Winter here is hard on the chains on our fat bikes, with lots of salty slush on the roads. I checked the chain on my wife's bike a couple of days ago and found it to be stretched beyond 1%. Yikes!
The folks at the bike shop were clearing out some German-made Connex chains they'd discontinued, so I bought a couple for a pretty good price. The regular price was C$64.99, and the sale price was C$30. Not bad. Connex's magic link is interesting - it's asymmetrical, and can be undone by hand quite easily, no tools required. The only downside is that it does have to be installed one way, with the gently-curved side interfacing with the chain-rings and cassette gears. The chain is brass-plated, and looks quite sharp.
Based on my experience with my wife's mountain bike in September, I also changed out the rear cassette. When I test drove the bike, it rode and shifted perfectly, but today my wife complained of the chain binding or locking up. I rode beside her, and, sure enough, I could see it binding and then popping free as it came off the bottom of the front chain-ring. She was using the small (22T) ring, whereas my test ride had been with the large (36T) ring. She shifted up to the large ring, and we got home OK.
I transplanted a used 22T off an old Shimano crankset, and it looks like it will work fine. The bottom bracket was pretty notchy as well, so I repacked the bearings with fresh grease (Mobil 1 red, because this is BITOG). The external bearings used in the FSM system are interesting. There are only about a dozen very small bearings per side., but it seems to work OK. My Pugsley uses the same system.
Anyway, here's a photo of the culprit - experts, do you agree that the teeth look pretty pointy? I guess the small chain-ring takes quite a beating compared to a 32 or 42T.
The folks at the bike shop were clearing out some German-made Connex chains they'd discontinued, so I bought a couple for a pretty good price. The regular price was C$64.99, and the sale price was C$30. Not bad. Connex's magic link is interesting - it's asymmetrical, and can be undone by hand quite easily, no tools required. The only downside is that it does have to be installed one way, with the gently-curved side interfacing with the chain-rings and cassette gears. The chain is brass-plated, and looks quite sharp.
Based on my experience with my wife's mountain bike in September, I also changed out the rear cassette. When I test drove the bike, it rode and shifted perfectly, but today my wife complained of the chain binding or locking up. I rode beside her, and, sure enough, I could see it binding and then popping free as it came off the bottom of the front chain-ring. She was using the small (22T) ring, whereas my test ride had been with the large (36T) ring. She shifted up to the large ring, and we got home OK.
I transplanted a used 22T off an old Shimano crankset, and it looks like it will work fine. The bottom bracket was pretty notchy as well, so I repacked the bearings with fresh grease (Mobil 1 red, because this is BITOG). The external bearings used in the FSM system are interesting. There are only about a dozen very small bearings per side., but it seems to work OK. My Pugsley uses the same system.
Anyway, here's a photo of the culprit - experts, do you agree that the teeth look pretty pointy? I guess the small chain-ring takes quite a beating compared to a 32 or 42T.