No 10-speed Stainless Steel Chains?

[Mr Evil]

I try to keep my chain clean, but with this year's wet weather in the UK, I have found that to prevent rust I have to keep the entire chain coated in oil, outer links included. The obvious solution to this is a stainless steel chain, but apparently there are none. The closest I could find was the Wippermann Connex 10s1, which has stainless inner plates but not outer plates*.

Why are there no stainless chains? Surely they would be ideal for those of us who need to ride in the rain, and they should also last longer than normal chains.

And cassettes! Mine started developing rust spots (it's a 105 5600, which I think is nickel plated steel), so I had to clean it a little less thoroughly to keep it coated in oil.

Actually, it's everything - I've come across all sorts of parts that are made of nice corrosion resistant anodized aluminium or whatever fancy material, but that include some cheap plain steel bolt that I have to replace with a stainless one, or just slather with grease if it's not something easily obtained.

*Wipperman's site is ambiguous about what the outer plates are made of, but some retailers say in their descriptions that the outer plates are stainless. I contacted Wippermann who very hepfully didn't reply, which suggests to me that the outer plates are not stainless.

[davcruz]

Most high quality chains will be Nickel plated, that should not rust. Check out a KMC X10SL, nice chain! KMC USA

[oily666]

Most high quality chains will be Nickel plated, that should not rust. Check out a KMC X10SL, nice chain! KMC USA

Aren't the pins and rollers just steel?

[esldude]

Amazon.com: Wippermann Special Edition 10-Speed Chain: Sports & Outdoors

Said to be Wipperman's most corrosion resistant. Connex special edition has brass and a black coating (likely some sort of nitride coating).

They also make a chain with brass coated links which should be good called Connex 10SG. The Connex 10sx is nickel plated outer links and stainless otherwise.

[bikerjulio]

wipe off the chain and use oil - it's cheap.

it's not corrosion that's going to ruin a chain, unless it's totally neglected, it's all the grit that gets into it. and the wear will happen regardless of whether it's SS or regular steel.

[davcruz]

Aren't the pins and rollers just steel?

I don't know, but any quality chain that get used with some regularity and cleaned and lubed should not rust regardless...unless you are riding in salt water of course!

[bikerjulio]

and BTW, just to show I have some experience with this issue

[flatlander_48]

Why are there no stainless chains?

As thin as chains are and with the relentless pursuit of light weight, they are stressed pretty good. Stainless alloys are not as strong as regular steel alloys. I would suspect that's why the manufacturers don't use it.

[Special Eyes]

That's correct. There are about 13,000 different alloys of steel. Stainlesses are not as hardenable through heat treating as other steel alloys. Would probably work, but with a shorter life. And greater expense.

[danl1]

Agreed with above. Wipperman used to sell a stainless steel chain, but it quickly got a bad reputation for breaking.

[Mr Evil]

Most high quality chains will be Nickel plated, that should not rust. Check out a KMC X10SL, nice chain! KMC USA

If it's anything like my nickel plated 105 cassette, the plating won't work completely. Even if it did, it will wear off eventually (my current chain is plated with titanium nitride, which is very hard wearing, but it has still worn off the outer plates).

wipe off the chain and use oil - it's cheap.

it's not corrosion that's going to ruin a chain, unless it's totally neglected, it's all the grit that gets into it. and the wear will happen regardless of whether it's SS or regular steel.

I'm not really worried about the chain rusting so much that it breaks - that would take many years, even if it was left outside with no oil on it. I dislike rust because it looks awful.

Futhermore, I want to avoid needing oil on the non-moving parts because it attracts dirt, which,as you say, is what causes wear. Also dirt looks awful. I do already clean it once a week, but the weather makes a mockery of my efforts.

As thin as chains are and with the relentless pursuit of light weight, they are stressed pretty good. Stainless alloys are not as strong as regular steel alloys. I would suspect that's why the manufacturers don't use it.

Out of interest, I did a bit of research on this. It's hard to find numbers, but it looks like a decent 10-speed chain will have a breaking strength of about 1000kgf (= 9800N). Taking the calipers to my chain shows that the thinnest part (the inner links) is 5mmx1mm in area (x2 because there are two plates), which means that the material strength is 980Mpa. Coincidentally, this is very close to the strength of tempered stainless steel (and I presume that tempered stainless would be the best choice for a chain, due to its hardness), at about 1000MPa. So I think it should be strong enough.

Also note that you can get 1/8" stainless steel chains, just not 10-speed chains.

That's correct. There are about 13,000 different alloys of steel. Stainlesses are not as hardenable through heat treating as other steel alloys. Would probably work, but with a shorter life. And greater expense.

Some stainless steels can be heat treated. Others can be cold worked to harden them. I can't find any information about the steel alloys used for chains, so I don't know how their hardness compares to stainless, which is quite hard to start with.

[looigi]

wipe off the chain and use oil - it's cheap.

it's not corrosion that's going to ruin a chain, unless it's totally neglected, it's all the grit that gets into it. and the wear will happen regardless of whether it's SS or regular steel.

+1...except wiping mainly serves to push grit into the chain.

[looigi]

I don't know, but any quality chain that get used with some regularity and cleaned and lubed should not rust regardless...unless you are riding in salt water of course!

Roads around here are heavily salted in the winter so chains will start to rust after one ride. Frequent lubing minimizes rusting, limiting it to being superficial.

[PlatyPius]

+1...except wiping mainly serves to push grit into the chain.

During the winter, I use spray chain lube to blast the crap off of the chain as I lube it.