[Blah! Blah! Blah!]

I have been hearing some good things about Wipperman chains from local riders. I notice that they make a couple of different models.

The Ti Connex model at $349.99 246grams

The Stainless Steel at $ 86.95 266 grams

To me Ti model seems like a large chunk of change for such a small weight difference. (actually they both do)

Am I missing something or is there a huge perfomance difference. Does the bike pedal for you or something? Please enlighten me. As of right now I am leaning on the side or absurd.

 

[steamboatsig]

And wouldn't the titanium chain wear faster?

 

[PaulCL]

save your money

I have been hearing some good things about Wipperman chains from local riders. I notice that they make a couple of different models.

The Ti Connex model at $349.99 246grams

The Stainless Steel at $ 86.95 266 grams

To me Ti model seems like a large chunk of change for such a small weight difference. (actually they both do)

Am I missing something or is there a huge perfomance difference. Does the bike pedal for you or something? Please enlighten me. As of right now I am leaning on the side or absurd.

Buy the nickel plated chain and replace it every 2-3000 miles. Keeps it cheap and simple. I've used the Wipperman nickel chain on both of my bikes for years without any problem. The one time I changed brands (to IRD...horrible) I regretted it.

 

[cdhbrad]

Agreed.

I bought on Wipperman stainless a couple of years ago and it seemed to wear faster than others I had used. Now, I just buy $30 KMC chains at my LBS and add a Wipperman Conex link. Works great.

 

[Mel Erickson]

Just curious, what was your problem with the IRD? Was it the teflon model? I'm running an !RD 10spd chain on my campy drivetrain with excellent results.

 

[rogger]

It's a niche product for idiots.

 

[Friction_Shifter]

wear of the materials can be approximated by their hardness(harder materials typically wear slower). what kind of titanium, nickel, steel, etc and what are their hardnesses. as far as when it is time to replace a chain (which is often determined by how much the chained has "stretched")I believe this will depend on other factors also like the design itself, perhaps? tensile properties of the materials(side plates), etc(but also perhaps related to hardness too). as you can tell I don't know for sure.

edit: I wouldn't buy either of those. way too much dough for me. So my answer is ABSURD.

 

[grandemamou]

If your a real weight weenie not absurd. If your a normal cyclist absurd. I tried their stainless a year or so ago. Shifted no better or no worse than the Record. Was a little noisier but overall a good chain. I switched back to Record.

 

[Thorn Bait]

It's a niche product for idiots.

Performance recently had the stainless steel ones for 39.99, which is the same price as campy chains. I have 5000 miles on my first whipperman - and so I'd say they aren't just for idiots.

 

[mohair_chair]

I have been hearing some good things about Wipperman chains from local riders. I notice that they make a couple of different models.

The Ti Connex model at $349.99 246grams

The Stainless Steel at $ 86.95 266 grams

To me Ti model seems like a large chunk of change for such a small weight difference. (actually they both do)

Am I missing something or is there a huge perfomance difference. Does the bike pedal for you or something? Please enlighten me. As of right now I am leaning on the side or absurd.

$349 is a steal for the Ti Connex model. I bought one at twice the price and it turned me into a Pro racer. I will be riding the Giro and the Tour this year and I'm a lock to make the World's team. Whenever I buy one, I always tip the salesman $20-30 for his trouble, because I am so rich and generous.

 

[Jesse D Smith]

I was going to buy one of their stainless 8-speed chains for my winter commuter, but the review section gave them, and other Wipperman's, bad reviews. I didn't want to blow money on an overrated product.
I scour Ebay for chains. Yesterday I scored an SRAM PC-99 chain for $25 shipped.

 

[rogger]

Performance recently had the stainless steel ones for 39.99, which is the same price as campy chains. I have 5000 miles on my first whipperman - and so I'd say they aren't just for idiots.

Stainless steel chains are a lot more failure prone, I guess you're lucky.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

I've never understood why people buy fancy chains. They're a throwaway part like cables (another one that confuses me). I buy SRAM cheapies (PC-971 and PC-58) for about $15 each, and replace them after around 1000 miles. Cheap and easy.

Just like your mom.

 

[Blah! Blah! Blah!]

Thanks for the Responses

I just could not understand the reasoning behind the prices of these chains I was not sure if these prices included a podium girl and if so I did not want to miss out.

 

[alienator]

I've never understood why people buy fancy chains. They're a throwaway part like cables (another one that confuses me). I buy SRAM cheapies (PC-971 and PC-58) for about $15 each, and replace them after around 1000 miles. Cheap and easy.

Just like your mom.

Easy and lazy. If you put some time into taking care of the chain.....oh like 5 minutes a week.....you'd find your chains would last a long time.

Replacing chains every 1000 miles "just 'cuz" only fills up land fills.

It's amazing how lazy cyclists can be.

 

[Friction_Shifter]

I used to get the Sedisport Pro. It was about $25. Does SRAM have a similar model? I do think that tossing a chain after only 1000 miles is bit premature. I think the shop, & literature recommend maybe 2000 but I also think that is premature. I never recorded the distance but I probably go 3-4,000 or more. While there is a slight slight improvement in performance(with a new chain) I never noticed an old chain lose performance so I don't bother to change as much(of course with a gradual decline in performance ones not gonna notice as readily). I run 7 speed in friction mode though.

 

[tarwheel2]

Wipperman

I bought two Wipperman steel chains several years ago and got very poor wear and performance from them. Basically, they were worn out after only about 1,000 miles of riding and ruined a very expensive Campy Chorus cassette. By worn out, I mean the chains were noisy and did not shift well. When I measured them, after only 1,000 miles they were stretched about 1/2-3/4" longer than the Campy chain I had replaced with 5,000 miles on it. That said, I continue to use Wipperman/Connex super links and have never had any troubles with them. I've only used Campy Record chains since my unfortunate experiment with Wipperman. ... Maybe I just got a bad batch, but that's been my experience.

 

[rogger]

Replacing chains every 1000 miles "just 'cuz" only fills up land fills.

Jeebus on a bus, haven't you heard of recycling?

 

[PaulCL]

Ird

Just curious, what was your problem with the IRD? Was it the teflon model? I'm running an !RD 10spd chain on my campy drivetrain with excellent results.

For some reason, the IRD chain on my campy drivetrain skipped 100 miles after I bought it. I replaced it with my old Wipperman chain (before I made it into a 10spd chain whip) and it worked fine. I ordered a new Wipperman the same day. I'm sticking with what works.

 

[PaulCL]

wipperman nickel for $30.99

I just checked...Lickbike.com has it for $30.99 plus $5.00 shipping. I'm ordering one.