Topic: Chain?

[messeduptriple]

So does a chain stretch or does it wear down ...and not stretch? I was told that a chain never ever stretches ..is this true?

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[BobbyR]

I have read pro and con. It seems that most of what appears to be stretch is actually the rollers wearing and adding clearance between links.

[MCRider]

Chains don't stretch. Its a common usage word as it describes the appearance. But what really happens is... there is a pin that goes thru a bushing at each link. As the chain goes around the sprocket that bushing twists around the pin, then straightens out again. That's the wear point. Eventually the hole in the bushing the pin goes thru "ovalizes", becomes an oval and voila the chain gets "longer".

So it hasn't stretched. But because you can't see the wear point, its hidden beneath each sideplate, it looks like it stretched.

[MCRider]

Not only do the holes elongate, but the pins themselves wear too, as seen in this diagram.  This points outthat the distance between the pins does not get longer, as it would if it stretched.

http://www.dirttricks.com/Chain-Wear.htm

[mono]

know-it-alls...   

[MCRider]

know-it-alls...   

It was many many years before this was explained to me. People working in shops I worked at didn't even know it.

The other related bit is the tighty loosy chain. You know when you spin your wheel and the chain gets tight and loose. I remember one summer I worked over this problem, how could it be? Were my sprockets out of round. Again I took it to a shop and that's what they told me.

In fact its simply that with poor care when lubing (back in the days of unsealed chains) a section of the chain would stretch, er wear, faster than another. So it looked like the sprocket may be out of round.

[elbowdeep]

thought this might be useful in the sealed (o-ring) vs. standard chain debate

http://kawtriple.com/mraxl/tips/chainlube.htm