Good old Retrobike to bring up a subject close to my heart (and because I am also a nerd!).
I’ve been trying various chains from the various companies over the last few years to try to determine what is the best high quality modern chain brand. The trigger for doing this was the result of buying a half decent KMC chain that lasted about four months, which in my book, is dismal. I’ve tried a series of chains in the last few years, in the £25 mark, which I have used till they fail the stretch test on my Park Tool chain tool. I know the chain tool causes a debate in it’s own right but it does provide a consistent measurement of wear.
To cut a lengthy story short, it seems that all modern chains are rubbish. The throw away society has well and truly won this battle. At the weekend just gone I took a cosmetically perfect Wippermann chain off my bike that had been on there for three months and for which the Park Tool rattled like a toy, it was completely shot. I've attached a photo to show the state of the chain so as to dispel any idea that it was abused in any way, which it wasn't. I actually take great pleasure in cleaning and prepping mechanics (my idols were always the mechanics and not the riders).
What I have found interesting is where the chain stretch is now taking place. I used to find that chains have ‘stretched’ when the plates ate into the pin (something that was greatly exacerbated when manufacturers ditched bushed chains). Plates ate into pins because manufacturers were using good quality steel. Now, when I dissect a chain, the pin is pretty much perfect which means that the stretch is, in all likelihood, taking place in the plates themselves which seems to indicate that manufacturers are now using low grade steel with little yield strength. The benefit to the manufacturers of using this steel is that it is cheap to buy and, being soft, also creates very little wear on cutting and forming machines which all saves money for the manufacturer and thus allowing a ridiculously cheap product to be offered to the customer.
My advice, which I will follow myself, is to buy as cheap as you can and buy often.
