8-speed Powerlink with a 7-speed chain?

David B · May 4, 2011

OK, not strictly a retro question as all the bits involved are current rather than used items or NOS, but....I recently bought a Wippermann Intrax 700 7-speed chain for a tourer/commuter bike with a 21-speed set-up. Can I persuade an 8-speed Sachs Powerlink to fit it rather than resort to the non-reusable Wippermann spring-clip link (which I've encountered before; in my opinion one of the few duds in Wippermann's product range) supplied with the new chain? Apparently the 700 is a little wider than chains sold for more modern transmissions so am not 100% confident on this one. If anyone has any experience of having tried similar, let me know.

Thanks in advance,
David

pigman · May 4, 2011

I'm not convinced there ever was a dedicated 7 speed chain.
of the 3/32 chains, the wide/cheapies can be used up to 6 speed (but not compact 6), the standard non-narrow is used for anything up to 8 and then there are dedicated 9/10/11 speed chains. (I'm basing most of this on having used sedis/maillard/sachs/sram stuff). Perhaps shimano, campag and some other chain makers did do a dedicated 7 speed??

David B · May 4, 2011

pigman":1tdsjnk3 said:
I'm not convinced there ever was a dedicated 7 speed chain.
of the 3/32 chains, the wide/cheapies can be used up to 6 speed (but not compact 6), the standard non-narrow is used for anything up to 8 and then there are dedicated 9/10/11 speed chains. (I'm basing most of this on having used sedis/maillard/sachs/sram stuff). Perhaps shimano, campag and some other chain makers did do a dedicated 7 speed??

Wippermann claim the chain in question does 5/6/7sp blocks but is a mite too wide to run on 8. Might have an old 8sp Powerlink in the shed to try a dry run....

David

legrandefromage · May 4, 2011

sometimes, the power link can interfere with shifting on 7spd systems

sometimes...

8-speed Powerlink with a 7-speed chain?

David B

Old School Grand Master

pigman

Old School Grand Master

David B

Old School Grand Master

legrandefromage

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