# Is half-link more or less durable than regular chain?



## Jezston (4 Sep 2011)

Question in the title really. The two chaps in the LBS can't seem to agree!


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (4 Sep 2011)

More pins= more stretch. Been there, done that on a fs as mtb. They really do stretch a lot


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## rustychisel (5 Sep 2011)

Yes, more stretch. The 1/8 half link chains sold to fashionistas are heavy and cr4p.


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## mickle (5 Sep 2011)

They don't have any more pins than a regular chain but they do wear more quickly.


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## Hover Fly (5 Sep 2011)

The side plates straighten out under the strain of fixters heaving on them with all their might so they stretch. If 1/2 link chains had any advantage they would be all over industrial power transmissions. They ain't, only gullible fashion victims' bikes.


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## Theseus (5 Sep 2011)

But the important question is do they stretch less if painted dayglo pink?


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## Smurfy (5 Sep 2011)

I thought I'd heard once that the advantage with half-link chains is that they bend more easily around the extremely small sprockets used on BMXs. I was in Evans at the weekend and they had a BMX wheel for sale fitted with a sprocket of just 9 teeth!

From the posts above 'bendability' would appear to be the only advantage (assuming it's true).


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## mickle (5 Sep 2011)

It's their abilty to slide without catching an edge on metal and concrete surfaces when grinding which is their reason for being.


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## Jezston (12 Sep 2011)

Counter arguments (not from me, I'm still open but erring towards the anti camp from this thread!)

1. Claim that they are much bulkier and sturdier, pins are thicker, thus in fact less prone to stretch.

2. For same reason as above, less likely to fail.

Why is it believed they wear more quickly?


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (12 Sep 2011)

Jezston said:


> Counter arguments (not from me, I'm still open but erring towards the anti camp from this thread!)
> 
> 1. Claim that they are much bulkier and sturdier, pins are thicker, thus in fact less prone to stretch.
> 
> ...



been there, done that and they do. not for fashion but when i ran a cf fs mtb ss.


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## mangid (12 Sep 2011)

Jezston said:


> <br />Counter arguments (not from me, I'm still open but erring towards the anti camp from this thread!)<br /><br />1. Claim that they are much bulkier and sturdier, pins are thicker, thus in fact less prone to stretch.<br /><br />2. For same reason as above, less likely to fail.<br /><br />Why is it believed they wear more quickly?<br />


<br /><br /><br />

Not sure I understand why thicker pins would wear less, it' a material strength thing, isn't it? If anything I would expect more stretch because there are more pins, 4x0.2mm > 2x0.2mm.

--
Dan


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## Jezston (12 Sep 2011)

bromptonfb said:


> been there, done that and they do. not for fashion but when i ran a cf fs mtb ss.




When you ran a _what?_


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (12 Sep 2011)

carbon fibre full suspension mountain bike single speed.......come on keep up!!


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (12 Sep 2011)

mangid said:


> <br /><br /><br />
> 
> Not sure I understand why thicker pins would wear less, it' a material strength thing, isn't it? If anything I would expect more stretch because *there are more pins*, 4x0.2mm > 2x0.2mm.
> 
> ...


that's what i thought, but mickle disagrees


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## Theseus (12 Sep 2011)

mangid said:


> Not sure I understand why thicker pins would wear less, it' a material strength thing, isn't it? If anything I would expect more stretch because there are more pins, 4x0.2mm > 2x0.2mm.



I don't see how you work that out. There are the same number of pins on a full chain. On a normal chain each link consists of an inner and an outer with 2 pins. Half links are shorter and have one pin, but you need twice the number for a chain.


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## mangid (13 Sep 2011)

Touche said:


> <br />I don't see how you work that out. There are the same number of pins on a full chain. On a normal chain each link consists of an inner and an outer with 2 pins. Half links are shorter and have one pin, but you need twice the number for a chain.<br />



Ahh, you are correct Sir ;-) 

So it's purely a material thing, I get about 5K miles on the Izumi track chain I use these days, used to get a lot less on KMC's I used before. 

--
Dan


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (13 Sep 2011)

do they stretch more simply because they are made out of a different material to a normal chain? 

the one i had stayed extremely shiny and i treated it no different to my normal chains which certainly don't stay shiny.


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