Tagesarchiv: 29. September 2009

Just thought I would share this with you.

In my ride report on MtB riding in Yokohama I mentioned that I snapped my chain while out riding, well on Friday last week the same happened again and I decided to bin the chain and get a new one for my Mt Bike and replaced it with a 9-speed Hyperglide chain which last an age!

Yesterday morning I was commuting in to work and alas, just outside Shibuya on the 246 pushing off from the lights I snapped the Dura Ace 7900 Hollow chain on the Pinarello. Fortunately my cat like reflexs helped me stay on the bike and also allowed me to continue having children.

Turns out that the Shimano Dura Ace 7900 hollow chain have issues with them and Shimano are no longer making them. Apparently they have 2 problems, the first is that the „Quick Link“ is prone to stretching and if you are using one of these chains and doing a lot of sprint training or aggressive hill climbing then your best off getting rid of the „Quick Link“ and replacing it with standard Hollow chain links.

The Second issue is with the Hollow pins, these fail rather quickly especially if you have removed or replaced a link and used the original link pins. If you have I would suggest you take a look at where you made the joins and replace them with replacement pins that once inserted require you to snap off the remainder of the insertion pin.

Please note that Shimano have not recalled the chain but have stopped making them, so if you need a new chain make sure that you are getting the new version that doesn’t have the „Quick Link“ and has the new reinforced pins.

I have to say that I’m rather glad it went yesterday on my commute rather than on Saturday durring the „King of Endurance“ Race in Shin- Yokohama!

Safe Riding Guys…….