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Home | Product Reviews | Chain | Rohloff SLT 99 | ||||
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Submitted by
Alec Gold
a Cross Country Rider
from None
Date Reviewed: 3/6/2008 3:00:35 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Strengths: | It is a nice and much smoother chain than the Shimano that was on before. And it stands of rust well and despite being used in rain, riding 4" of standing water, over salt sprayed roads, all the bad thinks a chain can expect in the first 1500km |
| Weaknesses: | well, it isn't cheap, but also not very expensive if compared to top-of-the-line products from other companies |
| Similar Products Tried: | shimano Sachs |
| Bike Setup: | recumbent bike with rohloff speedhub |
| Bottom Line: | This chain is strong and very light rolling. A bit expensive, but not very. I would like to comment to the previous reviewer that if you can't rivet a chain, you shouldn't build a bike |
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Submitted by
Giles Jones
a Downhiller
from Cannock, Staffs, UK
Date Reviewed: 12/18/2007 10:57:18 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Cannock Chase |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $99 |
| Purchased At: | Wiggle |
| Strengths: | Looks strong |
| Weaknesses: | Joining link stiff |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano |
| Bottom Line: | Not impressed, put chain on a bike I've been building and couldn't figure out why the gears were making so much noise. Turns out the link where I joined the chain is stiff. I used a Park Chain tool and so it's not bad tools. Needless to say I'm going for something else like SRAM. |
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Submitted by
E JRRN
from London, UK
Date Reviewed: 11/11/2007 4:40:50 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $56 |
| Purchased At: | Elan Ligfietsen, NL |
| Strengths: | Great chain, heavy duty. I race my MTB 30m daily, any weather. Have now had 2 years out of this chain, and acording to the chain gauge it is only halfway worn. Am just about to replace Shimano rings and cassette next week as worn out. Worth every penny. |
| Weaknesses: | Have had quite a bit of chainsuck but must admit I don't lube as often as I probably should. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano HG&IG, SRAM991 |
| Bike Setup: | Porsche frame loaded w King moving parts, XTR, X-0, Fox RLC. |
| Bottom Line: | Worth every penny. |
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Submitted by
Arnout M
a Cross Country Rider
from Belgium
Date Reviewed: 4/27/2007 8:53:20 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $32 |
| Purchased At: | Internetshop |
| Strengths: | No initial stretch, wears verry slowly |
| Weaknesses: | Poor shifting, reacts slow and unprecise! Tried with XT and stronglight CT2 chainrings but never sattisfied (XT downswing), same with XT and 2003 XTR cassette |
| Similar Products Tried: | XT, XTR, PC991, PC 991 hollow pin, KMC X9, ... |
| Bottom Line: | Verry disapointed after all the positive news, chain life is verry good, but the shifts poorly Is 50% more expensive than XTR or PC991 |
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Submitted by
Andreas Klauser
a Cross Country Rider
from Feldafing
Date Reviewed: 1/5/2007 9:09:30 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | yes |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $35 |
| Purchased At: | hibike |
| Strengths: | Endures, looks nice |
| Weaknesses: | Chain suck |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano IG90; SRAM PC68 |
| Bike Setup: | Trek 9900 OCLV; Hot Cili Zymotic, Trek 8900 |
| Bottom Line: | Unexplained many events of chain suck of late with the STL 99/8. Changed everything, only the (new Rohloff) chain remained as culprit. With SRAM PC68 zero problems. Don't know what to make of it. Hitherto I've been an unmitigated Rohloff fan. |
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Submitted by
Daniel
a Cross Country Rider
from Phoenix
Date Reviewed: 12/27/2006 6:43:44 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Any |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Purchased At: | cambria.com |
| Strengths: | Shifts great. Very durable. |
| Weaknesses: | None so far |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano 7701, SRAM PC-99 |
| Bike Setup: | Titus Motolite, XTR, SRAM X.0, Chis King Hubs/ZTR 355s, etc.. |
| Bottom Line: | This is a really great chain. I have used it for a year and it still works great and has never failed. |
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Submitted by
Rick
a Weekend Warrior
from North Van
Date Reviewed: 11/3/2006 3:50:08 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Strengths: | Strong, shifts well, looks good. |
| Weaknesses: | None I've found so far. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano, Sachs, SRAM, IRD, etc. |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Tazmon/XTR/XT/RaceFace/Chris King/etc. |
| Bottom Line: | I bought this 8 speed version of the SLT-99 when my LBS found this chain in a plastic bag while cleaning up the warehouse. As the bag didn't contain the connector pin I got the chain for $20.00. I used a Wipperman 8 speed Connex (which I use on all my chains) and it works great. This chain shifts great and I'm hoping it lives up to the reputation Rohloff has garnered as they're no longer availible in North America. |
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Submitted by
Chris S
a Cross Country Rider
from Irvine, CA
Date Reviewed: 10/17/2006 9:22:22 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | All local Orage County |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | Cambriabike.com |
| Strengths: | Beautiful craftsmanship, shifts smooth, quiet, has not broke yet. |
| Weaknesses: | Hard to finf at LBS, a bit heavier than the Shimano and Srams I've used. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano CN-7701, SRAM PC99 |
| Bike Setup: | O3 Access XCL, 07 Manitou R7 Super with clickIT remote,XTR 952 rear, XT front, XTR STM-952 Brake/Shifter(tuned), FSA Team Carbon Cranks, King headset, FSA OS-115 Stem, FSA K-Force Carbon flatbar, FSA Carbon seatpost, WTB Shadow-V stealth saddle, Ergon grips, Mavic X517, XT cassette w/ Maxxis tires |
| Bottom Line: | I bought this chain after reading all the great reviews here, and doing a little more research on the web.I have been using the XTR CN-7701 for the last three years, but do not like the special pin you are suppose to use.The XTR has been been a really smooth chain on the XT cassette's and the SLT 99 is no different except I don't need to hassle the special pins anymore.Have not brobe the SLT yet and hope I never will.As an ex-machinist I disagree with the quality and look comment of the previous review, this chain is the best looking chain I've ever used and screams quality the second you take it out of the box.Makes me wonder if somehow He was sold a used chain by mistake.Bottom line is this chain so far is worth the extra weight penalty over the Shimano and Sram chains I've used, and I am VERY pleased with the performance and looks. |
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Submitted by
Wayne
a Weekend Warrior
from Irvine, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: 10/12/2006 12:19:16 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Whiting Ranch |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | cambriabike.com |
| Strengths: | ?? |
| Weaknesses: | Chain broke! Heavy and doesn't have the same quality look of the others. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimanos and Srams |
| Bike Setup: | Own three personally built bikes, Litech magnesium-framed hardtail, Mongoose XC, and Turner 5 Spot. |
| Bottom Line: | I bought this chain after reading the reviews here, but my experience with the chain couldn't be same. The chain snapped on my first ride! (It wasn't the spot I connected.) After studying the chain, I've noticed that many pins seemed to be off centered, whether that was the reason why my chain snapped, or not. Since I installed it after 30 days of the purchase, I tried to contact Rohloff directly, leave messages and sending emails, but they never responded. Thankfully, J.D., at Cambria, is helping me with its warranty. If any of you buy this chain, I hope you guys have better luck than me. I'm not hard on the chains, so I really don't need an over-priced, and heavy, chain that I can't rely on. |
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Submitted by
Corstian Devos
a Cross Country Rider
from Philadelphia, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: 7/21/2006 9:33:25 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Anything with climbs and technical |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $60 |
| Purchased At: | www.gypzybikz.com |
| Strengths: | Tough, strong, flexible. Lasting at least twice as long as other chains at less than or equal to twice their price. |
| Weaknesses: | In my case buying online from Germany was the only option. I contacted Rohloff USA and they only had 9-spd chains while i was looking for an 8-spd. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano (all kinds), Sachs (all kinds) |
| Bike Setup: | Giant AC-1 frame. Original Rock Shox Judys, Zack-19 rims, and frt disc hub from my demo'd Warp DS-1s (I broke 4). Frt tire Continental Double Fighter. Rr tire WTB Tyrannoraptor mounted backwards (paddled) for traction. SH XT Shifters, derailleurs and rear hub. Good old solid SH LX crank with Black Spire Big Ring Protector. SRAM 950 rear cassette ($15 OEM @ JensenUSA). Axiom AG bars with Oury Downhill Grips. Avid 5.0 brake levers on Hayes MX-2 Mechanical Discs. 6" Frt brake rotor (Old Judy's only warrantied for 6"). 8" rear brake rotor. Avid flak jacket cable system all around. 31.8 Giant 6061 seatpost with Giro Fizik Atlas saddle. Not pretty and not light. Built to take a pounding and spare me tears when something breaks. |
| Bottom Line: | I'm a big guy. 6'3" 230-240 pounds. I got this chain to try and slow my chain comsumption. At my weight, with my power, and my love of climbing I stretch chains rapidly and constant replacement is simply not a reasonable option. Essentially, due to the rapidity with which I stretch out chains, I run the crap out of my chains and replace the chain, cassette, and front rings together. I was hoping to find a chain to last at least two cassettes. While it is early to make the judgment this chain has already survived a broken crank-side trail arm with resultant chronic chain skip as I made my way out of the trails. The abusive ride out trashed the cassette but when I installed a new cassette the chain worked flawlessly. Considering that a similar abuse of a Shimano or Sachs chain would result in buying a new chain I think I have found the chain I was looking for. |
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Submitted by
John Wojtala
a Racer
from Trenton, MI
Date Reviewed: 6/14/2005 8:35:55 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Potowatomi |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | Rohloff Germany |
| Strengths: | Super strong, runs very nice on 2005 Shimano XTR chain rings and cassette. silent and smooth. Durable rust free finish. |
| Weaknesses: | Not available in USA. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano XTR / Dura ace 10speed, and 9 speed chains. |
| Bike Setup: | 2005 Seven Sola, XTR, Thompson seat post / stem, Syncros carbon 31.8mm bar, Crank Bros egg beater pedal 3ti, Kenda Karma tires, Stans sealant, Stans disc tubeless wheel set, Fox 32mm FX 80, Flite SLR XP saddle |
| Bottom Line: | Outstanding chain! Very durable, and operates excellent on Shimano 9 speed drivetrains. Unbeliveable when Rohloff chain oil is used also - super smooth! If you can find this chain - buy it!! |
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Submitted by
Steve
a Weekend Warrior
from Steamboat Springs, CO USA
Date Reviewed: 5/8/2005 12:33:36 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Any and all of them |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | eBay |
| Strengths: | Unparalleled craftsmanship, quality and durability. Shifts smoothly on 9 speed Shimano drivetrain, never rusts, quiet. |
| Weaknesses: | Hard to find; not imported to the US anymore. If you have a problem spendng more than $50 for a chain, this is not for you. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Wipperman, Shimano, SRAM |
| Bike Setup: | '05 Moots Cinco, XT/XTR drivetrain, FSA cranks, Mavic 819 disc wheelset, Fox Talas RLC 130, XT/XTR disc brakes, Maxm MX-6 bars. |
| Bottom Line: | Best and last chain you will ever buy if you can find one. Rohloff only makes enough for domestic use these days so if you have a friend that has a diplomatic pouch that travels to Germany, have him/her pick up one for you and bring it back. |
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Submitted by
Phil
a Weekend Warrior
from Adelaide, South Australia
Date Reviewed: 1/16/2005 3:11:47 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Any single track |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $48 |
| Purchased At: | Rolhoff agent |
| Strengths: | Strong, smooth, quality |
| Weaknesses: | havent found any yet |
| Similar Products Tried: | shimano, sram |
| Bike Setup: | yep, sure is |
| Bottom Line: | I am 200 lbs, and not exactly the smoothest riders (ok so im a masher!!) but this chain has survived drowning, crashes & scrapes into logs & rocks, dry dusty conditions and a little mud. It has about 1000kms of that treatment with a squirt of dry lube when the bottle falls on my foot and reminds me!! I use a Park CT-5 on it with no problem at all. No complaints here....I bought another 3, for the other bikes and a spare, that says it all! |
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Submitted by
Lucas
a Racer
from Vejle, Denmark
Date Reviewed: 8/17/2004 10:45:25 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Northern Tier |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $30 |
| Purchased At: | www.bikecomponents.de |
| Strengths: | Its strength |
| Weaknesses: | NONE, ABSOLUTELY NONE |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano, Sachs/Sram, KMC |
| Bike Setup: | Campagnolo crank, SRAM 5.0 sprocket |
| Bottom Line: | This chain is very expensive. I don't wanna write 2 pages about it's advantages over other chains. Just order 10 of them - you won't be disappointed - TRUST ME. If possible I would give this product 10 flames. |
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Submitted by
Jens Jacob Iversen
a Weekend Warrior
from Denmark
Date Reviewed: 8/26/2003 1:17:03 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Strengths: | Strong, well thought out - just take a look at the rohloff homepage and read what they have to say about chains. |
| Weaknesses: | none |
| Similar Products Tried: | shimano hg, SRAM PC99 |
| Bike Setup: | cube alu crap frame, rohloff speedhub, mavic x3.1, SRAM 9.0sl front hub, magura louise and HS 33, ritchey stuff, schwalbe fast fred or continental explorer/escaper. |
| Bottom Line: | The fact that the rohloff chain which I now use on a rohloff speedhub outlasted a XT cassette is enough proof for me that this chain is the best out there. If you use it with a cassette be sure to choose a sram cassette. Be sure to use Oil of Rohloff on the chain. |
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Submitted by
stump
a Cross Country Rider
from Boston
Date Reviewed: 5/28/2003 10:00:14 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only |
| Strengths: | Hey All......I've been trying to find a dealer, etc to purchase a rohloff slt-99 mtb chain. I can't seem to find them anywhere. I've heard from a few retailers that rohloff hasn't produced any product for a while. Is this true? Does anyone know where I can buy one of these puppies? Hey Germany, are you listening? What's the scoop? |
| Bottom Line: | Hey All......I've been trying to find a dealer, etc to purchase a rohloff slt-99 mtb chain. I can't seem to find them anywhere. I've heard from a few retailers that rohloff hasn't produced any product for a while. Is this true? Does anyone know where I can buy one of these puppies? Hey Germany, are you listening? What's the scoop? |
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Submitted by
Andreas Klauser
a Cross Country Rider
from Feldafing
Date Reviewed: 8/22/2002 7:33:25 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $30 |
| Purchased At: | rabe |
| Strengths: | not to kill, smooth shifting |
| Weaknesses: | none |
| Similar Products Tried: | Some types of Shimano |
| Bike Setup: | '98 TREK OCLV Pro ISSUE, custom built (Shimano 98 XTR drivetrain) |
| Bottom Line: | Well, in my best times I was 260 lbs, never below 220. After having trouble with Shimano Chains, I thought of trying something else and installed a Rohloff Chain. It proved to be an absolute carefree product with really low maintainance efforts (I regularly put oil on it only in winter). I 've used this chain under all types of stressful conditions, and it is still going strong. |
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Submitted by
David Reed
a Racer
from Columbia, TN USA
Date Reviewed: 5/18/2001 3:17:09 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Chicasaw trace |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $45 |
| Purchased At: | Cambria |
| Strengths: | beautiful,performed flawlessly |
| Weaknesses: | isn't free |
| Similar Products Tried: | shimano, sachs, sram |
| Bike Setup: | caad 4 Sobe team bike, Thompson laid back post, flite seat, Easton ct2 bar, sram 9.0 shifting, coda 2x9, Cane Creek yellow wam wheelset, Time composite pedals. |
| Bottom Line: | I bought a used De Rosa road bike a couple of years back. It had a Rohloff 7sp chain on it. Since then I've broken 3 chains on 2 different mtbikes that I've raced. A year ago I installed the SLT 99 on my old ride, then transfered it to my current bike in Sept. last year. The 7sp chain has about 4,000 miles on it- the SLT 99 has 5 races and a years worth of singletrack training rides. Both are still the smoothest chains I've experienced. I won't waste my money or time on anything else. |
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Submitted by
Bryan Cohen
a Cross Country Rider
from Nelson NEW ZEALAND
Date Reviewed: 4/12/2001 3:38:23 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Richmond rangers |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $40 |
| Purchased At: | village cycles richmond |
| Strengths: | long wearing, strong , |
| Weaknesses: | has to be fitted with rohloff chain brake |
| Similar Products Tried: | sach.xtr,xt |
| Bike Setup: | Giant le ,full xtr ,rock shox sid 100,hope crosscountry disc closed system |
| Bottom Line: | if you want a chain that will not let you down you can't go passed this one,WILL NOT SNAP.just look after it |
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Submitted by
mike
a Racer
from clarkston, mi
Date Reviewed: 3/2/2001 12:16:16 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $45 |
| Purchased At: | cambria |
| Bottom Line: | This chain has given me nothing but greef. I bought it, installed it, and on my first ride i broke it. I replaced the broken link, then proceeded for a second ride. This time the chain skipped over the lower rear cogs. I just bought new shifters and r. derailer too, and it still skipped. I had previousley owned a pc-69 and it was great. I like the power link especially. The only thing i can think of is that I have been running an 8-sp xtr crank. Due to the wider chain rings, it could have spliced some of the links. This never happened on my pc-69 though. I noticed a lot of chain suck with the rohloff but none with the pc-69. |
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Submitted by
Markku Pöysti
a Weekend Warrior
from Espoo, Finland
Date Reviewed: 12/7/2000 4:37:46 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Strengths: | Did not break |
| Weaknesses: | Lasted (according to Rohloff chain measuring tool) 8 months and 7500 km. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Sram PC48. Lasted 3500 km, price/km ratio was almost the same. |
| Bike Setup: | Vision R40 LWB recumbent. Chain length is more than twice the usual. |
| Bottom Line: | Next i'll try the stainless Connex chain. |
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Submitted by
James
a Cross Country Rider
from Maryland
Date Reviewed: 10/1/2000 11:02:09 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | patapsco |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $20 |
| Purchased At: | Quality bikes...hahah |
| Strengths: | strong strong.... |
| Weaknesses: | isnt shimano oh wait thats a strength |
| Similar Products Tried: | shimano(shyt) sachs(kinda shyt) sram bmx (good but i still broke it) kink industrial (nuyce) |
| Bike Setup: | surly decked derby style. big rims big tyres big handle bars... |
| Bottom Line: | hasnt broke and i neglect it forget to lube it ride the hesk out of is bash it tourque it...(single speed good test of chain strenght) its the 8 speed trials version so it really rocks me. buy one. fuk shimano |
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Submitted by
Joe Serra
from London, United Kingdom
Date Reviewed: 2/1/2000 2:25:45 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Cross country |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Strengths: | Strong,durable even with minimum lube.Well made, at a glance no defects. Beautifully designed, copes with rough terrain, heavy mud as in UK, The best chain I've ever had. Rohloff was replaced for a broken shimano with less than 6 months usw! |
| Weaknesses: | Non at all - after 3 years still going strong, can't say anything wrong about this product. Go for it and buy it you won't regret it. Expensive, but durable. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Rohloff's own lubricant (for chains |
| Bike Setup: | Marin Light, cross country, light components in place, light weight searcher and user. |
| Bottom Line: | Excellent product - no better chain in the world!Guaranteed for longevity. The steel used is superior in quality and workmanship. Rough riders, cross country and down hillers would benefit from this chain if only for it's outstanding strengths. I have had many enquiries about this and the feedback has been ace! Use if you can Rohloffs own lubricants, especially the biodegradeable wax spray, it's excellent. |
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Submitted by
Tony Fraticelli
a Cross Country Rider
from New York
Date Reviewed: 1/23/2000 4:26:19 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Forest Park |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Strengths: | Durable steel, wont fall apart when you use it to climb over rocks and logs. |
| Weaknesses: | A bit heavier than most, but thats cause it's fuk king strong! |
| Similar Products Tried: | Every shimano and sachs chain out... |
| Bike Setup: | Yellow Trek 8000 hooked up to the max... |
| Bottom Line: | This is the only chain I would recommend to any one, too bad not too many people know about it. It just beats shimano and sachs in every category hands down. Dam things have lasted everyone here 2 years or better meanwhile those other chains have to be changed every 2 or 3 months. How's That for German engineering!!! |
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Submitted by
loomis
a Cross Country Rider
from usa
Date Reviewed: 1/19/2000 1:07:27 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Strengths: | perfection |
| Weaknesses: | xpensive |
| Similar Products Tried: | shimano HG chains |
| Bike Setup: | it's fast. |
| Bottom Line: | it took me a really long time to break this chain, probably close to a year. i routinely used to break the lousy shimano chains, but then i heard about rohloff. this chain is pure perfection. it's expensive, but if you can afford the extra $20 over shimano, you will have the absolute best chain you can ever buy. and it shifts like a dream, and is compatible with basically anything out there. www.rohloff.de |