Red Herring
New Member
KMC X11 for me too. Last one lasted between 6500 and 7000 km on my Performance CX and 11 speed. They last.
Chain Life
- Thread starter tallpaul
- Start date
Trail Cruiser
Well-Known Member
I wash my body every day, I wash the dishes every day, its fair to say i don't wash my bike / chain every ride. I ride in STD / High mode most of the time, I only ride off road and I love tough gnarly technical uphill sections. I prefer to take an extra battery versus riding in eco. cassettes don't last either. i a NOT complaining.. just seeking a the strongest chain possible.. The fun factor on an e-bike outweighs the cost of owning one.. Anyway, I purchased a X10e today. lets see what happens. I am starting o ride with a higher cadence lately, as I get fitter, so perhaps the outright damage will be reduced
chains and bad haircuts are the similar.. only last 4 weeks.
Sram cassette meets vegas trails- too much torque. Steel free-hubs recommended or if possible a single piece cassette.
chains and bad haircuts are the similar.. only last 4 weeks.
Sram cassette meets vegas trails- too much torque. Steel free-hubs recommended or if possible a single piece cassette.
Sweetwater
Active Member
I'm getting good life on my 11 speed cassette with the KMC x10e. The x11e simply did not hold up to my personal torque, it separated. Shifting is no problem, I tend to spin in the upper 60's to 80 rpm as my sweet spot. The OEM chain had good life with 1500 miles, I'd rather replace the chain than take chances of developing problems with sprockets and the rest of the drive train. Brake pads needed replacement around the same time so that seems like a good maintenance interval. Tires went a little sooner.
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Manu
Active Member
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Spain (Galicia)
With the kmc x 10e and x11e say that the link is 5.88 mm and the x.11e 5.66mm, the correct thing is to use each one for its speeds.
These suffer with high motor assistance with low cadence and with high speed cassette and cassette ratios in upphill when it should be low speed ratios.
These suffer with high motor assistance with low cadence and with high speed cassette and cassette ratios in upphill when it should be low speed ratios.
Dmitri
Active Member
After a few recent rides I've noticed my chain sagging quite a lot and, despite the measurement tool telling me my chain was fine, I decided to replace it. This time round, instead of an ordinary KMC X1 chain I decided to go for the 'cargo' Wipperman Connex 7E8. This chain is heavy (500g-ish) and also much thicker than an ordinary chain. Here's what an ordinary chain looks like:
And here is my new chain:
One thing to watch out for is, because this chain is much thicker, your bashguard (if you have one) must be in ideal shape. My Miranda bashguard on my Bosch system was slightly bent... it's very thin aluminum which I cannot understand, they could have made it out of steel, but whatever. So I've had to remove the crank, unscrew the bashguard and use a vice to straighten it out. Just something to watch out for.
I cannot yet say whether the Wipperman chain is any better than ordinary chains because I've just installed it. But it sure looks impressive!
P.S.: with the KMC X1 chain I had previously, I'd say I got about 3000km.
And here is my new chain:
One thing to watch out for is, because this chain is much thicker, your bashguard (if you have one) must be in ideal shape. My Miranda bashguard on my Bosch system was slightly bent... it's very thin aluminum which I cannot understand, they could have made it out of steel, but whatever. So I've had to remove the crank, unscrew the bashguard and use a vice to straighten it out. Just something to watch out for.
I cannot yet say whether the Wipperman chain is any better than ordinary chains because I've just installed it. But it sure looks impressive!
P.S.: with the KMC X1 chain I had previously, I'd say I got about 3000km.
Manu
Active Member
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Spain (Galicia)
https://www.connexchain.com/en/e-bike-chains.html
depending on the number of gears, the width can be more or less.
depending on the number of gears, the width can be more or less.
Seems I will need to change my original chain came with the bike. It is a kmc 10e silver.
Not so long ago, at around 1200miles it was almost like new no signs of stretch(I was using prolink oil lube and the chain was dirty ) , after switching to Rnr lube , having to ride it on snow/wet conditions a couple of times in 3 weeks the chain degraded so much. I switched lubes but while half of the chain is not even %0.5 there are portions which just reached %0.75.
So now at around 1550 miles(at most 20 of those miles were above ECO the rest is Eco or off) I will change the chain. The cogs seems fine, it still shifts very smoothly(except going from 4to 5 , I need to hold the shifter a bit but it is probably an adjustment issue).
Should I go for another KMC 10e silver or a Connex 10se? I saw a nice price on KMC (I can get two at around $78) but connex come with their nice quick link.
Any experience on Connex chain on Bosch Cx will be appreciated.
Not so long ago, at around 1200miles it was almost like new no signs of stretch(I was using prolink oil lube and the chain was dirty ) , after switching to Rnr lube , having to ride it on snow/wet conditions a couple of times in 3 weeks the chain degraded so much. I switched lubes but while half of the chain is not even %0.5 there are portions which just reached %0.75.
So now at around 1550 miles(at most 20 of those miles were above ECO the rest is Eco or off) I will change the chain. The cogs seems fine, it still shifts very smoothly(except going from 4to 5 , I need to hold the shifter a bit but it is probably an adjustment issue).
Should I go for another KMC 10e silver or a Connex 10se? I saw a nice price on KMC (I can get two at around $78) but connex come with their nice quick link.
Any experience on Connex chain on Bosch Cx will be appreciated.
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tallpaul
Active Member
On my Bosch Performance S I'm on my third chain using the KMC 10e for awhile now and only get around 1500 or so per chain before they stretch out and get noisier. The KMC does come with a quick link.
When I purchased the bike it came with a Shimano chain that lasted about the same as the KMC ebike specific chain.
I am very on top of maintenance on the chain. No wet riding, 99% on paved bike paths and streets. Mostly use Tour and Eco.
Haven't tried the Connex e chains. They are harder to come by in the US.
When I purchased the bike it came with a Shimano chain that lasted about the same as the KMC ebike specific chain.
I am very on top of maintenance on the chain. No wet riding, 99% on paved bike paths and streets. Mostly use Tour and Eco.
Haven't tried the Connex e chains. They are harder to come by in the US.
Thank you Paul,
Do you also get uneven chain wear? As I said half of the chain is not even 0.5 yet, also it is very smooth and quiet.
Yes KMC has a master link too but it feels clicky hence I don't think it will be good for more than a couple of re-use (the 11 speed one is non-reusable to begin with). Connex quick link is quite a nice design, easy to connect/disconnect by hand.
I use that too but I use it on different sections of the chain. For example last time even the lbs mechanic didn't realize that the chain was almost worn since the sections he took measurements showed <=%0.5.
Dmitri
Active Member
I wanted to add that, after going through a few Wipperman Connex 7E8 chains, the experience has been terrible.
These chains are very thick, moped-like, I think they have 8.8mm pin length or something ridiculous. However... they die very quickly. Like, less than 1000km of life. Also they've had some issue with the locking mechanism, which caused me to have to email Wipperman and they've sent me a new chain. Locks on a few models were a bit loose which was dangerous and I had to replace those locks with spares.
TL;DR I'm going back to KMC E1 and E11. Having a stupidly thick chain on a bike looks awesome, but it's of no use if it fails so quickly.
These chains are very thick, moped-like, I think they have 8.8mm pin length or something ridiculous. However... they die very quickly. Like, less than 1000km of life. Also they've had some issue with the locking mechanism, which caused me to have to email Wipperman and they've sent me a new chain. Locks on a few models were a bit loose which was dangerous and I had to replace those locks with spares.
TL;DR I'm going back to KMC E1 and E11. Having a stupidly thick chain on a bike looks awesome, but it's of no use if it fails so quickly.
Did you fit their connecting link the correct way around?
I'm relatively new to this wearing out chains thing - kmc 11 e stuffed @450 km, the wipperman is looking new @ 600 km ( mtb riding ) . Admittedly it's summer at the moment so less mud grinding away at the wipperman, plus I'm starting to learn when to change gears.
Dmitri
Active Member
I'm pretty sure the Wipperman link is not directional, because you put a proper link plate in front of the link, and the link just holds it in place.
I live in a country that's dirty/muddy all the time, regardless of weather, so I have year-round chain annihilation. And Wipperman has failed too many times for me.
Definitely directional, if you put it on ipside down it fouls on each gear change
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