I have a 1996 Trek MTB that has full STX componentry. I'm cycling through Thailand at the moment and carrying a full load. I had a HG41 7 speed 11-28 cassette and a new chain installed a week ago. It worked well.
Around 300 kilometres later i had a bike mechanic fix a clicking sound in the headset and also had him clean the bike as the roads here in the wet season get the bike dirty really quickly. He checked the chain and reckoned it had stretched because it was cheap model and that i should replace it with something better quality. Stupidly, as it turns out, I agreed. It was a XT 10 speed chain. It generally works fine but I'm getting some slippage at times. The Sheldon Brown site says a 10 speed chain is ok on a 9 speed bike so i guessing that the chain is too narrow and is causing slippage under load.
As i am a big pusher spending a lot of time off the saddle, I'm worried about that slippage getting more pronounced especially with that full load and I'll be hitting the mountains in the north in a few days, so will be pushing even harder. I know i should pedal faster and i'm trying to work on my cadence.
I'm going to go back to the mechanic and get him to put the old chain back on, but could anybody suggest what is the best quality 7 or 8 speed chain i should use?
Around 300 kilometres later i had a bike mechanic fix a clicking sound in the headset and also had him clean the bike as the roads here in the wet season get the bike dirty really quickly. He checked the chain and reckoned it had stretched because it was cheap model and that i should replace it with something better quality. Stupidly, as it turns out, I agreed. It was a XT 10 speed chain. It generally works fine but I'm getting some slippage at times. The Sheldon Brown site says a 10 speed chain is ok on a 9 speed bike so i guessing that the chain is too narrow and is causing slippage under load.
As i am a big pusher spending a lot of time off the saddle, I'm worried about that slippage getting more pronounced especially with that full load and I'll be hitting the mountains in the north in a few days, so will be pushing even harder. I know i should pedal faster and i'm trying to work on my cadence.
I'm going to go back to the mechanic and get him to put the old chain back on, but could anybody suggest what is the best quality 7 or 8 speed chain i should use?
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