[Stoked]

are pretty terrible. mine was mounted a little over a month and it blew up already. i never really liked half link chains before but i needed a new chain and figured i give one a try. safe to say ill never get one again. my gearing isn't too small for 24's, a 10T driver ain't that bad. all chains can break but my friends and i have had terrible luck w/ them. kmc, shadow, khe all broke early on. now i'm seeing this mechanik halflink with almost no side plates?? i'm truly scared of that thing. where is mechanik based out of?? a buddy of mine mentioned they could be a german co...

anywho, i'm going back to a 710sl with 1 halflink again. had this setup for years. maybe ill even get the superstar halflink just to be safe.

anyone else had a good or bad experience with these chains?

 

[ServeEm]

I had bad luck with the reg half links so I steered clear of the hollow half links. Really anything hollow on the chain scares me cuz I grind a lot.

 

[WestCoastHucker]

my shadow chains all seem to hold up fine and i am a 200 pound beast who is always grinding and stalling on them. never had one break yet and i've been running them for years...

 

[jonKranked]

I heard the version of the shadow chain was far better than the original.... still isn't saying much about its actual performance.

 

[Mr Tiles]

710sl ftw

 

[v-digit]

710sl ftw

100% everytime i think about a halflink chain i magically buy 710sl instead.

 

[kidwoo]

Been running a shadow halflink chain for like 3 years now.

No complaints.

 

[sittingduck]

KMC 410H <---burly
I buy a new one every couple of months.
Eventually you get a free one from the extra links. (25/8 w/13.75" CS)

 

[eaterofdog]

I like the KMC Drop Buster chain. A good quality chain that is cheap enough to replace every few months.

 

[ServeEm]

yea I run the 410H with a macneal full guard, so far so good.

 

[t1maglio]

I run a shadow on both my 20" and 24", both are doing fine. I had a buddy snap his right out of the box which resulted in a broken hand, but I think that might have had to do with his installation techniques.

410's seem to break pretty easy in my history, but the 710 is always a good choice.

 

[FR4life.]

I've had a few of the 410s and been able to make them last a really long time. probably like 6 months or so. I had a shadow before and put it on fine and it still exploded, although after I repaired it with extra links it did last a good while longer.

 

[sittingduck]

There's a BIG difference between the regular 410 and the 410H.
The H chain is quite a bit thicker and stronger.
You want truly bombproof chains, check out Wippermann's 1G8.... (3300 lbs breaking load)

# Heavy duty straight link plates for BMX grinding
# Nickel-plated inner/outer links and rollers available in 4 colors
# 650g @ 95 links

 

[ServeEm]

Yea I've been thinking about going wipperman but my lbs doesn't carry and I haven't seen em on Dans or Albes. I guess you can call me lazy but I'm not game on looking any deeper. I don't understand why wipperman isn't more avail if they're that good. I saw they primarily make chains for other types of riding so it's somewhat understandable.

 

[sittingduck]

They aint cheap, and probably don't sell too fast because of it. Not many people actually need something that burly. We can't all be Sean Burns.
http://www.bikeparts.com/search_results.asp?id=BPC111907
http://cantitoeroad.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=42
http://www.outsideoutfitters.com/p-4243-wippermann-bmx-1sp-grinding-chain.aspx

 

[jonKranked]

from the looks of it, I'm not sure if that wipperman chain would have adequate clearance to run on a 9 or 10t cassette driver.

 

[Stoked]

universalcycles.com has a lot of wipperman chains. they take paypal too.

 

[v-digit]

universalcycles.com has a lot of wipperman chains. they take paypal too.

so what chain you ended up getting. and how do you like the tree splined?

 

[Stoked]

so what chain you ended up getting. and how do you like the tree splined?

ordered a gold 710sl. the tree splined has been really good. its a slick sprocket.

 

[Cru Jones]

but I think that might have had to do with his installation techniques.

That's the key right there, especially with half links. I've had a shadow half link on my 2six for a year and a half with no problems. You just have to make sure you use the master pin and don't use a damaged pin or link.

I did have problems using a cheap half link on a regular chain. I switched up to the superstar half link and have been good since then.

 

[t1maglio]

It typically is obvious what the problem is when the chain fails. If the pin is just pulled out, well, its your deal, if a plate is shorn in half, well, I would put that on the chain.

When those 410h's came out a while ago we were pretty excited about them, but we would go through the chains every month or so and we weren't doing THAT much grinding or sprocket stuff. When I switched to the 710 it never failed. The Shadows have been good thus far, but I don't grind or sprocket things as much.

My buddy snapped a regular 410 pedaling at our new DJs the other day. They are a good size and need a fair amount of speed, not to mention the run is actually a paved path. He took it SOOO hard. Snapping chains sucks.

 

[WestCoastHucker]

at one time i used to run one of these. it's a safe bet that you won't break it...