Originally Posted by
Kaben
That’s fair enough regarding the tech not changing a lot.
On my other point though - is the “standard” Izumi chain the same as the eco which is mentioned in the beginning of this thread?
I can’t see the eco chain referenced anywhere or on the Izumi site. Is it possibly named differently in the states? ( or had its name changed?)
I have one of these standard chains which came in a green packet ( see pic). Is this the same as the "eco" which you refer to as a reference chain in your original post Carleton?
The reason i ask is that the standard chain on the izumi site is described as : "The ordinary chains which conform to international standards and are widely used in baby carriages,
sports cycles, minibicycles,etc." and i want to make sure im not going out sprinting with something not up to the task. Whilst im unlikely to ever break a chain the peace of mind is definitely beneficial to performance. ( i would rather not use the super toughness chains as they are very expensive and id have to buy two, one for big chainring combos and one for smaller - the dropouts on my Dolan DF4 are too short to be able to use a long chain for all combos).
Thanks for your help.
I ran into this same question when I first heard the ECO name. The easy rule of thumb - if it cost ~$20 its an ECO, with or without the name. Seems a lot of Japanese toys have very high quality chains! "ECO" is new. Izumi was founded to make chains 103 years ago. They figured this out a long time ago. I suspect the same chains sold in Japan don't say "ECO". Japan being a more stable market (because of all the non-bike stuff), I suspect when rushes on the chains happen in the States, they supplement their shipments with domestic non-ECO chains.
In other words. don't worry. If you get change from a $10 and a $20, its what you want. (Another way to look at it - Izumi is never going on a marketing campaign like Trek or Specialized. They just make chains and let them sell themselves. I"ll bet they guys on the floor making the chains simply think "ECO"? Why?
Ben