Clarks chains any good?

stickman

Went to Halfords to buy a chain for my fixed gear, now they've only got Clarks! Clarks, Clarks, Clarks all over the place.

andrewjoseph

never had a clarks chain, brake pads are ok though.

find out who makes them. I think I remember reading that KMC or YBN make the chains for most companies.

desweller

I've got a 10-speed Clarks chain from CRC. It's even got slotted sideplates. Seems OK; reuseable link is easy to install/remove etc. It's a chain, innit.

smurfylicious

By coincidence I was in Halfords last night as I wanted to see if they had a replacement exhaust rubber for my car (they didn't).

While I was in there I decided to have a nose around the cycling section. I noticed the 'Clarks' singlespeed chains. If I remember correctly the side plates had YBN stamped on them. It's not hard to check, the ones I saw yesterday had a plastic 'window' in the cardboard packaging.

skinnerooony

Bit of feedback on Clarks chains. I recently snapped my 10spd in heavy traffic causing untold embarrassment and a severely stubbed toe! The chain was less than 500 miles old and snapped at the quick link. A quick check with a chain checker shows it has already worn to 0.5 in this short period of time. As for the 'self lubricating' I have no idea how they get away with making such a claim. To be avoided if you ask me!

CarlosDSanchez

My experience is the opposite to skinnerooony's, my clarks chain is holding out well and my KMC one broke at about 500 miles, taking out the front mech as it went.

Self lubricating is nonsense, clean and lube as you would a regular chain.

monkimark

skinnerooony wrote:

Bit of feedback on Clarks chains. I recently snapped my 10spd in heavy traffic causing untold embarrassment and a severely stubbed toe! The chain was less than 500 miles old and snapped at the quick link. A quick check with a chain checker shows it has already worn to 0.5 in this short period of time. As for the 'self lubricating' I have no idea how they get away with making such a claim. To be avoided if you ask me!

Same thing happened to me last week, probably around the same mileage too.
viewtopic.php?f=40004&t=12930462

Papa Ado

KMC here. Clarks chains are made by YBN (Yaban)...no good.

CarlosDSanchez - I'm sorry to hear about your chain breaking after so few miles. This is not a common occurrence, I can assure you. Hope you were ok.

CarlosDSanchez

Was just left with hurt pride and bill for £34 to replace my wrecked front mech!! To be fair, that's the first problem I've had with a KMC chain and the other 2 I've got are still going strong with 2k+ miles on them.

keef66

If they are in fact made by YBN then I'd avoid. Tried a YBN 10 speed chain a couple of years ago and it wore very quickly and made a racket with the rest of the 105 drivetrain.

thefd

keef66 wrote:

If they are in fact made by YBN then I'd avoid. Tried a YBN 10 speed chain a couple of years ago and it wore very quickly and made a racket with the rest of the 105 drivetrain.

Its funny because I have a KMC chain X10-EL, and it works well, has lasted well (I have the same chain on both my bikes), but on one bike it makes a racket when in the big ring only! Small ring it is as quiet as a mouse. Im running 105 (5700). Any ideas?

keef66

That is odd. If the chainline is OK all I can think of is the chain might be too short?

thefd

keef66 wrote:

That is odd. If the chainline is OK all I can think of is the chain might be too short?

I've maybe overdone the noise - it is not excessively noisy - just makes a noise when on the big ring. Chain isn't too short. Possibly just the way it will be.