R
RonSonic
Guest
On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 05:36:18 GMT, Michael <[email protected]> wrote:
>RonSonic wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 17:52:55 GMT, Michael <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >The chain on my road bike has reached the magic 1/16-inch "stretch" point, so
>> >last night I Googled appropriately to do some pricing. The first site I hit is
>> >well known to most of you but I won't name it. There I found a pile of likely
>> >candidates, but my attention was almost immediately drawn away from the type of
>> >bike that each chain fits and to the prices. US$300+ ? For a chain?!
>> >US$200+? For a chain?! I seem to recall seeing a US$30-something chain down at
>> >the bottom of the list but I was so sticker-shocked by then that it didn't sink
>> >in until I'd logged off and toddled off to bed.
>> >
>> >Hey, my 10-speed cost under US$300, new (1979). Someone, *please* tell me how
>> >to get a decent replacement chain without hocking my first-born to pay for it.
>>
>> You went looking for a "ten speed" chain didn't ya? Well, since there is now a
>> critical mass of bikes with triple chain wheels, the phrase "ten speed" means a
>> bike with ten cogs in the BACK alone, to be multiplied of course by the number
>> of chainwheels. It is that number of cogs that tells us what size chain you
>> need, not the total number of possible combinations.
>>
>> Now this is all guess on my part, so tell me if I'm wrong.
>>
>> If I'm not, just go visit a bike store and spend the $12 - 14 a SRAM will cost
>> and be done.
>>
>> You'll dig the master link concept.
>>
>> Ron
>
>
>No, actually I went looking for chains in general. That first and only page
>that came up listed chains, chain rings, and other "chain" stuff, all listed in
>descending order of price. Which is why I was stunned almost immediately by a
>$399.99 chain.
They do that, don't they, default to showing most expensive first. Actually
that's one of my tests of a shopping site, if it's got an easy way for me to
resort from least to most expensive.
>Although I bought the bike in 1979, I rode it only two years. Didn't pull it
>out again until 2002, but have ridden it a lot since then. So the chain that
>needed replacing is the one that was on the bike when I bought it. This old
>10-speed with 27 x 1 1/4" wheels and center-pull brakes has given me fits
>sometimes when I've needed to replace certain parts; I got quizzical looks and
>"They haven't made that for years. Most bikes use [whatever] now." So when I
>innocently went looking for chain and was confronted by dear price tags, I
>figured I'd hit another "times have changed" situation.
Cool. Lucky bike, most don't survive that sort of premature retirement. Some of
the stuff that's been obsoleted has been for a good reason, others of it just
looks like an excuse to sell what's new. The good news is that someone,
somewhere is supporting just about all the older parts.
>All is fine now. I drove 30 minutes to a bike shop and bought a $10 chain.
Enjoy.
Ron
>RonSonic wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 17:52:55 GMT, Michael <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >The chain on my road bike has reached the magic 1/16-inch "stretch" point, so
>> >last night I Googled appropriately to do some pricing. The first site I hit is
>> >well known to most of you but I won't name it. There I found a pile of likely
>> >candidates, but my attention was almost immediately drawn away from the type of
>> >bike that each chain fits and to the prices. US$300+ ? For a chain?!
>> >US$200+? For a chain?! I seem to recall seeing a US$30-something chain down at
>> >the bottom of the list but I was so sticker-shocked by then that it didn't sink
>> >in until I'd logged off and toddled off to bed.
>> >
>> >Hey, my 10-speed cost under US$300, new (1979). Someone, *please* tell me how
>> >to get a decent replacement chain without hocking my first-born to pay for it.
>>
>> You went looking for a "ten speed" chain didn't ya? Well, since there is now a
>> critical mass of bikes with triple chain wheels, the phrase "ten speed" means a
>> bike with ten cogs in the BACK alone, to be multiplied of course by the number
>> of chainwheels. It is that number of cogs that tells us what size chain you
>> need, not the total number of possible combinations.
>>
>> Now this is all guess on my part, so tell me if I'm wrong.
>>
>> If I'm not, just go visit a bike store and spend the $12 - 14 a SRAM will cost
>> and be done.
>>
>> You'll dig the master link concept.
>>
>> Ron
>
>
>No, actually I went looking for chains in general. That first and only page
>that came up listed chains, chain rings, and other "chain" stuff, all listed in
>descending order of price. Which is why I was stunned almost immediately by a
>$399.99 chain.
They do that, don't they, default to showing most expensive first. Actually
that's one of my tests of a shopping site, if it's got an easy way for me to
resort from least to most expensive.
>Although I bought the bike in 1979, I rode it only two years. Didn't pull it
>out again until 2002, but have ridden it a lot since then. So the chain that
>needed replacing is the one that was on the bike when I bought it. This old
>10-speed with 27 x 1 1/4" wheels and center-pull brakes has given me fits
>sometimes when I've needed to replace certain parts; I got quizzical looks and
>"They haven't made that for years. Most bikes use [whatever] now." So when I
>innocently went looking for chain and was confronted by dear price tags, I
>figured I'd hit another "times have changed" situation.
Cool. Lucky bike, most don't survive that sort of premature retirement. Some of
the stuff that's been obsoleted has been for a good reason, others of it just
looks like an excuse to sell what's new. The good news is that someone,
somewhere is supporting just about all the older parts.
>All is fine now. I drove 30 minutes to a bike shop and bought a $10 chain.
Enjoy.
Ron
