Hi, I’m building up a single speed bike, what chain do people use?

Cheers

Any old 9spd kmc for me.

Any of the KMC one’s have been good, think I’m currently running a z510. Whatever you do don’t get a Sram PC1,it’s the worst chain I’ve ever had. I think they are made of cheese

PC1 snapped pretty quick – I cursed it and threw it the bushes ..

Odessy Bluebird industrial strength right now – love it’s beefy construction and its gold and black !

I use whichever SRAM 9sp is the cheapest. Never had any trouble, and it’s good to have some commonality between bikes.

There’s some reading here that you might be interested in, all about singlespeed drivetrains.

8speed kmc on mine. It was what the shop had but has proved reliable so far.

KMC S1 I think

Sram 9spd.whichever is on offer.
PC1 is utter crap.

gusset badger, best I’ve ever used

weigh’s like a ships anchor but then I’m far from lightweight

This one from Charlie the bikemonger seems to do what he says it will

Charlie the bike monger KMC Z610 £13

KMC Z9 for me on SS or Rohloff, it’s one of the few components I have never broken.
I’ve used Z6 before, I like to keep one standard chain across my fleet so I know I’ve always got the correct spare link with me.

XTR.
Those that say Shimano chains snap can’t use a chain tool properly. 😉

Broken Sram chains at factory fitted pin junctions on my SS, but never had that happen on a Shimano.

I use the 510 on my fixed commuter and they last a long time considering the abuse I give them. When they wear they get a bit noisy but still don’t break and not stretchy either

DO NOT buy a SRAM PC1 as others have said, even if it’s really cheap. its just not worth it.

TBF, never had any problems with PC1s either. But yes, tend to use 8spd or 9spd KMCs these days; or whatever is worn from the HT / hybrid!

A SRAM 850/870 or suchlike. Proper chains,unlike the PC1 which is taking the piss.
KMC 610s are OK , if a little , er, agricultural, but a Park chain tool won’t do the biz on them.

So there you go; everyone has listed their favourite chain (and least favourite) but the common theme is that you don’t need a SS specific chain.

I read a nice thought a year or two back that most R@D goes into chains meant for shifting therefore it was best to buy one of these instead of a more basic SS chain. It’s worked for me, and I’ve been riding and racing two different SS bikes for 2 years now using middle of the range KMC chains.

Because of the straight chainline of a SS setup, these chains are not really stressed, they are tested to forces that a rider is not going to get close to applying whilst riding.

Surprised there’s so much hate for the PC1, never had any trouble on SS MTB, brakeless fixed or fixed time trial bikes.

Cheapo KMC ones. You don’t need a fancy chain so get one that is cheap.

Surprised there’s so much hate for the PC1, never had any trouble on SS MTB, brakeless fixed or fixed time trial bikes.

This. How are you all breaking SS chains? KMC or SRAM cheap. Not much in it.

IZUMI track chain. If they’re good enough for those Dudes they’re good enough for old feeby legs here! £10 at CRC. Mine is almost 2 years old with over 4K miles on it and its still got less than 0.5% wear according to my chain meansurement thingy.

KMC 610. No probs with Park chain tool in my experience. PC1 cheesier than a very cheesy thing.

Whatever chain it too **** to work well on my geared bikes but not worn out enough to throw away.

gusset half link

thanks for the advice everyone, and duffer for the surly article, very useful. I’ll go with the the 9 spd KMC chain then!

Yup, KMC or SRAM 9 speed do the job well.

Wippermann white star 108, had many PC1’s fail in the past. And always in the cold oddly enough…