Merlin cycles repackaging Shimano chains

So i bought a new Shimano M8100 (XT/Ultegra) chain from Merlin cycles

It arrived in non Shimano branded packaging, just in a clear bag so thought nothing of it as they could of bought them for bike builds so no retail packaging

Upon further insepction before opening i noticed the chain was rusty! just a few spots here and there on the links

Once opened i also found the Shimano instructions are not original Shimano ones (they were inside the package with chain oil on them), they look to have been printed off by someone other than Shimano as the text is to one side so slighty cutting off the wording on the right side of the bit of paper and then not folded correctly/neatly

Merlin have said this does unfortunatley happen sometimes with these chains that we buy in bulk and then re packagae and have offered to give me a full refund or exchange which is fine

Anyone else noticed this? also why and where are they buying them in such bulk that they need to repackage them in a clear bag,  place a bad copy of the Shimano instructions inside the clear bag next to the oily chain?

OEM stock repackaged, that’s how you get the lower than retail prices.

As long as it’s the chain you wanted I wouldn’t stress. As a manufacturer and retailer of bikes I guess they get boxes of stuff with one set of instructions.
I had a whole groupset like this.

Yes thats what i said above but why are they rusting and have bad copies of the instructions

Also when they buy them in bulk surely they are already in some type of packaging so why the need to repackage

Bold of you to assume that I even look at the instructions.

why and where are they buying them in such bulk that they need to repackage them in a clear bag, place a bad copy of the Shimano instructions inside the clear bag next to the oily chain?

How much lower than RRP was the chain you purchased?

Because that is why.

Bulk OEM stuff probably isn’t individually packaged or something.

Chains are one of the few OEM parts that don’t come 1-1 with manuals when you buy them OE. They’re just 50 chains in a box no other packaging, and 100 quicklinks in a bag. They’re rusty because they’ve been stored badly.

My LBS buys chains in boxes of 50. I bought one the other day, he just picked it out of a tub, stuck it in a plastic bag and sold it to me…

The only reason i checked the instructions is becaue there are lots of fake chains out there hence buying from Merlin in the first place

I know its not a fake chain but when it comes to critical components i like to make sure they are up to the job and the fact its rusty in the packaging does not fill me with confidence as the chain will see 2500 miles of wet winter road riding

Ill be returning it for a refund and will have to buy from somewhere else as the chain is needed this weekend (wont stop me using Merlin’s in the future)

The box of 50 chains makes sense, just a shame they have been stored badly and started to rust

I bet there are some economy-minded members now scouring the web for boxes of 50 chains, to add to their spares drawer.

Could make a good bulk buy between five people TBH. Hmmm.

It’s a cheap chain at a silly-low price. Put it on the bike and crack on… if it rusts in storage, then it’ll rust much worse in use. The grease within the rollers will be fine.

Or, pay a proper price and have one in sealed packaging, dripping in grease and with original instructions.

I’ll bet the rust is a few inconsequential surface spots….and it’s gonna get a whole lot rustier with winter wet and slop – no matter how good your lube and cleaning regime

I bought a few cheap GX chains (maybe from Ribble?) and they all came in a white paper bags, not the usual square plastic box/packaging, same chain and less than half price. Happy days.

Good that it was paper bags. More paper, less plastic, please resellers.

I know its not a fake chain but when it comes to critical components i like to make sure they are up to the job and the fact its rusty in the packaging does not fill me with confidence as the chain will see 2500 miles of wet winter road riding

If rust is a big concern, buy a SRAM chain. Last longer too.

Depends which SRAM chain of course… the lower end ones rust just as much as the lower end Shimano ones.

[ EDIT : oh, all the SRAM chains do still last longer though… the Sachs/Sedis legacy lives on ]

So long as it’s original, I’d be happy to accept a re-packaged one. Don’t these bike shops often buy the chains on a reel, same with brake/gear housings.

Never had anything in a proper box from merlin tbh. Isn’t it Ribble they get all their OEM stock from?

People like to moan eh!

there are lots of fake chains out there

Are there? I’ve heard this quite a bit but are they that easy to make and there’s that much profit in them that people are setting up companies to do this?

I bet there are some economy-minded members now scouring the web for boxes of 50 chains, to add to their spares drawer.

The OP better never buy anything from Planet X!

I got some forks in a bag, and the steerer sticking out of the box from CRC.
Saved a thousand pounds.

My pal’s SRAM chain snapped and when examined, you could see many more micro cracks. It looked legit with all the branding etc but we did wonder whether it was a copy. But maybe it was a genuine one (maybe even produced during Covid when there seems to have been less qc about IME) and suffered from being over hardened. I have also heard stories (one from a H&S guy who worked in India for a while), about factories producing the legit products during the day under client supervision and then reopening at night to produce the copies. Sometimes using the same materials and on the same machines, but technically not official. Now if I was a big company and people were reporting their grey import products were failing prematurely then I might be inclined to say they were copies (fakes) and distance myself from them.

But even legit products fail prematurely sometimes.

Now if I was a big company and people were reporting their grey import products were failing prematurely then I might be inclined to say they were copies (fakes) and distance myself from them.

So, a chain reaction?

My pal’s SRAM chain snapped and when examined, you could see many more micro cracks. It looked legit with all the branding etc but we did wonder whether it was a copy. But maybe it was a genuine one (maybe even produced during Covid when there seems to have been less qc about IME) and suffered from being over hardened.

That’s genuine, Sram have had hardening issues for a long time. I’ve never found Sram chains last longer because they break long before wearing out. Same for KMC, although when they break it’s usually because a link has pulled off the pin rather than cracks.

Wouldn’t worry about packaging or rust so long as it’s genuine.

Never get a chain from Amazon or eBay unless you know its a genuine bike shop selling them. Mate thought he was getting bargain KMC chains until they wore out quickly

The chain is £20 not the £50 that it costs at Freewheel (Madison). I wouldn’t be at all surprised that it came in OEM packaging at that price.

And for balance I got a Shimano disc rotor from Merlin today in full blue retail box – so it does just vary item by item.

didnthurtFull Member
My pal’s SRAM chain snapped and when examined, you could see many more micro cracks.

some degreasers can cause that.
Hydrogen embrittlement
Metal degreasers are basic, but if they become acidic, they can cause hydrogen embrittlement. This is when the chain absorbs hydrogen atoms, making it weaker and more likely to break under load

that’s the reason for Simple Greens Aerospace version.

some degreasers can cause that

best stop cleaning your chains folks

some degreasers can cause that.
Hydrogen embrittlement
Metal degreasers are basic, but if they become acidic, they can cause hydrogen embrittlement. This is when the chain absorbs hydrogen atoms, making it weaker and more likely to break under load

Would white spirit be one of those? I accidentally left a chain in white spirit during the chaos of a house move, when I fished it out after 6 months and used it I broke 2 links in fairly quick succession and then decided to scrap it.

Cheers for all the replies

As ive already said ive no issue with Merlin’s and will use them again but will answer some of the questions above

Im well aware of shops selling oem parts in different packaging, ive been buying from shops and doing all my own spannering for over 40 years now so its not the first time ive come across oem stuff, in fact most things i buy tend to be oem, its the fact it was rusty and had non OG Shimano paperwork that threw me

These are not even in oem packaging, they are repackaged by Merlin (confirmed by them) they have considerbly less factory oil on the them than the normal retail Shimano chains

My chains tend not to go rusty even when doing 2500 miles in all weathers, they are well looked after as the last thing i want is a snapped chain on a 30 mile round commute in the dark, rain and wind!

Fake Shimano chains are very real! Amazon and Ebay have loads on there, if there is money to be made they will fake it, FSA carbon bars and stems used to be faked loads

Hydrogen embrittlement
Metal degreasers are basic, but if they become acidic, they can cause hydrogen embrittlement. This is when the chain absorbs hydrogen atoms, making it weaker and more likely to break under load

I think that’s over-egging the chemistry a little bit.

A basic cleaner can’t become acidic, it’s one or the other.  And it’s reaction with iron will deponed on the amount of free protons in the solution. Degreasers are usually a weak solution of citric, or ethanoic acid.  To produce hydrogen atoms it has to attack the metal in the chain, so even before hydrogen embrittlement it would have to be stripping out some of the more reactive alloying components. And then after all that if you’ve pickled your chain in hydrochloric acid, it’s temporary, the hydrogen will diffuse back out of the metal over time.

It’s not a failure mechanism I’d worry about with bike chains.

Would white spirit be one of those? I accidentally left a chain in white spirit during the chaos of a house move, when I fished it out after 6 months and used it I broke 2 links in fairly quick succession and then decided to scrap it.

Nope.  That’s just a relatively non-volatile solvent / very light oil.

Great band name that.

Hydrogen embrittlement

But what type of music do they play?

Rust on a new chain isn’t acceptable regardless of cost savings or how little amount of rust is present or even how easily removed it was, it just shouldn’t be there, I’d have sent it back too but given them chance to replace it, it’s worth having a spare even if you have to shop elsewhere in the meantime, hopefully they’ve got enough nouse to check the rest of them before sending out and change their storage condition.

To be honest other than the rust I’d rather get most of my stuff that way. Even in the most simple of items there’s way too much packaging and useless bits of paper that get chucked straight away.

I can see why chains come in those plastic boxes but what a complete waste of plastic.

Speeder
Full Member

Are there? I’ve heard this quite a bit but are they that easy to make and there’s that much profit in them that people are setting up companies to do this?

lots of “shimano” stuff on aliexpress etc that’s so cheap that it pretty much can’t be genuine. And some good reviews online of how to identify genuine and fake shimano products from the packaging details.

It puts me in mine of an old Which report where they ordered about 10 sandisk sd cards online to see which were fake and it turned out every single one was fake. Part of the problem is that it’s not just about shops intentionally buying fakes, or buying from a cheap supplier that is intentionally selling fakes- for some products there’s a degree of upstream switching, ie, if you have a supply of reasonably convincing fakes and you’re involved in distributing it’s way easier to swap out a pallet or container than it is to sell individual fakes. Stealing with a good cover, basically, but it puts the fakes into the genuine stream. Was epidemic in the fashion industry in the 2000s

Hydrogen isn’t formed from the metal, it’s the reaction of the hydrocarbon (lube) cleaner (acid) and air which can cause the release of a hydrogen ion.  The hydrogen then slips into the crystal matrix of the metal (especially if that metal is under strain) at the surface and slowly propagates inwards causing microcracking and eventually fatigue cracking.

I’m not saying that’s whats happening to the chain, but that’s the process for embrittlement in the absence of free hydrogen.  Paint is a notorious catalyst for the process.  Steel is less susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement than lighter metals.  The density helps prevent deep penetration.

My 7 ride old HG901 Dura Ace/XTR chain developed some rust on the rollers after a wet ride and storage over the weekend despite drying the bike in the Utility room before putting it away.

Great band name that.

Hydrogen embrittlement

But what type of music do they play?

Acid jazz.