I've broken many chains regularly back in my MTB days (sometimes almost every 2-3 weeks) and since I took up road cycling back in '01, KMC was the only one that held up reasonably. I don't mash the pedals but am known to squeeze out violent bursts of watts regularly.

So I'm running DA7800, sometimes replacing the DA cassette with a KCNC, and I recently broke my KMC X10 SL Gold chain for the second time. This time around due to my derailleur hanger failure. Since my previous X10s also failed before even showing the slightest wear (1500km max), I'm looking for another chain. I temporarily switched to a KMC X10-93 because it was much cheaper but I'm sure that one will break soon enough and I want something more durable! My cassettes and rings are still in good shape and don't even skip after replacing a few chains.

Now I'm looking for something better and preferably in the same weight which is +/- 120g for 114 links.


Recently I heard about Yaban/YBN but I've never actually seen one, let alone being ridden on a bike. I'm looking at a SL210-G titanium chain
(ti pins?). Apparently they use a special lubricated coating and claim to be noiseless and last twice as long compared to a normal chain (which one?).

Any experiences or recommendations? Just curious...

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I don't think parts are that poor nowadays.
You can't really blame the chain if the hangers failed, or is that the hanger failed due to the chain or shifting problems?
To be breaking them so regularly are you sure its not your gear change or maintenance technique??
20 years of riding and racing I've only broke 2; 1 on the mtb, 1 on the road, and to be fair they were beyond the point where i should have changed them.
7900 chains seem to work fine on 7800 so you could try that or Wipperman, but go stainless.

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Official cafe stop tester

I had good luck with YBN (Yaban) hollow pin/slotted plate 10 speed chains so far.

I use one on my 9s MTB without problems, and I run another on my 10s road bike also without problems.

I have not had them for that long, so I cannot say how they will hold up over longer distances (I think in total I have about 1000 km on them), but esthetically, they hold up really well. They are both still shiny and very easy to keep clean.

V.

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Velocite Bikes
Cycle Taiwan

Pretty much all chain marketing material claims that.

What you obviously need is a Wippermann, although you may have to make minor adjustments to your cassette etc.

My experience is that chain failure (with modern chains) is almost always a result of poor installation. Are you reading and following the installation instructions?

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Wheelworks.co.nz
New Zealand handbuilt wheels

I've never broken a chain... ever

but i would have thought that genuine chains from Shimano would be stronger than a gold chain... as gold is not the strongest metal... but maybe it's just a coating...

Fortunately, 'gold' chains are made of Titanium Nitride, which is much stronger than steel

Titanium nitride is a ceramic material that is used as form of surface hardening treatment and a friction coefficient modifier (it decreases it significantly in some situations).

The chains are still some kind of stainless steel alloy, it is the surface TiN coating that gives the treated components the gold colour.

V.

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Velocite Bikes
Cycle Taiwan

Something is definitely wrong with this chain breakage scenario. Being of the Sprinty Fast-twitch specie myself at 90kg , could you post a pic of your thighs also
Also, guessing that you meant +/-220g on the weight spec.

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"You can't get there from here"

LOL! Yeah, 120g is definitely wishful thinking!

@mitre_tester: I was about to go single-speed had I not bought the KMC X10-93. Such a setup would've definitely been with a wider chain.

Who read those manuals anyway?! In my 15 years of building exotic bikes there were never any issues with chain install, especially with the Sram's Powerlinks and KMC's Missing Links. Also, the derailleurs are always perfectly adjusted for clean and crisp shifting and upon installation chains always run silent. Install is not the cause. I did break some Sram Powerlinks though. I've not been using Sram chains since. Didn't Sram had a recall on them..?

Back in '04, I tried the Wippermann Connex 10TR Titanium chain, which I found not enough value for money to justify its cost of almost 300 euros.

I dunno what it is why my KMC chains kept on breaking. Possible causes:
- I shift a lot (to keep a steady cadence) and almost always under power. My average cruising speeds are often around 40km/h, sometimes even faster. I also accelerate a lot during rides never doing the same tempo.
- KMC chains are really greasy when purchased. As I hardly do maintenance on my SL Gold chains. When they become dry I have to lube them over and over and they turn black with dirt rather quickly. Most ProTour teams would replace the chain when this occurs.


The derailleur hanger failure was the result of some heedless idiot knocking my Scott Addict over in passing while I was briefly inside a store. I didn't even see who did it. When riding home, I noticed that my RD didn't shift so well anymore. When I ordered news ones, I kept on riding and it happened to break a few days before I got my replacement hangers in the mail. There were bents in the inner links in 4 places, which otherwise still have a lot of miles life left in it. I'm just really put off by the umpteenth chain failure and now I'm looking for something a bit more bulletproof out there.

I found some info on the Yaban's SL210-G chain. It said:
Could be worth a try...

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“I always find it amazing that a material can actually sell a product when it’s really the engineering that creates and dictates how well that material will behave or perform.” — Chuck Teixeira

RideWert.com
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I've always stripped my new chains with solvent (2x to make sure no greasy/sticky residue remains) and then lubricate/saturate with my favorite chain lube, usually ProLink http://www.progoldmfr.com/index.html and allow to completely air dry for a day so that no solvent-carrier remains. Then give the chain a very thorough wipe down to remove excess lube and mount the new chain. This has worked very well for me. Stays fairly clean, very well lubed and shifts nicely. Re-lube is a snap; done on bike, drip on/wipe down/repeat.

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"You can't get there from here"

Nothing of value to add here except "haaaaaa."

Did you try CN-7800/7801?

Reliable equipment, installed properly and lubed. Big guy, shifts under power, chains break.

I think that sums up this thread?

The obvious answer is to shift under power *less* to be kinder to your equipment.

Mythical....did you get it? Is it any good?

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Used to race....got too wrinkly and old Updated: Racing again! Thought this was unlikely! Eventually, I may even have a decent race!
Edit: HAD a decent race! 16/08/2014