What chains are available in 3rd world countries?

Eurostar

Somebody told me today that for touring in the third world 6 speed is best because chains on sale locally often don't fit 7+speed transmissions. Can anybody shed any light on this?

amaferanga

I bought a chain that worked with an 8-speed drive train in Tanzania back in 2003. In most African cities you should be able to find something that'll work.

nick hanson

You can get any chain you so desire,here in the UK,& we seem to be a third world country

jibi

another reason to choose Rohloff

any chain will get you going again.

sorry i can't be of any more help
Most third world countries use Chinese single speed, or hub gears as far as I know?

good luck

george

pq

It depends on the countries you'll be going to and whether you'll be visiting big cities. Some will have only singlespeed stuff, some will have primitive derailleur stuff, some will have more modern kit than that, others will have nothing at all.

Using 6 speed creates other problems on tour, particularly rear axle breakages and it's not something I'd do.

If you're doing a long tour, make sure you have hard wearing chainrings (avoiding shimano is a good start there) and sprockets and take 2 chains with you. If you swap the chains over every few thousand miles your transmission will last much longer.

I use 8 speed because everything lasts longer than 9 or 10, but you're not using stone-age technology.

See below for my take on building a transmission for an expedition tourer:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=rzyi&page_id=65310&v=1I

rrsodl

Eurostar wrote:

Somebody told me today that for touring in the third world 6 speed is best because chains on sale locally often don't fit 7+speed transmissions. Can anybody shed any light on this?

You reminded me of an american couple asking if there was colour tv in Scotland

Rick

Eurostar

I enjoyed pq's take on building his exped. bike. I'm building a light tourer which I want to take to remote places so I'm also after durable transmission and have plumped for 8 speed Dura Ace Uniglide after long discussions with Chris at Highpath Engineering who seems to be a bit of a guru on these things - read this: http://www.highpath.co.uk/cycles/notes/09.html It says Uniglide sprockets last lots longer than Hyperglide ones because they have much more metal on the tips. You don't get such smooth shifting as Hyperglide, but so what. I've got Uniglide on my old Condor 753 with 7400 6 speed Dura Ace, and it's good enough. So I've been stocking up on 7402/3 8 speed Uniglide spares. Another plus is that this stuff is superbly built and looks gorgeous. If I were feeling cynical I might argue that it'sfrom the era when Shimano were trying to be better than Campag, instead of just milking their market dominance.

Like pq I've gone for down tube levers for the same reasons. But mine have an SIS setting AND a friction setting. Luxury!

Rohloff would of course be very sensible but I wanted more closely spaced cruising ratios. So I'm having a virtually straight block with a triple chainset with a tiny inner ring. And Rohloff ain't cheap. And I want dropped bars: a Rohloff lever on drop bars is f'ugly. But I've built my frame with horizontal dropouts so I can one day switch to Rohloff if I want to.

satanas

pq: great website and trip report! Have been contemplating a trip there for a while, so great info and photos much appreciated.

Eurostar: In 2000, 8 speed chains were available in Islamabad/Rawalpindi (but nowhere else in Pakistan), and only in Kathmandu in Nepal, but nowhere in India; didn't see anything likely in Kashgar either. Last year more modern chains would have been available in India as there is now an importer there for Specialized bikes (http://www.firefoxbikes.com/). The owner was friendly, but I didn't need to look for parts as I was only there briefly.