Thread: Chains
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Old 03-18-20, 12:39 PM
  #161  
Novalite
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Originally Posted by queerpunk
it's always been clear to me that "trackies use 1/8-inch because it is stronger" has been a total canard perpetuated by people who like to think very highly of themselves. i'd have changed over to 3/32" years ago if it didn't mean that i'd always be up the creek if i ever needed to borrow or loan a piece of gear ever again, which i do all the damn time - the infield is and ought to be a social, collective place. and with two elite track racers in my household, changing one set of gear means changing two for the sake of, well, everything. and it's kind of hard to justify spending that much money in one fell swoop on one thirty-second of an inch.
The point of a wider chain is entirely missed, it's not about strength but about the size of the mating surfaces. A wider chain has longer pins / thicker plates, ex 1/8" has 50% more contact surface than a 3/32".
During usage / wearing, the amount removed material is a function of force and movement (articulation). With larger bearing surfaces, regardless contact surface size, a same amount gets removed, but with bigger contact surfaces, the "lost" distance, that brings the elongation of the chain, is smaller so the chain elongates less for that same amount lost material.

After I moved from 3/32" internal width chains to 1/8", the chains lifetime increased proportionally. 4 months became 8.
Later on, I switched from common 1/8" to 1/8" with 3/16"-sized thick plates. The lifetime again increased, to 16-18 months?
And since some weeks, I'm riding with a 1/4" internal width type 420 chain from the motorcycle branch. The pins have a larger diameter and full bushings.

Last edited by Novalite; 03-18-20 at 12:45 PM.
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