I have a 2021 tarmac SL7 with Ultegra 8000 di2 drivetrain. Across all my other bikes I have ridden nearly 100,000 miles and never broke a chain. With no changes to my riding style, climate, or maintenance routine, I have now gone through four chains on this bike in 18 months. Today another one failed after only eight weeks and 592 miles of use. I wipe down the chain with a dry rag before every ride and lube the chain with Mucc Off dry lube. The cassette is only a year old. After the chain failed today, I pulled it off and cleaned it and looked closely, and almost every single link is cracked. What in the world could cause this? There is no rubbing or friction or noise at all when I ride, that is until the chain breaks. If you zoom in on the pic you can see the cracks. Any ideas?
by SpicyHotSalsa
11 Comments
Where did you get the chain from? Is it fake?
Where are you getting your chains from? And you’re installing it in the correct orientation?
woah. must be a counterfeit chain. where are you getting them?
Where are you buying your chains? Are they legit? I’ve seen so many cracks in a single chain. Maybe stop using Muc Off and try a different lube? Or buy the chain from a different place.
Did you soak them in Simple Green or any other degreaser by any chance?
Edit: all chains have been purchased from either local bike shop, online reputable bike shop, or Amazon where the seller was Shimano. Also, the same chains that I have bought from these sellers were also put on other bikes that have not failed one time.
Listen to everybody. Check the chain. Just because it’s purchased from a reputable place, does not mean they have a reputable supply chain.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/17nu80w/shimano_hg701_chain_sk_vs_uj/](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/17nu80w/shimano_hg701_chain_sk_vs_uj/)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uO4ciYCeME](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uO4ciYCeME)
There are a lot of fakes out there. This one looks fake–the deeper embossing vs laser etched links are a giveaway.
Trouble with Amazon is even if there really is a legitimate vendor selling directly, there are numerous accounts of Amazon mixing inventory that comes from other vendors (ones that sell fake/ counterfeit products). I don’t trust anything from Amazon anymore.
Recommend you get an 11speed KMC chain, I doubt you will have any of your problems with their stuff.
I had the same problem with a couple SRAM Eagle chains. They covered it under warranty for me. Seems like a bad batch comes out every now and then with poor heat treating.
After many fake chains from reputable dealers, it seems the supply chain is still vulnerable as another poster mentioned. I’ve switched to ordering mine directly from KMC. Last 4 I’ve bought have been legit with zero issues. I also think shimano chains are counterfeited way more than kmc too, at least from what I see posted on here.
I had a SRAM chain do that. Also from a reputable LBS. I think a lot of manufacturers had supply issues with their steel or heat treating process during the pandemic and this is the result.