E Bike chains

ChrisJC

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ok, hold the E bike jibes for now - I haven’t turned to the dark side!

I do s bit of bike servicing for friends/ friends of friends and I have just finished doing a shock/fork/brake service on a Lady’s E bike. It is a Specialized Levo with NX/GX drivetrain and Praxis cranks/chainring. I checked the chain and it had stretched to the .75 limit on my checker. I quickly tried an 11 speed kmc x11 chain and it wouldn’t work at all - it kept jamming on the chainring. I stuck the old chain back on and left it for now. After doing some research I realised the praxis rings have a wave pattern and the outer links need to sit into the recesses which are every 2nd tooth. Obviously I had the chain on incorrectly which caused the jamming.

So to get to my question: apart fromthe KMC E bike chains, are there any other options? Has anyone had any issues using Praxis “wave” chainrings? Being beyond the .75 stretch, I’m concerned the cassette maybe cactus, but I’ll at least try a new chain first.

Cheers
C
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
I've gone through a fair few ebike chains - they simply do not last. I started with 1x10 and then realise this was a shit idea - the chains are much more expensive and don't last as long with narrower profiles. I generally replace the ebike chain at 0.5 because beyond that they wear at a much faster rate. But in any case runnin expensive drivetrain bits on an ebike is expensive stuff. I am currently back to running 8 speed and they last a little longer (maybe 20-30%?) but still get flogged compared to human powered riding.

I've been through all the variants of shimano, kmc, kmc ebike chain, wipperman, connex and there haven't been that many differences in life. The ebike chain did last a bit longer but that only by a bit and that is a sample size of 1. I'm still using the wipperman connex so see how that one goes.
 

ChrisJC

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Apparently the chain was changed just before she purchased the bike a few months ago, I imagine it has done less than 1000kms so to be at .75 stretch after such a short time is pretty ordinary. I’ll change the chain and see how it goes but IME a chain that’s beyond .75 usually means a new cassette also!
 

ChrisJC

Likes Bikes and Dirt
If the chain is worn to 0.75 between the links, then the cassette and chainring are likely gouged out a bit. It's probably less to do with the wave-ring, and more to do with the increased space between each tooth and wrapping the chain.
Mmm, yeah, I had thought iof the chainring also. The owner is going to think I’m having a lend of them!
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
The current trend seems to be anything above 10 speed to change before the .75 limit, maybe try another brand chain. A bloke that I run into on the trails that has an E-bike buys the cheapest Sram chains in bulk and keeps on flicking new ones on at about every 750kms.
 

Minlak

custom titis
I believe its a torque issue from the pedal assist kicking in. The one E-Bike rider I ride with regularly is now often 2 or 3 gears higher in the rang than she ever was non E-Bike. She is often commenting how she loves that she now has the power to get over pinches and obstacles she struggled with before. I think is certainly putting more strain on chains and rings.
 

c3024446

Likes Bikes and Dirt
OEM chains on bikes are always the lowest spec since this is where they can cut corners - and I have a theory that they wear out their bushings much, much faster than something like an XT or KMC X93 chain – so it’s well worth forking out for them. The Praxis rings may have the original XX1 chainring disease – i.e. made of butter and wear terribly, so combination of these factors may be causing these issues.

Cost of running the ebike is likely something completely overlooked by the punters buying them – everything wears out so much faster than a regular MTB which costs enough already!
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
OEM chains on bikes are always the lowest spec since this is where they can cut corners - and I have a theory that they wear out their bushings much, much faster than something like an XT or KMC X93 chain – so it’s well worth forking out for them. The Praxis rings may have the original XX1 chainring disease – i.e. made of butter and wear terribly, so combination of these factors may be causing these issues.

Cost of running the ebike is likely something completely overlooked by the punters buying them – everything wears out so much faster than a regular MTB which costs enough already!
Once you start riding more than 3 times a week constantly it gets expensive, I'm starting to see a few people leave the sport because it. It's not a cheap sport per Km value for money with a normal MTB let alone a E-bike.
 

dancaseyimages

Mountain bike pornographer
Once you start riding more than 3 times a week constantly it gets expensive, I'm starting to see a few people leave the sport because it. It's not a cheap sport per Km value for money with a normal MTB let alone a E-bike.
How is the sport expensive? I can understand the E-MTB due to the 'newness' but on a standard MTB what would you say is the cost?
I'm curious, as I only have the one MTB that is quite old, but am looking at buying something newer very soon.
 

ashes_mtb

Has preferences
How is the sport expensive? I can understand the E-MTB due to the 'newness' but on a standard MTB what would you say is the cost?
I'm curious, as I only have the one MTB that is quite old, but am looking at buying something newer very soon.
It's not that expensive if you can do everything yourself, but if you're paying a shop to service everything then the cost of fork service, shock service, dropper service, general maintenance, chain and cassette replacements etc add up to a fair bit of you're riding alot.
 

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Once you start riding more than 3 times a week constantly it gets expensive, I'm starting to see a few people leave the sport because it. It's not a cheap sport per Km value for money with a normal MTB let alone a E-bike.
5-6 days a week here, mountain biking is cheap. Unless you're me and spend way to much money on "upgrades". Chains and cassettes aren't something I have to change too often. If you change your chains before they get to .75 you'll get years out of your cassettes riding multiple times a week.

What's an XT chain worth these days? One of those every 6-8 months and 10 mins to swap it out
 

dancaseyimages

Mountain bike pornographer
5-6 days a week here, mountain biking is cheap. Unless you're me and spend way to much money on "upgrades". Chains and cassettes aren't something I have to change too often. If you change your chains before they get to .75 you'll get years out of your cassettes riding multiple times a week.

What's an XT chain worth these days? One of those every 6-8 months and 10 mins to swap it out
Sorry to be off topic, but whats the best chain measurement tool, is it worth just checking weekly?
 

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I think any generic one will suffice. But a Park Tool one is like 15 bucks. I just check the bikes in the fleet every couple of weeks or when they're getting a wash and re-lube.
 
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