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hello,
In an effort to cut down on my vast maintenance bill ( haha ) due to probable job loss I am looking at using some 8-12 quid kmc chains - I normally use xt/xtr and buy in bulk when flush( I hear shimano are made by kmc anyways?) or connex chains - hate sram - so I wont go there again nor will my mate with a snapped collar bone from where chain parted at side plate..
I have used high end kmc in the past and thought they were nice just the cheapo ones are tempting me as I usually replace my chain before its worn out anyways to prolong the cassette etc
Dont care so much about rust - i have oil for that - more interested in noise / shifting and not snapping a la my srams in the past - anyone got pos / neg experiences?
cheers all
paul
I've been using bog standard silver or black Sachs / SRAM chains for about 18 years and never had single problem with any of them from what I can remember.
Would be interested in others' opinions of the cheaper KMC chains though.
I've just got rid of my High end KMC chain after it snapping for the 2nd time after 3 weeks of use from new. I'm not gonna be touching KMC ever again.
Out of all the 3 main mtb chain makes, Shimano, Sachs/Sram & KMC I'd say Sram gets it for me...
Odd that your views are exactly opposite to mine!
Guess Shimano FTW?!
The nice maintenance man at the 24/12 last yr fitted a KMC chain to my bike (that I bought from the shop next door) after I somehow managed to put a 45 deg. kink in one of my chain links....(don't ask!).
It cost me £15 - I can't tell you exactly which chain it is, but it came with a powerlink thing and has given me no bother at all. I will definitely get another KMC chain.
I bought one and it snapped after a few rides, foolishly bought another and that snapped both in the same way the plates bent. Never had a Sram chain snap ever.
I've got one of those KMC TiNi expensive light chains. I was impressed over the standard Shimano one. Shifts better and when its dirty.
It lasted over 1000 miles and only had very little stretch, but I don't grind my gears and I'm very light.
It doesn't rust, when I forget to oil it, after cleaning it and its been left for a week! Oh and it looks nice!
You're more likely to have a cheap chain break rather than a chain from a specific manufacturer.
Unless a LOT of folk (like thousands) have had rubbish experiences then I wouldn't listen to the odd "my **** chain broke and I had to walk miles home" etc...
Chain breakage has lots of factors, mostly user error, one breakage here or there is meaningless given the number that are manufactured in huge batches.
I'm running a KMC X9 Silver chain at the moment, I think it's worth the money.
KMC X9.93 chain is brilliant value for money, lighter than top end SRAM and Shimano chains and shifts really well.
Top end KMC chains are just as good, but cost 2-3 times more and only slightly lighter.
I've had Shimano and SRAM in the past and I use KMC chains on all the bikes now. I find them far stronger, but there was a bad batch recently so maybe the breakages above were from that batch.
cynic-al "chain breakage has lots of factors, mostly user error"
Please explain? I don't see how a properly fitted chain can be user error. I've snapped chains that haven't been split ever.
User errors leading to chain breakage:
Cross-chaining, poor-shifting, damaged cassette/rings, dropping the chain, etc, etc, etc...
Not to mention, of course, poor fitting...
Suffered a sram chain simply parting last year whilst on hols in France ( the last day and an opportunity for a good ride so not impressed ) It was on the dead flat when I was crawling along wondring which fork to take on bridleway, so not under any pressure at all. A link simply parted. One minute gently pedalling, next minute clicking sound and no pressure at the pedals. A link's plates had fallen off!
Took it back to lbs, as they'd just built the bike. They replaced it with a kmc as they had a whole batch of sram's fail.
my tuppence
Q
christowkid
thats mine and bust collar bone mates experience too with recent srams. ..
paul
I have a KMC that I got to replace a SRAM that just kept failing. The KMC has been fine, but it does seem to jump off the middle ring when on a lumpy downhill section. Its new so not worn. What else might cause this?
Kmc x9 here, seems great.
I use sram chains and have had no bother - even on the tandem. I did buy a bulk lot tho so havent bought any this year
I've snapped shimano (links pulling apart and 1 pin), sram (quick link), KMC (pin), connex (plate bent) , Sachs (repeatedly) and cheep ones (invariably almost once a ride!).
Should i just go chainless to avoid this problem? Or just buy £8.99 KMC chains in packs of 3 with each new cassette? Used to have a rider in one of th egroups i rode with who swore by shmano as KMC was just "cheep chinese rubish".
If youve been cycling long enough you'll snap them all eventualy. The fact ive never broken a roadie chain implies that MTB's might just be a very harsh environment for them to be expected to work in. The tensile strength of any bike chain when new is multiples of what even chris hoy could put through it in a granny gear. Chuck in wear, dirt, sticks, stones, running it accross the chainine, poor shifting technique, poor shifting performance, worn cassettes, and you'd be insane ot to expect the odd bit of bad luck.
Not a personal experience, but my mate had a pretty used drive train he wanted to extend the life of, and went for one of the cheapo KMC chains, he is a big old pedal mashing lump.
It was fine, he was shocked, I was shocked, but it lasted well.