[Dinosaur]

I just went over the Wipperman Stainless Steel Campy Ten chain that broke on a ride yesterday. I used a magnifying glass and a flashlight and found another crack. It's adjacent to a pinhole, at about a 90o angle. I think I read that someone said the defects were horizontal. If you are using a Wipperman Stainless Steel chain you might want to take the time and effort to pull it off your bike and go over it with a fine tooth comb. My chain only had 504 miles on it.

And yes, the chain was installed correctly using the Connex Link that came with it. I've been using Wipperman SS chains for about 3 1/2 years now. I usually run them to around 4200 miles. I'm going back to Campy chains, or Wipperman nickel chains.

I can't remember, I think I bought this chain from Performance, on sale. I can't find my receipt and I deleted the order confirm from Performance. Maybe this was one from a bad batch the Wipperman had a couple of years ago.

All I can say is you don't want to break a chain while climbing under a lot of load. I'm just coming back from fracturing a hip and this is pretty upsetting for me.

Check your chains...

Dino

 

[Eric_H]

Y'all are making me nervous!!

I have been using Wipperman 10X1 stainless chains exclusively for over 2 years now. I don't know exactly how many I have used in that time, at least 6 and I have not had any problems. But now I'm getting nervous and paranoid. I just pulled one off last night for a scrub wash, dry and lube session. I'm going to inspect it tonight when I get home, as well as another Wipperman that I have in the rotation.

I have a new Chorus Ultra-Narrow and the Wipperman link for Shimano, which has been reported by C-40 and others on this board as being compatible, maybe that combo will be going on sooner than I thought!

 

[Road cyclist]

Depending on the grade of stainless steel, SS can be definitely weaker than
ordinary steel. For example, 303 stainless is a relatively soft material to
machine as compared to 304 stainless. In addition, SS costs more.

 

[bigbill]

I posted on the other thread, but I need to clarify. I have worn out many wipperman stainless chains. The one that had cracks is the only one that ever did that. It didn't break or leave me stranded, but I am glad I found it while tinkering in the garage. I have a wipperman nickel now because it was all I could find at the time. I would not be opposed to another stainless, but I am getting excellent life out of the nickel version.