The L at the end of the part number designates the lightener in the chain link, the X designates the chamfer in the outer plates to help with shifting, although the DLC chains don’t have the X in their name they and still have the “x” shape on the plates. Aside from the one SRAM chain I’m using now due to availability, I’ve only ever run KMC chains and swear by them. Having run the sram chain this year I’ve noticed that the KMC chains were quieter and shifted nicer under load.
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Just keep on riding on the chain. A few days won’t matter.
0.8 is pretty serious wear, so if you’re a big Watt rider, maybe don’t sprint at 100% until you put a new chain on.
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I was able to install my new chain, cassette, and pulleys. Broke them in on NoVid: Sprints 18 x 10s. It is surprising how challenging 3 minutes of work can be.
I was knocking out Shimano 105 chains on my turbo within a month!!! and that is .75 wear!! inside use only… I am only 60kgs so not very powerful. They seem to be almost on the .5 limit from the start. Tried at least 3 and they were all the same. Bought a Connex chain with their super easy remove link about 3 months ago now and have done literally 100’s of miles on it so far and no wear at all it is a good as new. the .5 gauge still sits on top of the link!! so will never go back to a Shimano chain again. They are a few quid more expensive and very slightly heavier but have their easy link to take the chain off in a few seconds. No brainer as fas as I am concerned. Would be interested to know if anyone else has had rapid wear issues with Shimano HG chains,. I can’t be the only one?
I get about 3000km out of a Shimano 105. I usually use a KMC chain these days tho.
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FWIW: I use a Pedro’s Chain Checker to measure chain elongation. It measures pin-bushing wear and not roller wear. Shimano makes one somewhat similar, as do a few others.
Here’s the explanation:
http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-004/000.html
A steel machinist’s rule can work as well. Pic shows 1/16" elongation over 12" (start measuring from 1 on the ruler rather than the end).
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I have never been able to measure chain wear using a machinist’s rule. I don’t know if it’s my thumbs, or my eyes, or what. Just never worked for me. Your pic looks real nice. Is the chain still on the bike?
Dame Karen. She is a great one. Ive had the pleasure of ridding (read - getting dropped by) outside with her.
For the photo, the chain is off the bike. It takes a bit of technique to do it on the bike. I do it on the top run on the big ring. I put the one inch mark near the cassette centering it on a pin, clamp the rule to the chain with my left thumb and forefinger while supporting the right side of the ruler against the chain ring with my right hand, and then look at the 13" mark. I don’t have a photo of that, but here a pic of what centering the 1" mark on a pin looks like. The +/- 1/16" marks bracket and help center accurately on the pin. It’s way more precise centering on a mark than the physical end of a ruler. This is an ages old method of using a ruler. Of course you can start at any place on the ruler, not only the 1" mark. You might notice that the pin 1/2" to the right looks shifted compared the pin at 1". This is due to parallax from the camera lens being close to the chain when the picture was taken. When doing measurements, you need to view straight on to minimize this effect.
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Lovely photo! Tells you everything you need.
One problem is that at the top, 12 inches from the cassette I get too close to the chainring for accurate viewing angles. If I use the bottom of the chain, it’s difficult to maintain chain tension. Oh well.
Put cranks with drive side at 3, use a clamp to hold the brake pedal down, hang weight off drive side crank to put tension on the chain. This allows you to use both hands to do the measuring.
If you’re really into it you can get a super expensive pattern makers ruler with the shrink rule of 1/16” per foot so that when the chain is worn you’re at two whole numbers, i.e. 1” and 13” vs 1” and 13.06”, and then you don’t have to remember that you’re looking for the mark 1/16” to the side of the whole number. Best thing I ever bought off a retiring pattern maker.
After looking at the various chain length tools, I took a different direction and ended up going with a MITUTOYO Electronic Caliper: 0 to 6″, 0.0005″ Resolution. When I put a new chain on, I establish a baseline measurement. The large span lets me measure wear across multiple links for a 131.91 mm span, and allows me to easily detect when I get near the 0.5% wear of 0.65mm.
As an added bonus, I can now check wear on break pads & rotors.
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