Chain advice for EMTB's

[PhilBaker]

Hey all,

I've always looked after my acoustic chain and always ensure I change gear before the steep hill etc to minimise the pressure I put on the chain.

Riding the ebike, you have to adjust this somewhat as the motor is adding addition pressure onto the chain so when you change gears albeit peddling slowly sometimes, your force plus the motors force can provide a fairly big 'clunk' as you change gear (like changing gear on an acoustic bike riding up a steep hill).

Any tips or thoughts around chain wear and replacement for EMTB vs traditional acoustic bikes?

Cheers,

Phil.

 

[simonk]

Get yourself a chain wear checker and change the chain at .5. Running it beyond that and you risk having to change the cassette and possibly the chainring too.
As for making gear changes smoother, just back off slightly before the change to reduce tension in the chain and get used to thinking ahead.

 

[steve_sordy]

Don't forget that for those occasions when you really want to change to an easier gear but the hill is too steep to do it with mechanical sympathy, just increase the power mode. That will give you a surge so that you can then change gear and then drop the power mode.

 

[Binhill1]

Hey all,

I've always looked after my acoustic chain and always ensure I change gear before the steep hill etc to minimise the pressure I put on the chain.

Riding the ebike, you have to adjust this somewhat as the motor is adding addition pressure onto the chain so when you change gears albeit peddling slowly sometimes, your force plus the motors force can provide a fairly big 'clunk' as you change gear (like changing gear on an acoustic bike riding up a steep hill).

Any tips or thoughts around chain wear and replacement for EMTB vs traditional acoustic bikes?

Cheers,

Phil.
I measured and changed chain twice at .5 like most people on here advise first chain 400 miles 2 smallest cogs chunks out of them . My dealers advice was run every thing till it jumps or breaks. So when I put 3rd chain at 1000 miles it was not happy at first slight vibration but persevered and still have that on after another 1400 miles . Cassete has looked horrendous for 2000 miles . i have had a complete new drive train in shed for 8 months now always waiting and fearing the worst but first cassette and chainring are still going strong. Lot of wet riding and loads of climbing. I always stop peddling before gear change for a nano second it's working for me . But yes think ahead if you get it wrong on a steep climb not often usually technical stuff it's sometimes better just to get off .Also slow your peddling down on loose stuff or use trail instead of turbo . I fell of a lot on climbs due to wrong mode or too much acceleration in the mission control settings. Happy biking

 

[PhilBaker]

Thanks all for your replies and good advice!

 

[Dirtnvert]

Any brand or model suggestions? Ive mostly bought cheap sram chains or kmc. Is an ebike chain a thing? I asked the lbs to order me a couple ebike chains after i read ebike chains were stronger and dh racers were using them to avoid snapping their chains sprinting out of the gate. Lbs told me just a normal sram chain is fine but shops here are kind of anti eeb so i take their opinion with a grain of salt

 

[Dirtnvert]

Some research to get your teeth into:

Chain Testing - Zero Friction Cycling

zerofrictioncycling.com.au

Worth checking out the other articles on his website too.

On it. Thanks

 

[Dirtnvert]

Some research to get your teeth into:

Chain Testing - Zero Friction Cycling

zerofrictioncycling.com.au

Worth checking out the other articles on his website too.

Some research to get your teeth into:

Chain Testing - Zero Friction Cycling

zerofrictioncycling.com.au

Worth checking out the other articles on his website too.

No mention of ebike chains in that article....

 

[salko]

No need to mention ebikes, if chain lasts longer on acoustic bike it will also last longer on emtb ...

 

[Dirtnvert]

I asked about ebike chains. Thanks anyway. Im aware of regular chains differences. Many swear by durace. Up until the eeb i was happy with a $25 sram chain and found the durace didnt last 3x as long. Only on my first chain on the eeb and i stilll have a cheap new in package kmc chain so ill test that but id like to pre order a couple chains to have