GBK233

Bike has 1000+ miles on it. It has almost .5% stretch….so probably going to need to replace in the month or so. OEM chain is
a KMC X11EL-1.
Should I stick with OEM or is there another chain I should be looking at?

Couldn’t care less about weight. Would rather have quality/longevity

cxwrench

Any Shimano 11 road chain. Or pretty much any KMC 11 chain. Hell, if the only thing I could get was a SRAM chain I'd put that on and not worry about it.

veganbikes

What about the Campanoglios or those Cool Whipperman chains?

cxwrench

Absolutely, they're both great chains.

GlennR

Do you clean and oil it regularly?

I get around 3000+ miles from a Sram 1190 chain.

GBK233

my chain is pretty much spotless. I degrease and clean it weekly. I use Smoove chain lube

WhyFi

Why?

A chain lasting only 1000 miles is unusual. Degreasing and re-lubing every week is unusual. The two unusual things are probably related.

GBK233

How would spraying some degreaser and cleaning a chain….cause it to “prematurely” stretch? I mentioned that in another month or so I would probably need to replace it. In that time I’ll have another 600ish miles on the chain. So even in that scenario the chain I would have about 1500 miles on it.
I weigh 200lbs….I would guess that the heavier a rider is, the faster a chain would stretch, but I surely could be wrong about that.

WhyFi

It's called "chain stretch," but chains don't actually stretch - the elongation is because of internal wear that causes more play between the links. If I had to hazard a guess, you're probably not doing a good enough job of getting lube back in to the rollers each and every time you degrease, which would cause premature wear.

Iride01

I just put oil on my chain. Being overly generous with degreaser just seems like you might wash the lube out of places the lube really needs to be. And when you re-lube the chain, how do you know the new lube displaced the degreaser that displaced the previous lube?

WhyFi

I mean, if you're already *really* degreasing your chain and you want to keep your drivetrain clean, buy some Molten Speed Wax and a $10 mini crockpot from Target. My current chains (I buy/use two at a time so that I can do a quick swap every other time) have about 4k miles each on them and have less stretch than yours.

GBK233

I guess it’s possible.

I degrease and scrub the chain with a brush. I then lube each individual link….including the pins coming thru the side plates. I pedal the bike a bunch while it’s on the stand to get the lube spread around. I then leave it overnight.

WhyFi

We *know* that your chain wear is premature; the mileage that you're talking about would have many people here buying a new chain every 4-6 weeks.

Sy Reene

"Degrease" how? For example, Overnight submersion in mineral spirits, or just wiping chain with a rag that might be dampened with something or other to get the visible crud off? etc

GBK233

no. I meant it’s possible im not getting lube deeply enough into the chain.

GBK233

Spray with degreaser(Purple Power) and scrub with a brush. Rinse. Dry chain with towel then Air dry in the sun. Then Smoove lube.

SoSmellyAir

From my personal anecdotal experience (which I readily admit is likely not statistically relevant) Purple Power may be too harsh for chains.

Bike Forums - View Single Post - Broken 105 Chain

SoSmellyAir

From what I have read in these forums it seems that there may be some difficulty in getting more waxy lubricants like Squirt and Smoove into the rollers during cooler temperatures.

sshakari

+1 for Wippermann

sshakari

best way is:
Leave it in Petrol = 4-6 hours after that
Degreaser = 1/2 hour, then washout degreaser with water.
Put in Methylated Sprits = 1/2 hour.
Let it dry and you will have a perfectly degreased chain. Dont leave it without grease for too long or it will begin to rust.

GBK233

Well…now I’ve gone down the YouTube rabbit hole regarding chains and chain lube. I’m kinda liking the melted wax thing.

One video by “Oz Cycle” showed a recipe using refined paraffin wax and PTFE powder mixed in a crock pot.

unless someone has a good reason that this is not a good idea….I think I’m going to give it a try. Will probably soak my chain in kerosene and clean the heck out of it…..rinse and dry…..then once it’s spotless, go the melted wax route.

WhyFi

If you're willing to put in the time and effort on the initial cleaning, wax is much, much lower effort. If you want to go through the trouble of the homebrew mix, go ahead, but it's a lot easier to buy a bag of MSW (and it's not expensive - it should last you a 10,000+ miles).

Racing Dan

By the low numbers you might as well just wipe with a rag and lube on top. Thats what I do most of the time, only occasionally cleaning it with white spirit. I find the investment in time and cleaning agents to be dubious compared to the price of a, admittedly 10 speed, chain. I never get the silly miles ppl like to post, but mostly I can replace chains with no skipping or other issues. Not tracking my miles on most rides I guess about 2500 mi. Then again there is no knowing what your gauge considers "0.5%". It may be overly conservative. For some time I have used a digital calliper and replace the chain before the "between the rollers distance" have enlarged 0.75% (~132.25mm -> 133.20mm). At that point true elongation is in fact less than 0.5% but the chain is notably worn in the rollers and has obvious side play.

GBK233

Good point….mine is a cheap gauge from Amazon. Could be inaccurate. I’ll pickup a better quality tool…maybe a Park Tool gauge.

SoSmellyAir

Or you might consider the Pedro version:

Amazon.com : Chain Checker Plus II, Black : Sports & Outdoors

Slightly cheaper than the analogous Park model, plus it can (1) hold the chain for quick link installation and (2) serve as a chain ring nut wrench.