11 speed chain with 10 speed drivetrain

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HUMP DIESEL
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by HUMP DIESEL

I was in a shop on a race weekend getting a new cable and the mechanic and I were talking about my chain. I was telling him that the chain is just very noisy and he asked if I had ever tried running the 11-speed chains on my 10 speed DT. He said that it will reduce the noise and they have been doing it recently on some builds.

HUMP
Why are the best things in life always the ones you start last?

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bikerjulio
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by bikerjulio

No reason it won't work, and quieter too.

Although a properly adjusted 10-speed system is pretty quiet. Why is your system so noisy? RD adjustment? Hanger alignment off?

I'd check a few things first.
There's sometimes a buggy.
How many drivers does a buggy have?

One.

So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy...
and if you fix your attitude you can ride along with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GekiIMh4ZkM

by Weenie


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sigismond0
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by sigismond0

The only reason it would be quieter is that the 11sp chain is narrower on the outside and can avoid a wee bit more chain rub. But as long as you have your derailleurs adjusted correctly and don't use the gearings that you shouldn't be using, there should be no need for it.

If you can normally ride silently in the little ring and the seven biggest sprockets, an 11sp chain might make it so you can go down to the eighth sprocket without chain rub.

But why buy a chain to fix a problem that just upshifting up front fixes? I'mma end up getting one for my Force 10 bike, but only because I'm putting the new Force 22 chainrings and yaw FD, and the 11sp chain plays nicely with them. But a full 10sp drivetrain shouldn't need it to be quiet.

HUMP DIESEL
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by HUMP DIESEL

bikerjulio wrote:No reason it won't work, and quieter too.

Although a properly adjusted 10-speed system is pretty quiet. Why is your system so noisy? RD adjustment? Hanger alignment off?

I'd check a few things first.


SRAM chain. I did not get that noise when I was running KMC chains.


It is also not from the adjustment, it is just overall noise.

HUMP
Why are the best things in life always the ones you start last?

em3
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by em3

....sounds like a mech adjustment, rear mech hanger alignment, mech alignment, worn mech issue or even perhaps a simple lube issue. Not sure what the noise is u r experiencing but if u r not experiencing on all gears then a new chain will not solve the issue. EM3
______________

scico
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by scico

I run 11 speed Shimano Ultegra chain and 10 speed SRAM chainrings (on SWorks crankset). The combo is quite noisy and the lbs's opinion is that I'd better change chainrings with 11 speed version...suggestions?
Alternative chainrings?
Last edited by scico on Thu Jul 03, 2014 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ghisallo2003
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by ghisallo2003

Campag 11 speed chain works perfectly with Campag 10 speed.

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FIJIGabe
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by FIJIGabe

What do you mean by "noisy"? Does it sound like the derailleur is off? An 11-speed chain won't really affect a bad setup. Adjust the derailleurs. Is the chain noisy as it goes through its job? Have you lubed the chain recently? Please define the noise you are hearing so we can provide a better answer.

scico
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Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 5:56 pm

by scico

FIJIGabe wrote:What do you mean by "noisy"? Does it sound like the derailleur is off? An 11-speed chain won't really affect a bad setup. Adjust the derailleurs. Is the chain noisy as it goes through its job? Have you lubed the chain recently? Please define the noise you are hearing so we can provide a better answer.

No, it is not affected by derailluer. Derailleur is perfect. The chian is well lubed. Noise is from the chain engaging teeth, in fact it increases with the speed and with the 50 ring.
Hope I'm clear...

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Miller
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by Miller

Any drivetrain makes a faint noise even from a clean running chain. My impression when I went from 10sp to 11sp was that the (Campag) chain ran quieter. But it could just be buyer bias, new=better sort of thing.

An 11sp chain will certainly play nicely in a 10sp drivetrain, that's my experience anyway.

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