. Under good conditions, however, a chain can easily develop many times its service life. It is important to keep an eye on wear and replace it in good time. This is because a worn, elongated chain will sooner or later also destroy the sprocket and chainring. Optimum maintenance is therefore essential.
Your bike chain will last longer:
Measure elongation
Material removal at the friction points elongates the chain. The Rohloff Caliber measures this: If the measuring pin A falls through at 0.075 mm, the chain must come off. If the pin S on the other side sags at 0.1 mm, the sprocket and chainrings are also due for replacement.
Particularly resistant with derailleur gears
KMC's X10 EL is titanium-nitride-gold coated and particularly light. Wippermann's Black Edi 10 sB has hardened bolts and stainless steel-coated plates for a longer service life. Both are available in 9- or 10-speed.
www.connexchain.com
Particularly dirt-resistant for hub gears
Smooth surfaces hold less dirt. This is why such chains last longer. The narrow X1 is made of stainless steel, has specially moulded plates for safe running and is designed to withstand up to 30% higher tensile forces.
www.kmcchain.com
Chain with lock instead of rivet
Re-lockable (Connex, KMC) and one-way locks (Sram) allow you to lock all 9- or 10-speed chains easily and reliably - even when you're on the move!
Merge
There must be inner plates at both ends of the chain. Insert one half of the lock, thinly greased, into each end.
Locking the lock
Insert the respective rivet into the wide punched hole of the opposite lock plate and close the chain. Then turn this point into the upper chain centre and pedal hard with the brake applied. This locks the lock permanently. Check the chain lock again for correct fit and movement before riding off.
You should avoid this with your chain:
There are many ways to go wrong: here are the most common mistakes that occur during chain maintenance.
New chain on worn sprockets
If the spaces between the teeth of the sprockets are rubbed out by worn chains, even a new chain will not work properly and will jump.
Chain washer
Degreasers flush lubricant from the inside of the chain links, which can never be replaced by oiling: The plates and rollers run dry, the chain is gone.
Oil mist
Well-intentioned spray oil mist settles in fine droplets on the disc and reaches the brake pads: These immediately soak up oil and are thus irreversibly unusable.
