KMC X9 Chains

KMC Chains

KMC X9 chainOK, so this one’s not too exciting, but hopefully useful…

This is a long term review proper, just to let you know my chain of choice. It’s a kind of vital component! There’s basically 3 main makes available, Shimano, SRAM & KMC. I’ve been told that KMC make the Shimano chains, which if true is curious, because in my experience Shimano are excellent at almost everything with the possible exception of their chains. Not to say they’re rubbish, just that some of the others seem to out-perform in my opinion. KMC make some fairly bullet proof offerings under their own name. The various models of the KMC X9 chain (if you ignore the ‘lightweight’ ones) are all the same apart from the colour. They do a grey/grey (X9-73), a silver/grey (X9-93) & a silver/silver (X9-99), all for slightly different prices. You can pick them up for a huge amount less than the equivalent Shimano or SRAM chains and although it’s not easy to judge, they seem to me to outlast the other makes. I’ve never managed to break one and they seem to wear better.

That’s it really, just 4 years worth of use & they’ve never let me down. There’s no sponsorship involved (although I’d be fine if they’re interested!), just an honest account of a few years of use. Just to be clear, I’m not saying one chain has lasted me 4 years! But I haven’t broken one.