preventec47

So I am searching for stainless chains for my older 8 speed cassettes and cannot find them. It appears the mfgrs making the stainless chains are
for the more recent 9, 10 and 11 speed cassettes etc. I dont care about weight, I prefer longevity... so what chain brands are best for old 8 speeds ?

dsaul

You can use a 9 speed chain on your 8 speed drivetrain, if you must have stainless, though I'm not sure that meets your goal of longevity.

hsuBM

You can use 11 speed chain on 10 speed, 9 speed, 8 speed, 7 speed, 6 speed, and 5 speed. You can even use it on a 1 speed if the ring and cog are 3/32”.


The only thing you can’t use 11 speed chain on is 12 speed (probably/possibly?).

masi61

Wippermann made an 8 speed “Inox” chain. I believe it was all stainless not just the side plates. Not sure if Wippermann still makes that chain, I’ll check.
I’ve got one on my 3x8 SunTour Command/XC Pro drivetrain Cannondale which isn’t my daily rider so that same Inox chain has been on there for 10 years.

It is a stiff feeling chain and I like that. For drivetrains that are quieter with a more flexy chain it might cause some issues. I tried the same Inox chain on my Dura Ace/Ultegra 3x9 drivetrain bike and it didn’t play well.

Eggman84

What study? Be interesting to read it. Lasted longer with respect to what? With respect to corrosion I agree stainless steel will last longer than the steel used in most chains. But if you keep the chain lubricated then corrosion should not be a huge issue. With respect to physical mechanical wear, I very much doubt stainless steel will last longer. A metallurgist can correct me, but most stainless steel alloys are weaker then most steel alloys used in bike manufacturer.

Andrew R Stewart 

If stainless was a better bearing material (remember the chain has more bearings it it then any other part of a bike does) we would see it's use in just about all nicer bikes and in those other places then just the chain. But we don't commonly see it's use, because it's a poorer bearing material then other alloys of iron. Andy

ClydeClydeson

I too would like to see a source for this claim. Stainless is seldom used for bearings for a reason. Maybe rolling element bearings, but for 'plain' bearings (bushings), stainless is a very poor choice.

Ed Wiser

As a retired industrial maintenance man. I hated stainless steel chains and sprockets.
I worked in a large food production plant and so we had stainless chain and sprockets in water wash down areas. They where lucky to last a month before I had to change the chain. As when a chain becomes worn it turns into a file and will eat the teeth right off a sprocket in no time. Stainless chain stretch’s and wears out fast.

preventec47

I WILL find the test One problem here as with many things is we are being too general. 1st of all the definition of stainless here :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainl...tainless_steel

I have no idea what proprietary alloys the chain mfgrs are
using much less aging and heat treatment of the metals. So, again I will find the test that seemed very credible to me that showed some more recent chains that in controlled tests wore and stretched at a slower rate than non non stainless )metals. There are many properties of metals such as tensile strength, stiffness, weight, malleability, heat treatability and hardness. I think that firstly the metal must meet the strength test first and then I believe the hardness is the
next priority with regards to wear. There are other things that I know nothing about such as crystaline structure of the molecules that are probably involved as well.
I found the test by googling things like "best bike chain", "bicycle chain wear tests", "long lasting bicycle chains", "evolution of bicycle chains" etc

preventec47

One of the exhaustive bicycle chain tests I found

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/12/the-...ciency-tested/

I want to say I have no desire to argue with anyone about any of this. I was just passing along a little of what I thought
I read and was looking for and was willing to pay a little more for a chain that would last longer the same way I buy synthetic oil
for my cars.

ClydeClydeson

preventec47 The word 'stainless' does not appear in that article. Not arguing, just wondering where I can find the information.

ClydeClydeson

No. Stainless is not 'any alloy with chromium'. Not at all. For instance, bike frames have been made for many decades with 'chrome-moly' steel, a steel alloy containing specific quantities of chromium and molybdenum. ANd these are not stainless. Most of the wrenches in my toolbox have some mention of chromium stamped right into them, and none of them are stainless.

Further, your claim about non-magnetic stainless steels (most stainless steels are non-magnetic) not having iron is incorrect. Steel is always primarily based on iron, but the specific alloying agents (yes, high levels of chromium are generally present) and crystal structure formed during the creation of the metal can reduce or eliminate the magnetic properties. But every steel is mostly compose of iron, like at least 80%. You mention crystal structure further down in your post, but the opening part shows such a vast misunderstanding of steel composition I thought it was important to reply.

Trakhak

Just an FYI: I searched that report for "stainless" (and for "stain," in case a mention of "stainless" had been hyphenated); no instances of "stainless" occur there. Then searched for "chrom" and "chrome"; all that came up were references to a proprietary treatment called "Hard Chrome."

wvucyclist

At some point the chain is too narrow and will fall between the chainrings on some cranks. I think I've had that on an 11 speed chain that I put on a 80s crank (so maybe 7 speed?).

preventec47

At least a good reference to Stainless Steel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainl...tainless_steel

ClydeClydeson

Why is there no 'UNlike' button on BF?

The title of this thread that YOU (presumably) wrote said you found a chain test that showed stainless steel chains last longer.


Perhaps this interpretation resulted from your complete misunderstanding of what stainless steel is.

I do know what stainless steel is, and my knowledge and experience agrees with the wiki article, but disagrees with the idea that it would make a superior bicycle chain. However, if there is some evidence to the contrary (like the test you mentioned) I would be very interested in seeing it.

icemilkcoffee 

Yup. I recently tried to put a 10 speed chain on brand new Biopace SG chain rings (7,8 speed), and it got stuck between chainrings. I went back to a 8 speed chain and it works perfectly. The same 10 speed chain does work when put on my son's 9 speed bike though.

dsbrantjr

One issue I have found with using stainless (correctly, corrosion-resistant) steel hardware against other stainless hardware (e.g. nuts on bolts) is its susceptibility to galling in the absence of lubrication. Nothing is more galling (pun intended) that having a nut seize onto a U-bolt while doing an installation at the top of an antenna tower. I would imagine this would also be a problem in all-stainless chains if lubrication became exhausted.

base2 

Indeed!
My first thought was: "How'd they solve the galling issue?" That would've been a game changer to solve it with out bronze bushings or similar. Then my next though was towards the mating gear teeth & it's own complications.

Like you, I discovered being 35 feet up a radio tower or 65 feet up a tree dealing with cable hardware...dealing with cres on cres is no fun. -. --... ..-. ... --

2_i 

I took the bait after reading how durable were Wippermann stainless chains in drum tests and got one for my 9 or 8 speed system at the time. It was the first and last stainless chain I got. It was plain awful. My cassette was custom, out of cogs that were not quite matched, but with Sram and KMC chains such cassettes worked fine for me. With the Wippermann I could not shift normally. To the best that I could determine, the issue was that the chain was not flexible enough in the lateral direction and refusing to yield to the derailleur. I switched to a commercial cassette that improved the situation a bit. I limped to the end of the chain's life and swore never ever again.

davidad

WE had an idiot engineer order 2" stainless pipe and threaded fittings for a job at the power house. Trying to thread it was a nightmare because of galling. WE we got enough of it to screw together it either did not fully make up and or leaked. I solved the problem by welding the fittings. No leaks.

preventec47

I finally did purchase some chain for my timing sprockets on my tandem and I believe they tout some hard chrome coating etc

product link https://www.kmcchain.com/en/product/...t-8-speed-copy

I think initially I did a quick scan of the bicycle chain test and had seen some mention of chrome plate or treatment on the top newer chains and assumed that to mean
stainless steel since I thought stainless steel also has some chrome content... Didnt mean to mislead anyone..

Charliekeet

Yeah, sounds like you were thinking of chrome, and maybe chromium... the link you shared is for what I think they used to call the Rustbuster chains (now called EcoProteQ treatment)- I like them too, but they’re neither chrome nor stainless steel- it’s some sort of coating.

RandomLetters98

They would be using SS because they're washing down with caustic. There's the cause of your problems. If they were made from carbon steel they would basically melt away in no time.

What wears out on chains are the bushings and pins. I think they're made from a softer steel otherwise they would grind away the chain plates.

Bearings are usually made from a softer material than its enclosure, otherwise they will grind away the housing. For instance, BBs will wear away in a bearing race before the parent material.

easyupbug 

While absolutely true, if you are running a multi-speed group bad things can happen even dropping from 11 to 10 but certainly with a greater spread. Jammed chains between crank rings, ramps not functioning, slow RD shifts, etc.