10 Speed Chain with Powerlink?

meesterbond
meesterbond Posts: 1,240
edited September 2011 in MTB buying advice
Are there any 10speed MTB chains available, compatible with an XT groupset that come with Powerlinks (or similar)?
I've been using X9 for the last few years, but apparently their 10 speed MTB chains aren't 100% compatible with Shimano.

Or do I just man up, get another chain tool and work out how to break and reattach Shimano chains?

Comments

  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    A 10 speed chain is a 10 speed chain.

    I'd go for kmc purely because they have re-usable powerlinks.
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • hoots
    hoots Posts: 134
    At the moment, I've two 10 speed mtn bikes, one with SRAM 2x10 and the other a Shimano SLX/XT 3x10.

    The 2x10 has very nice KMC chain with KMC's own powerlink/split link. The 3x10 has a Shimano 10 speed chain with a SRAM powerlink.

    As I prefer the longevity of KMC chains, I tend to replace my SRAM/Shimano chains with them when they wear out (KMC come with theier own split link). However, I'd heard that the Shimano 3x10 doesn't work well with anything other than a Shimano directional 10 speed chain. Being sceptical of hearsay, I swapped the chains on the bikes - even though they're the same length, there was a noticable deterioration in performance on the 3x10 with the KMC chain - it sounded like my mates supermarket clunker bike!

    So, I guess what I'm saying is - if you've got Shimano 10 speed, stick with the Shimano chain, but just join it with a SRAM powerlink.

    p.s. IME, don't bother with the Shimano pin system of rejoining - not 100% reliable and faffy to get the chain off for cleaning.

    HTH
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    KMC Missing Link in Shimano chain, best of both worlds...
  • junglist_matty
    junglist_matty Posts: 1,731
    I'm using an XT 10 Speed chain and an SRAM Powerlink (in fact its a 9spd powerlink) but it doesn't get caught on the mech, and doesn't rub on any gear in the cassette (I looked very carefully when fitting it and checked every gear).

    Over 100 miles later and still going perfectly strong and re-checked it the other night...
  • meesterbond
    meesterbond Posts: 1,240
    What a painfully obvious answer! I had it in my head that powerlinks / missing links weren't compatible with Shimano.

    I'm fairly sure I've got a couple of spare 9 speed SRAM powerlinks at home... I'll give them a go first and see what that's like, if it's not sounding happy then I'll get hold of a KMC Missing Link and use that.

    Cheers!

Categories