11sp vs. 12sp - drive chain strength
 

Good Day, All:

In quickly searching, I didn't find exactly the answer I was looking for, so here I am.

We have a 2011 C-Dale RT2 that's misused, abused, and reused. We've been running a hybrid shifting system on it for a while: Campy 10-speed brifters with XTR derailluers and a J-tech ShiftMate to sort it all out. We're running a 3x10 gearing right now, though due to a little bit of play in the system, it's more like 3x8 by the end of last season. Anyway....

We wore out the first set of just about everything a few years back and replaced it with like equipment (though moving to Gates for timing), but now we're up to a replacement cycle again and are eyeballing Campy EPS systems and going to either 2x11 or 2x12 compact instead of the 32/42/52. Here's what I'm stuck on: are the 12 speed chains strong enough for a 350lb tandem team? I know they're relatively new and there aren't a lot of teams running them. Whipperman's website says that the 12s chains are as strong as the 11, as does Campy, but Campy won't say much more than their system isn't designed for tandems, so they won't give me a straight answer. Shocker, right?
We tend to be spinners over mashers and haven't blown a single chain on the tandem to date, but when looking at plunking down a decent amount of cash for either system, if anyone has experience of one vs. the other, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks All!
-Chris

For a single rider, so far I've never broken an 11 speed chain.

My Wipperman (9s) chain did, however break my chain tool... :crash:

KMC also lists E-Bike chains in 11s and 12s (e11 & e12). I've been meaning to try those, but no experience with them. But, they should take more power than many mortal riders.
https://www.kmcchain.eu/chain-mtb-ebike

Keep in mind, the Shimano 11 speed, 11-34 cassette will work on older 10s freehubs. Otherwise, you may find yourself also upgrading either your rear hub or rear wheel.

I don't think I've heard of a tandem team using this Campy set-up yet. The typical are the Shimano Di2 or the Sram eTap. It will be interesting to follow your project.

We've had bad luck with SRAM 12-speed derailleurs. Switched from Eagle to Shimano SLX and it was a significant improvement. Never had an issue with the chains.

Good Evening, All:

The fact that I haven't had a chorus of "NO! Don't do it because....." is good enough for me to start with. That KMC reference is great, too. I didn't figure there were too many folks running it yet, as Campy is, well Campy. I give full respect to Shimano and SRAM; for the price, they can't be beat. Complete aside: It's a simple thing, really, why I love Campy: the dual-control setup, meaning one lever does one thing and the button does another. While Dura-Ace just can't be touched for utter smoothness, when my brain has departed the building, the two button thing still just works for me. Muscle memory, bad memories, whatever. :)

CliffordK: Good point! I have White Industries hubs on my everyday wheelset, and they make a 11s Campy spline for the hubset. Campy wisely stuck with the 11s spline length/pattern for the 12s, so it's compatible all the way back.

Cheers,
-Chris

What went wrong? I was just about to order a SRAM eagle setup using Gevenalle shifters and interested to know what was going wrong