For anyone who is into cycling, the name Shimano will be very familiar to you. They have a great reputation for producing high quality bike components including gears, brakes and of course bike chains, including dirt bike chains and a range of stainless steel bicycle chains.

Shimano, a multinational component manufacturer from Japan, manufactures a wide range of cycling components, fishing tackle and snowboarding equipment.

Today, Shimano is the global leader in the bicycle component market, with around a half of all drivetrain, brake, wheel and pedal bicycle components for road, mountain and hybrid bikes being manufactured by Shimano. Shimano offer a wide range of dirt bike chains, mountain bike chains and chains designed specifically for 10 speed road racing bikes.

Here, we look at why Shimano bicycle chains are among the best that money can buy.

Firstly, just how exactly do you tell whether a bike chain is good or not? Well, if you can shift your gears cleanly and crisply, without the chain becoming sloppy, then that’s a great start. As a cyclist you would know that there’s not much that is more frustrating and annoying on your bike than not being able to change your gears smoothly and cleanly without either missing the gear or losing the chain altogether.

And if you can’t hear any annoying noises when you’re pedaling, then that’s the sign of a good chain also. And that’s exactly what you can expect with a Shimano chain, whether it’s a dirt bike chain, or stainless steel bike chain for your road racer.

The Dura Ace CN-7900
This bike chain from Shimano is built with an asymmetric design which means that the outer and inner plates of the chain rings don’t exactly match each other in their shape. The profile of the outer chain ring plate is designed to reduce chain suck when you’re shifting between chain rings. The inner plates are shaped to interface with the Dura Ace CS-7900 cassette cog teeth to reduce any mechanical drag.

The Dura-Ace 10-Speed chain
This chain is a lightweight chain that offers improved gear shifting thanks to the chain’s light weight and also by minimizing the contour of the side plates of the chain rings. The super-flush surface of the Dura-Ace 10-Speed chain provides a smoother ride right along the chain line, producing a far smoother, lighter, and much more durable drivetrain.

The CN-6600 10-Speed chain
This Shimano chain has precisely profiled chain links that provide almost silent chain performance and quick, precise gear shifting, even in the most strenuous pedaling and extreme racing conditions.

The Dura-Ace 7701
This bike chain was designed specifically to enhance the drivetrain of Shimano’s signature 9-speed gruppo. The precision construction of the Dura-Ace 7701 maintains superior shifting response even with the narrower width of this chain. It also has tighter tolerances to help maintain the chain’s strength, dependability, and performance.

These bike chains from Shimano are designed to provide smooth pedaling and gear shifting. Of course, you need to properly maintain your chain with regular cleaning and lubrication. If you don’t clean and lube your chain regularly, then it doesn’t matter how much you spend on your new stainless steel bike chain, it will soon feel old and rusty.

Tags: Bike Chains, dirt bike chain, mountain bike chains, stainless steel bicycle chain

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 10:44 am and is filed under Bike Chains. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.