Hi there,

I need a new chain to build up my old bike. I want to put the new chain on my mtb and so far I used the sram PC971, which I had never problems with. But because I want to upgrade my mtb a wee bit I thought about getting the PC991 as it seemed a bit more reliable according to the reviews.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Henni

Only ever had one pc991, it snapped five times so I binned it.

There are a lot better places to upgrade an mtb in my book, I use the cheapest chains on my mtb for lesuire and racing, changed regularly i’ve never had an issue. But this stw so many may beg to differ.

is that the hollow pin chain? mine snapped first ride.

971 here. I have no empirical evidence but I think the lighter, more expensive chains are probably for racing, where they get replaced much more regularly, and are going to stretch faster and fail sooner under normal use. I have 971s on all of our bikes and they last well if cared for.

Only ever had one pc971, it snapped first ride out.

Many 1000kms on PC991 though with no issues at all.

Ok here’s the definitive rundown on SRAM 9-speed chains from my exhaustive research and product testing 😉 :-

PC-951: Unplated links, rusts easily in a salty environment like near the coast
PC-971: As above but nickel plated outer links so looks shinier!
PC-991 Standard: Nickel plated inner and outer links, so doesn’t rust, but no lighter or stronger than PC-951/971
PC:991 Crosstep: Nickel plated and has different riveting process which is supposed to be stronger
PC-991 Hollowpin: Nickel plated and has, well… hollow pins, so is lighter

Personally, I use the PC-991 crosstep as I find it gives the best price/performance ratio for my kind of riding. Now run them on all three bikes. I do about 10,000km a year and haven’t had one break yet, but I do replace them at 0.75% stretch.

991 cross Step is my preferred, ran them on my DH and 1×9 bikes for a long time, never snapped.

951, I cant understand why you’d spend more? Never had a break, and lasts ages

SRAM had a quality issue with 991 a few years ago…lots of people had unexpected failures.
Massive switch to KMC and no going back.
KMC make Shimano chains too.
KMC x9-93 is excellent value…just shop around.
For single speed, look at the KMC rustbuster series at CRC for under £10.

PaulD

I’ve been using a YBN hollowpin since this time last year – bought purely because I couldn’t get a SRAM in 116 links
Given it’s a lightweight chain, it’s survived my ham fisted mashing of pedals and clumsy gear shifting without complaint

Like PaulD I was going to suggest a KMC chain, the weights are impressive when compared too.

Not sure if there are dodgy fake chains out there?

Friend snapped one of the gold bling KMC chains 3 times on a single lap of Dalby. Was bought off some Chinese ebay store.

PS checked my stats, currently just over 2600km on the SRAM PC990 (standard version), and I’d wager it doesn’t need replacing yet (although I might, just because I have a KMC to try out).

I’ve been a SRAM chain fan for a long time but my single speed darkside has a KMC so I tried one on my 456 and I’m going to stick with the KMC, it’s cheaper, seems robust and just works.

HTH

SRAM 971 vs 991 ? … I almost always end up buying the 971 (£15 from CRC at the moment), or the 951 (£12.99)

Have bought the more/most expensive SRAM chains in the past and really can’t see the need in anything more than the 951/971.

Never had a problem with SRAM chains snapping, or wearing out any quicker than Shimano or KMC.

Ditto leftyboy re. KMC – have bought a few over the years & they’ve been equally as good as SRAM for me.

I suspect tales of chains snapping frequently (other than due to known manufacturing faults) are due to “User Error” …