"
Wayne Stetina, Shimano's R&D manager, says, ""If you remove the chain when it is only halfway worn out and flip it over,"" he says, ""you will double your chain life."" In other words, your chain will now be turned inside out. The other side of the rollers will now contact the gears, and the derailleurs will now be laterally bending the chain the opposite direction. Stetina says that Shimano engineers discovered this phenomenon quite by accident.
Today's narrow chains do not allow you to push out any old rivet you want to accomplish this flip. Try it, and you could find yourself flat on your face! When you stomp down, the chain link plate could peel off of the end of the rivet. On Shimano, you need to use a new ""subpin.""
SRAM and Wippermann chains have a master link, which allows you to perform this flip very easily. Campagnolo chains come with only one link pin, and it is supposed to be inserted through a ""virgin"" hole in the open link at the end of the chain, so you cannot perform this reversal.
"
Chains
"""If you remove the chain when it is only halfway worn out and flip it over,"" he says, ""you will double your chain life.""
It's surprising enough that Stetina (a three-time US road champion) believes this. It's incredible that ""Shimano engineers"" believe it!
http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/5610.0.html
""Chainwheel"""
"""If you remove the chain when it is only halfway worn out and flip it over,"" he says, ""you will double your chain life.""
Nonsense! You just have one half life of the chain on one side, and the other half of it's life flipped over.
Seems to me that if you just leave it on one side, it last the same amount of time.
Plus, the wear comes on the pins, and since the pins spin, there is no ""side"" to change over to.
As the pins wear, the distance between the links increases. This is refered to as ""chain stretch"" (thank you Evan); which makes the efficiency of power transfer decrease over time. Eventually the chain will skip. By that time you are overdue to get a new chain"
Chain's don't exactly wear out, they...stretch. If you use a chain checker tool (Wipperman makes a nice simple one for about $12), you will be able to tell when it's time to replace the chain. The chain stretches the same amount on both sides.
I recently replaced a Wipperman stainless steel chain with a new one. The old one had 6k miles on it, and when I laid it out on the floor with the new chain, it was about 3-4mm longer. Once installed, I could tell the difference immediately (and yes, I put on a new cassette too). I personally think the Wipperman SS chain is up there with the Chris King headset--bike components just don't get better than that.
You better read this:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html
"David Regen wrote:
""I recently replaced a Wipperman stainless steel chain with a new one..."" ""(and yes, I put on a new cassette too)""
Do you plan to replace the cassette every time you replace a chain? That's not necessary if you replace the chain before it's overly worn.
A worn chain will wear out a cassette prematurely. But if you replace the chain when it has ""stretched"" 0.5 percent (usually about 2,500 to 3,000 miles), the cassette will last through several chains.
""Chainwheel"""
...it's a Wippermann titanium chain. ;-)
4 Ben Franklins for a stinkin' chain. What's this world coming to?!? :-0
"No, he said it was the stainless steel version.
But you raise a good point about Ti chains. At that price, who's gonna want to replace one? To me, a chain is a consumable item. Buy a cheap Shimano or Sachs and replace often.
""Chainwheel""
"
"No, he said it was the stainless steel version.
Of course, as well as you to which I replied with emphasis on the word titanium. No confusion here.
At that price, who's gonna want to replace one?
I wonder who would purchase such in the first place? Perhaps someone with a goose that lays golden eggs."
Only the roller are Ti; the rest is stainless steel.
yep, as mentioned in the latest Performance catalog. I did a double check of the price on the web to see if the print catalog in fact had the decimal in the wrong place.
With the Wipperman chain, the cassette wore out before the chain did. I replaced the cassette after 4500 miles and the chain at 7000 miles (I bought them both new at the same time). I checked the chain stretch at 4500 miles, and it was pretty mild, but shifting was definitely starting to suffer, so I got a new cassette--problem solved. I was about to go for another 2500 miles or so before I noticed that shifting was not quite so crisp anymore. I got out the ol' chain checker, and bingo, measurable chain stretch. I could have probably use it a bit longer but I got a new chain anyway. Now I should be set for a while.
I know that sounds like a lot for a chain, but the Wipperman can take it. Also, with the quick link system, I can remove it in ten seconds. I but it in a bottle with a little Citri-Solv, shake like hell for 2 minutes, rinse, lube, and put it back on. The whole thing takes maybe 5 minutes, so I do it once a week, and I'm sure that's helped the chain last longer.
It's a crying shame Shimano won't sell individual cogs; the middle ones are the only ones that really get worn; that's the only place where shifting gets sloppy.
The lower gears have enough teeth to distribute the load, while the top gears don't get used as often (I usually switch to the big chainring before I get to the smallest cogs).
There are after-market cog suppliers; check the web.
"""With the Wipperman chain, the cassette wore out before the chain did.""
That's very strange. Normally, cog wear is caused by a mismatch in pitch between the chain and cog (due to chain ""stretch"").
And if the cogs are worn more than the chain, skipping will occur. This often occurs when a new chain is installed on a worn cassette.
Were these cogs made of aluminum or Ti rather than steel?
""Chainwheel"""
"Just in case anyone takes this seriously, this is, of course, a joke. It was a troll on wreck.bike.tech to see the funny responses, of which, r.b.t, being what it is, there were quite a few.
The original idea was actually to press out all the pins in the chain, turn them 180 degrees and press them in again. Which will be just as useful as the ""flip the chain"" suggestion, but make it more of a proper weekend project. The Wayne Stettina attribution is recent, though.
Cheers,
- Christian"
For this to work you have to reverse every other pin BEFORE you use the chain to make sure they wear evenly. Then, when you're ready to flip them, half will already be...
Oh, never mind.
;^/
"Actually, this was an article on the Velo News website. According to Zinn, Wayne Stetina actually said this!
http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/5610.0.html
""Chainwheel"""
Well, Chainwheel, I guess that just proves that even usually reasonable people can be suckered into the lore and mystique of cycling. Based on that article, I can't wait to read Zinn's new book about how steel softens as it gets old, and how S-curved chainstays increase vertical compliance. If only stupidity could be taxed.
Cheers,
- Christian
PS: Are you one of those snobby 135mm bcd ones? Or an egalitarian, practical 110mm bcd?
"Grant is promising ""A super fancy 110/74 triple crank. A perfect one. Unimprovable and lovely in all ways. (we'll show you in the next issue*)""
I wonder what? Surely not that new POS from TA. Maybe a newly-discovered stash of Mavic MTB cranks?
*The Rivendell Reader"
"Apparently, it is a house-brand ""Silver"" 110/74 bcd triple. It's going to be cold-forged, and you can be sure that it'll be Sugino who'll be doing the manufacturing. I think it will be very simlar to the Sugino XD600, that Andrew Muzi sells. I'm hopeful it will come in 172.5. Most Sugino, it's only 170 or 175.
I'm happy with my TA Zephyr though. The new all-black Vega is unattractive, I grant you, but the Carmina is pretty cool.
- Christian"
