Chain compatibility

Andy
Posts: 8,207
Would it be possible to use a 10speed chain on a 9 speed set up?
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Comments
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So which funky coloured gold 10 speed chain is it, lol.
But no ;-)0 -
Merlin have the X10SL chain for £29 instead of £49 for the X9SL.
Worth a try!0 -
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You're both wrong, they work fine.0
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It will work to an extent - maybe perfectly - but i wouldn't do it. They are narrower, and the 9 speed chains should have a quicker pick up on the 9 speed cassette, especially when gunked up.0
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But it would work enough to get me through sunday?0
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If it doesn't rain ;-)
There are loads of combos of chains, rings and cassettes out there so it is difficult to say which will and won't work. Many do work - some better than others.
Using 9 speed chains on shimano 8 speed rings could cause the chain to misshift from the granny to the middle - it would sit on the edge of the teeth and clunk under pressure.
This 'surfing' of the chain has been reported on some 10spd chains and certain '9' speed rings too, on road bikes.
Try it and see ;-)0 -
8, 9 and 10 speed chains are all of the same internal width and pitch. The only difference is the thickness of the side plates, which changes the external width. Basically, the only possible problem would be with the front mech shifting a bit slower due to the narrower chain, but Andy's already used to this from his Yeti.0
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Yes, it is the external diameters that have in some cases caused these problems - cassettes too, they don't seem to like the mud as much on some 9 speed cassettes.
But others report things being fine lol, so maybe worth an experiment.0 -
What is the rivet width of the KMC chain? It seems most problems are with Shimano set ups (the rivets on Shimano 10 speed chains are just 5.88mm compared to 6.5mm for 9 spd)0