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All I know is that dudes like Barry Nobles rock half link chains, if it works for a dude with that kind of horse power, it most certainly works for the rest of us...........I bought Shadow half links for both of my S&M DB 24's and I love them. I've seen forums with dudes claiming a list of a dozen broken chains and blah, blah, blah..............If there is 1 thing I learned from being a decade long road cyclist who was lucky enough to get very nice, top end rides for free, its that 95% of people who make claims like this make them because they need an ego boost and what better than to claim your watt output be so high you snap metal. Im not saying it isnt possible, anything can and will happen over a long period of time on 2 wheels. But.....for the most part, when a top level pro who has enormous power to weight ratio's cranking out watts like the Hoover dam, they are well above and beyond anyone who rides for fun. So in my humble opinion, half links are safe and work well with these little 25T sprockets.

Half link chains do have a tendency to stretch, a lot. The also wear the teeth on drivers & sprockets if not properly looked after. I work on quite a few bikes and those that have been running half links for a considerable amount of time all seem to develop "shark teeth." I've snapped three myself (two shadows & a kmc pintle) and I am not hard on bikes and have only snapped two conventional chains over a fifteen year period. I know they work for some people but not for me.

Half links are plenty strong I have half links that are four years old that are still perfect and have seen plenty abuse. There are half links that are light I`ve been using mechanics hollow pin/hollow link chains for a long time with no failures. Then theres the worn teeth issue which once again is not due to the chain it`s due to people not knowing how to build bikes. Improper sprocket alignment, improper chain tension and cheap sprockets = premature tooth wear. My S&M LTF is my street/dirt jumping bike it`s running 22/8 gearing and a shadow chain it`s been this way for the last three years. The sprocket and driver teeth still look new and the chain is unstretched and never has needed not even one adjustment once again going back to knowing how to properly build a bike. All of my new school and most of my mid school bikes get ridden hard and occasionally crashed So even if you really ride I would buy what you like it`s going to hold up to whatever abuse you throw at it as long as you install the chain and build the bike properly.

i with suicidepan here....
i have been running half-link for 6 years. no issues; NOT 1. everytime a regular chain snaps; i replace it with the half-link. 6 bikes with, and 5 without. i have used numerous brands- shadow (v1&2), eastern, salt, kmc & gusset 3/32. good half-links are heat treated. the quailty isnt the issue here its the installation. things like chain line & tension are huge factors in the life span.  Re-lubricating the chains with proper chain lube is big also. i work in a shop and have installed untold amounts of these chains- no complaints. the ones i sell to the kids who refuse me to put it on; they have problems.
as far as the chain having a poor interface with the sprocket or driver is just asinine!  i totally feel you have this ideal completely backwards. one major reasoning behind the half-link design; is to tightly wrap around compact gearing.  (see figure A) a regular chain cannot achieve this tight wrap, and when it does the inner plates ride on top of driver and not teeth of driver (see fingure B). bad pic i know....in a hurry. see the shiny spots where chain plates ride?
figure A

figure B

go with your heart but i use a kmc chain

suicidepan wrote:

midschooler wrote:

I dont see why youd want a full half link chain. If the old full link style worked for how many years on how many different machines why change it? I can see if you need one half link to get the wheel where you need it in the drop out but the whole thing? if it aint broke dont fix it. Id also agree with srootster. Go with the old style. 410 has never let me down.

Looking at your bikes it doesn`t appear you have much experience with new school drives. A full link will work fine with your normal 16t freewheel, but a half link wraps around something like a 8t or 9T driver much better. Half links were designed to give a greater contact area and proper fit for todays micro drive set ups.

+1

srootster wrote:

it's not a strong link by design. i'm an engineer by trade and half links look ridiculous to me. it's inherently weaker than a standard link. every time you put force on it, it will try to pull the bent link flat.

this


but im gonna bite my lip on the subject.....

spyker wrote:

spiderpig22 wrote:

Odyssey Bluebird  and be done with it. 

+1000000000000000000000000000000

My friend and I both purchased new chains at the same time,I got the Odyssey Bluebird and he got the Shadow halflink.My Bluebird has yet to stretch and his halflink stretched after a hour of riding.This was almost a year ago,he is constantly adjusting his backwheel to keep his chain tight.

the bluebird is a more expensive KMC chain

suicidepan wrote:

midschooler wrote:

I dont see why youd want a full half link chain. If the old full link style worked for how many years on how many different machines why change it? I can see if you need one half link to get the wheel where you need it in the drop out but the whole thing? if it aint broke dont fix it. Id also agree with srootster. Go with the old style. 410 has never let me down.

Looking at your bikes it doesn`t appear you have much experience with new school drives. A full link will work fine with your normal 16t freewheel, but a half link wraps around something like a 8t or 9T driver much better. Half links were designed to give a greater contact area and proper fit for todays micro drive set ups.

While this is true Ive had 9T bikes and I am the neighborhood bike mechanic so I still see plenty of newer bikes. I see where deadman is comming from too. Tho id not just blame the chain for leavng those marks. I remember with my federal hub the valley between the teeth was really shallow against the driver body. I think with a little more engineering they can make it a little more full link friendly.

Ok Guys I Get The Point And Me Being A Weight Weenie Sucks Is That Sentence A Pun Or What

thewhitelarrybird wrote:

spyker wrote:

spiderpig22 wrote:

Odyssey Bluebird  and be done with it. 

+1000000000000000000000000000000

My friend and I both purchased new chains at the same time,I got the Odyssey Bluebird and he got the Shadow halflink.My Bluebird has yet to stretch and his halflink stretched after a hour of riding.This was almost a year ago,he is constantly adjusting his backwheel to keep his chain tight.

the bluebird is a more expensive KMC chain

Knew that already,it's a rebranded KMC 510 HX dropbuster.

I wanted the chain to say Odyssey on it,that's why I paid a little more.

Ok Guys Here's What Matt Did ! I Love It And The 28/9 Gearing, Now That's What I'm Talking About !