KMC chains

Are they any good in comparison to Shimano or SRAM?

I’m interested in a 10spd one.

Never used the 10spd ones, but I used to use the 8spd ones for heavy riding, big hits, etc. SRAM ones snapped on me, and Shimano were prohibitively expensive, Very affordable bought in bulk, reliably strong although when they decided to rust they caught the plague with a passion, and I chucked away the quick links you find in there as it’s the weak point imo. I moved onto Taya chrome plated chains after that. They are really heavy, but stronger and more resistent to rust. Both brands shift well.

Yep good.

They make some (if not all) of the shimano chains which are a different design to their own.

I use their X9.93 on all my bikes. Get the all silver for the best rust resistance.

Do the 10 speed ones come with a quick link that is reusable?

cheers,

bought myself a KMC X10 SL from merlin. This is the most I’ve spent on a chain, so hopefully it lasts. 😀

@DT78 – yes it does come with the quick link, which is known as the “missing link”

bought myself a KMC X10 SL from merlin

Have one of these, very nice chain 🙂

Do you need a special tool for the missing links – talking 9 speed here – or can you just ease them loose like the SRAM powerlink?

Slightly more stiff than Sram IME but still tool-free.

I like KMC chains having used 9SL and 10SLs in the past. My latest bike came with a lower spec 10 speed chain which snapped on it’s 4th ride. Still going strong now though with a 9sp sram power link in it.

see bi_king on ebay for cheap X10s

how do kmc chains run on xt/pg1070 cassettes? nice and smooth still? been having a few issues with my 10 speed sram chain so may try a kmc instead!

kmc all the way. I haven’t used a sram or shimano chain for 5 years.

I use KMC all the time now (10spd, on a Shimano drivetrain) and think they’re great: they come with a quicklink for easy fitting, and seem to last better than Shimano. I buy their cheapest all silver chain – I’ve tried the more expensive (gold, slotted, etc) versions but they don’t seem to last any longer.

I only use KMC or Campag chains in my shop. Campag gets used beause some campophiles won’t have anything else unless they are desperate.

Never had an issue with a KMC 10-93 (silver) chain. Cheap too.

Having just shortened a KMC X9SL one link too far (don’t ask) does anyone know if these can be joined with a pin, or if there’s any problem using a chain with 2 split links in it?

I had a stock X10 on my Stumpjumper and managed to shear a link in the car park at Llandegla (strangely) after 4 months use. I now have a X10 SL gold, it has been brilliant. No stretch even with a fat knacker ( 100kgs) on board, the reusable link makes cleaning an absolute pleasure. I picked mine up at Parker international which was cheaper than Merlin at the time of purchase. I have friends who swear by SRAM P1091 which Merlin are doing at a ridiculously low price.

I’m very pleased with the X9sl Gold chain I put on two years ago; still showing negligable wear. When you buy the new chain and shorten it to fit you can see that the Ti coating is applied after the chain is assembled rather than to each component, so probably not a significant benefit over the silver finish apart from aesthetics. Both look the same covered in crap anyway.