Wipperman Connex 10X1 10sp

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
Trek 5.2 Madone w/Shimano compact and 11-27 cassette

Summary:
Purchased this chain (Shimano 10s compatible) less than one month ago after being enticed by a magazine ad. In all fairness the connex MIGHT be a good product. The problem that I encountered was that it simply will NOT work on an eleven tooth cog. Works fine in the 12, but skips badly when in the 11. My suspicions that the quick-connect link might be the culprit were confirmed when I had my LBS owner do a test ride. When it skipped he immediately stopped the bike and found that the link had just passed over the cog. Every trial produced an identical result.
The solution was very easy: replaced it with a Dura Ace!
My other complaint is that I could not find a contact address or number for Wipperman to tell them about the problem.

Strengths:
???

Weaknesses:
Won't work with an eleven tooth Shimano cassette.

Similar Products Used:
Ultegra, Dura Ace

View Comments (2)

Would you like to Comment?
Join RoadbikeReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Price Paid:  $70.00 at Colorado Cyclist

Favorite Ride:
Ft. Davis Scenic Loop, Ft. Davis, TX

Bike Setup:
Kuota Karma with Dura Ace 10 and Mavic SL's.

Summary:
Bought this chain because it was supposively one of the "strongest" chains. That was a load of crap. From day one, this chain has not shifted well. Links stiffened up after the first month, even with regular cleaning and lube. Connex link broke after only about 1000k on chain, making a long walk home.

Strengths:
Very easy to remove, which in turn, makes it very easy to clean and lube.

Weaknesses:
Durability is not good.

Similar Products Used:
Wimmperman 9 speed stainless steel. SRAM. Shimano.

Price Paid:  $90.00 at LBS

Bike Setup:
chorus 10 mostly.

Summary:
Well my experience w/ the wipeprman is not great. I wanted to like this chain, having something of a german fettish and specifically buying this for the supposed quality. Also one of the few parts i bought retail since my bike was finished at that point and i was impatient.
At >1000kms the chain snapped when taking off at an intersection dumping it right in the middle of the road and leaving me to walk about 5km barefoot to the nearest bike shop. Strike 1. Somewhere between the 2.5 and 3k mark (kms), a link bound up rigid making my chain skip on the cassette along with the whole rear derailleur cage. All this dispite regular cleaning and lubing. Strike 2. finally, somewhere between the 4 and 5k mark the chain had noticably has worn out and is now a lil' loose and noisey. Not the 3rd strike, b/c this is pretty good mileage overall.
Overall, hard for me to review, there were fun times with good quiet shifts, but i feel that with the product's market placement (most expensive); it is not a good buy. Will try campy or shimano next. Possibly sram's new 10. Certainly not wipperman.
Reading the reviews here, i know these problems are not uncommon with some suffering one or the other problem, but i have happened to suffer both a breakage and a rigid link. While there were good trouble free periods, at times i felt i was playing russian roulette going out with this chain on a long ride in a remote area without a spare chain. not good enough.

Strengths:
Love the connex quick link.
Good life span (wear) over all.
Very attractive in gold finish.

Weaknesses:
broke.
bound-up link.
expensive. (price above in AUD)even more than campy!

Similar Products Used:
kmc, shimano etc

Price Paid:  $50.00 at LBS

Bike Setup:
chorus

Summary:
During one ride I had 5 links stiffen up on me. I'm good about cleaning and lubing and this chain had about 4 rides on it. During the ride I removed 2 links to get rid of the stiff one then on the way home more links stiffened up. Once I got home removed the chain and did a thorough cleaning where I found 4 stiff links. No amount of lube helped. You can see that the inside plates are wedging into the outers. I give this thing an overall rating of 2 only because I like the connex link. Otherwise the thing is garbage.

Strengths:
The connex link is great. Really easy to use.

Weaknesses:
The whole thing.

Similar Products Used:
Record

Price Paid:  $39.00 at Lickbike

Favorite Ride:
Mt. Lemmon

Bike Setup:
Cannondale CAAD5 w/ Chorus.

Summary:
Bad, bad, bad! The chain installed nice and easy and taking it off to lcean was a snap, but the darned thing stretched and developed cracks at the outer plates in about six different places. It finally broke. 22 years of biking and this is the first chain I broke (except for when I was a kid).

Strengths:
Ran well for about a month.

Weaknesses:
Junk! Neer agin. Was going to buy a Mavic chain until I found out theya re really Wippermann. I will stick with Campy.

Similar Products Used:
Campy C10, C9