What makes the Record 11 speed chain so good?

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istigatrice
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by istigatrice

Hi All,

Read in another forum that (apparently) the Record chain is the best part of the Campy SR/Record groupsets. I was just wondering, why is this chain so good? To my untrained eye, it looks very similar to the Dura Ace 9000 chain. eg: hollow links, fancy coating etc.

What sets the record chain out? Or is it just "brand snobbery"
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bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

it is extremely stretch resistant. All the other bits of the record groupset are excellent too. Chainsets are a work of art or at least they were.

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Permon
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by Permon

...from my experience.... Chorus chain lasts more than Record.
In my case (86kg, racing sometimes) 4000km. :thumbup:

istigatrice
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by istigatrice

bm0p700f wrote:it is extremely stretch resistant.


Any ideas as to how it would compare with Shimano? Although experiences are probably going to be pretty subjective, but probably still interesting. Hope Fairwheel bikes does a chain review in the near future...
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Permon
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by Permon

I dont ride Shimano...friends of mine do. What I understood is that Shimano chain lasts half of Campagnolo. Hard to say if it is true or not.

Marin
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by Marin

Tour test said DA chain lasts longest.

Permon
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by Permon

We ALL know what Tour tests are like :lol: Who pays....wins. :welcome:
I have never met a person who would experience Shimano chain lasts longer than Campagnolo in real life.

istigatrice
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by istigatrice

^That's what I thought too... At least from my experience Shimano chains (Dura Ace 9000) outlast campy chains (Chorus) and seem very smooth, which makes me wonder how can Record chains be THAT much better (especially considering the price difference). The opinion that I had/have is that Campy chains were expensive rubbish... but that's maybe because I was buying the Chorus chains.

Was the tour test for Dura Ace 7900 or 9000?
I write the weightweenies blog, hope you like it :)

Disclosure: I'm sponsored by Velocite, but I do give my honest opinion about them (I'm endorsed to race their bikes, not say nice things about them)

Permon
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by Permon

As I said, from my experience Chorus is maybe even a little bit more long lasting than Record.

Yes, Shimano drivetrain is usually more silent than Campagnolo....but I doubt Shimano chain lasts longer.....experience of mine and budies around.
Maybe You have different experience (?)

istigatrice
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by istigatrice

Yeah, it seems I'm having a very different experience to everyone else... at least with the chorus chains I've had a pretty bad run. That's why I was wondering about Record... If I catch it on sale again I definitely might try one.

@bm0p700f: how much longer do your campy chains last you?
I write the weightweenies blog, hope you like it :)

Disclosure: I'm sponsored by Velocite, but I do give my honest opinion about them (I'm endorsed to race their bikes, not say nice things about them)

Permon
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by Permon

Friend of mine who is like 70kg runs Campa chain for approx 7000km.

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Calnago
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by Calnago

A couple of points about chains, regardless of who makes it... 1) keeping it clean is always good for its life and keeps your drive trains nice and quiet. 2) Use Campy chains with Campy drive trains and use Shimano chains with Shimano drive trains.
I say the last bit after once spending almost a day trying to figure out why a chain would occasionally want to drop off the middle ring of a touring bike when on the largest cog (32) at the rear. Was using a Sachs chain I believe (before SRAM had purchased the company). Anyway, everything was adjusted perfectly, it was a custom frame so maybe it was a bit out of the normal spec for angles etc, but still... I thought it should work. Turns out I finally traced it down to the slight differences in the chamfer on the edges of the plates. This is way more important to overall performance of a drive train than most people realize and most probably never even give it a thought. It was an XTR drive train so I finally replaced the new chain that was on it with a Shimano chain and all was good and from then on I always try to use the chain from the manufacturers of the groups. The chain has undergone as much design or more than any other component in the "system". Why use some "generic" or even boutique chain not designed for that specific system. While other chains may work, I don't believe they perform the best when things get dicey.
Also, I never fully degrease a chain. Years ago Campy used to recommend kerosene as a cleaner because it itself had some lubricating properties and thus would never completely strip the chain dry of all lubricant. Of course I'm sure environmental concerns has caused this recommendation to be dropped which is fine. Now I use Duomonde Tech and clean the chain with nothing more than dish soap (Dawn) in water.
I use the appropriate peened pin on a Campy chain and the break off pin on the Shimano chain. They don't come off until they need replacing. I see no logic in "rotation" of chains.
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thisisatest
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by thisisatest

Campy chains wear at the rollers. Shimano (and all others I've checked) chains wear at the inner plate chamfers/bevels.
The wear on the plate chamfers is cumulative: 0.1mm wear on one measures 2mm over 10inches. The wear of rollers is not cumulative.
Most chain checker devices assumes cumulative wear, and gains accuracy by measuring over a greater number of links. Try to measure a Campy chain this way, and it looks like it is lasting forever.
To measure campy chain wear, I go with what their instructions tell me to do, which is to measure the distance between two rollers across a particular number of links, however many get you to 132mm. If you can pull the calipers past 132.60mm, it's time to replace.
Still, I find that Campy chains last approximately twice as long as Shimano 10speed chains. I haven't compared the 11speed Shimano ones yet, but rumor is that they last longer due to the stronger steel needed to make the chain narrower while keeping roller width the same.
Between record and chorus, I've found no consistent wear difference.

rijndael
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by rijndael

How well do the Campy chains shift on Shimano drive trains?

I've typically stuck with DA/Ultegra chains because they're rated so well on Friction Facts.

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Calnago
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by Calnago

Shimano drive train.... Use Shimano chain. For all the same reasons to use a Campy chain on a campy drive train.
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