My chain doesn't fit my chainring, even though it should according to the specs!

[knurt]

Hi!

I have bought a Lekkie Bling Ring HD, 42t and a KMC e101 EPT chain. They are both brand new. Before I bought the chain I contacted the support at Lekkie and they confirmed that this chain should fit with the chainring. Unfortunately it doesn't. I have talked with Lekkie about this issue, and they came to the conclusion that this chain and chainring, probably aren't compatible with each other, even though they should be compatible according t the specs. It looks like the chain can fit up to 7 tooth at most. The chain is 1/2" x1/8".

Which chain should I use instead? I would like a chain that is heavy duty for ebike.

[AZguy]

That's a single speed chain? What do you mean by doesn't fit? You are using a BBSxx? What do you mean by 7 tooth?

For best responses provide the most details

[knurt]

Sorry, for being unaccurate. Yes it is a single speed chain, because I have an IGH (Shimano nexus 8).

The chain looks as it fits on 7 tooth in a row, on the chainring, after theese 7 teeths, the chain stays on top of the teeths without engaging them.

[joebreeze]

Do you ever actually read the OP Nick Nolte mugshot guy , before instantly knocking someone down. He told you what chain he is using , why the question , its a KMC e101 EPT , wtf. I thought he provided pretty good info. He doesnt need to tell you hes using BBSXX because the BlingRing only fits BBSXX

[knurt]

Here is a photo.

[73Eldo]

I do agree with what NCM says below, in the slightly out of focus photo above it does look like you may be one tooth off. There are narrow and wide teeth so you have to make sure you are starting off correctly with a fat tooth on the wider part of the chain. I would think even if you didn't know that that you have had multiple attempts and one of the times luck would have been on your side and you got it right . That's the way I did it till I realized the teeth were different.

[ncmired]

Though it may not be the problem, in your photo it looks like the wide/narrow chainring teeth are not timed correctly with the wide/narrow link positions in the chain.

I use similar parts (Connex 108/1E8 1/8 inch chains) on similar drivetrain bikes, and the chain ring to chain fit is very tight when brand new.

This photo might help show the timing better:

[73Eldo]

I had the same problem with a Whiperman Conex, don't remember the exact model but it did the same as yours on both my well used Lekkie 42 and brand new Luna Eclipse 42. I just went back to a 7/8 speed chain that was on the bike when I bought it used. It seemed to work fine for the previous owner and everything I had thrown at it.

Mine was a Nexus 3 on a Pugley with a little angle to the chain line so I suspect if the single did work on the ring it may not have been happy. The 7/8 speed is used to flexing a bit and still seems like a reasonably strong chain that seemed to fit both the narrow wide chain rings as well as the 3 different size cogs I had for my Nexus which I think were all genuine Shimano standard looking replacements.

I would think a mid quality 7/8 (speaking of speeds, not the fraction) chain would take more abuse than the IGH could take. Supposedly the 8's are a lot weaker than the 3 that I had.

[knurt]

the old chain(which is brand new, since I never used it) that came with the bike when I bought it fits perfectly. It is the KMC Z51-chain. It feels a lot weaker than the KMC e101 EPT-chain, so I'll make a post to get peoples suggestions of quality heavy duty chains that works.

[AZguy]

Here is a photo.

Yup - not timed right

Narrow links go on narrow teeth, wide links go on wide teeth

[Dshue]

Just as AZguy said, it isn't timed right. If you look at the chain you'll notice the gaps are narrow and wide alternately. If you look at the chainring you'll notice the teeth are narrow and wide alternately. Narrow teeth go in narrow gaps and wide teeth go in wide gaps.

[Dshue]

Wide tooth narrow gap

[knurt]

Hi!

I am sorry for the photo taken with the wide-narrow gap on the chain, not correctly aligned with the wide-narrow teeths. I have now aligned it correctly, but the problem persists. I'll attach a new photo when the chain is aligned correctly.

[73Eldo]

That's how mine looked too. I wasn't thinking it was the narrow wide thing because I'm sure you have tried it multiple times by now so even if you didn't know about the narrow wide one of the times you would have got lucky. I'm not smart enough to know what was wrong I just know it didn't work so I have a new chain on my shelf I won't likely ever use for anything.

[knurt]

the old chain(which is brand new, since I never used it) that came with the bike when I bought it fits perfectly. It is the KMC Z51-chain. It feels a lot weaker than the KMC e101 EPT-chain. Also according to Lekkie the chainring fits I have the following parts:

Middrive: bbshd
Front chainring: Lekkie Bling Ring HD, 42t
Rear sprocket: 23t
IGH: Shimano Nexus 8

I am also obese so that will probably also add up to the wear and tear of the chain.

Which chain would you use in this configuration?

[73Eldo]

I'm no way any kind of expert on these bikes and I hardly know anything about chains especially the models listed here but what I would do is go with the original one and see what happens. My thinking is as long as you have a nice straight chain line the stresses that are likely to snap a chain suddenly are pretty minimal. You may need some sort of straight edge along the rear tire to really see what the chain line is because the angles of the frame could be throwing off your prospective.

Other thoughts is that I don't hear good things about the Nexus 8 being a very strong unit. Only IGH's that have a reputation for being able to take abuse is the Rolhoff and Newvinci / Enviolo hubs. The Enviolo isn't necessarily that tough but since its not gears its failure mode is more slipping than a catastrophic bang like geared hubs tend to do if they fail. Rolhoff I hear does make some very strong units but they also cost more than most of us pay for complete bikes.

I'm not saying that your Nexus 8 is a terrible choice and will fail but I am thinking that as long as you have a straight chain line that if you are putting a lot of stress on things that the hub will likely be the weak link rather than the chain. I weigh around 115 kg so on flat ground I am stressing my bike. If I am going fast or climbing a hill I am putting a lot of stress on the bike.

One thing to remember is the BBS likes to spin fast. If you are running medium or high levels of pedal assist try and select a gear where you are spinning on the fast side of your comfort zone especially if you are going fast or climbing. If you are going throttle only try and select a gear at the top end of how fast you could pedal or maybe even a little faster. That makes the motor work less hard so less stress on everything.

I'm pretty sure the people that have issues wearing and breaking these quickly are constantly going fast throttle only or just lugging them in too high of a gear either because they are just in the wrong gear or are climbing too much hill. More than short sections of mud, snow, and sand I could see being really hard on them too if you keep pushing. If you are just out for a nice ride and think about what gear you are in and how hard the motor is working I think you will be fine.

[knurt]

The Shimano Nexus 8 IGH came with the bike when I bought it, so I tought I'll use till it breaks. I have a SA-3 speed IGH to replace it with if necessary. I am 145 kg. It would be nice ti find a singlespeed e-bike chain that fits. Shimano e-bike chains are not singlespeed (as far as I can tell by looking at their website). KMC has the Z1eHX Wide EPT-chain which is a singlespeed ebike chain, but I don't want to buy that one only to find out that it didn't fit either.
If I can't find a singlespeed ebike chain, I'll go with a regular chain. Hoping for recommendations and suggestion from people on this forum

[knurt]

I now tried to push the chain with finger pressure, link by link, into the gap between the teeths, then the chain gets stuck between the teeths, all the way around the chainring. I think the problem is that both the chain and the chainring is brand new and that I will be able to use this chain as replacement chain, after the first chain needs replacement. Either that or I'll need to file the gap between teeths, which I don't want to do. So my solution to the problem will be to use a cheap chain that I know fits, and when that chain needs replacement, I imagine that this expensive chain will fit just perfectly, due to the wear and tear from the cheap chain, on the teeths.

[AZguy]

I run relatively inexpensive chains ($30) and get 3000mi on a BBSHD - I think it's easy to overthink the chain... I run the bike hard with a mix of multi-use trails and off-road... I just stay on top of keeping the chain lubed...

[73Eldo]

I would not even consider filing the chain ring. I'm not metal expert but I know they must have had to do some sort of treatment to the aluminum to make it not wear too fast and there is a good chance that that treatment is only on the surface so if you remove it you could end up wearing the teeth much much faster.

When I first got into this I too was worried about the chain and looking at all the E bike chains but while doing all the research I put 1600km on the bike and chain that was used when I got it with no issues. When I got the bike (a 10 speed) the chain was worn enough that I was not able to identify it for sure. I'm pretty sure it was a mid level Shimano HG. I ended up ordering what I thought was a replacement which generally sells for about $40. I found a vendor selling unboxed but sealed in a bag versions of it for $19. That is now what I am running on both bikes and I just ordered a spare. Not a lot of miles on either one yet but so far so good.

I'm no longer running my IGH. That bike started out as a 10 speed and I converted back to 10 speeds because I wanted a wider range than the 3 speed could offer. My last ride on the 3 speed I did think I was hearing some odd noises but already had most of the parts on hand for the 10 speed so I didn't bother to investigate the noise. This is also why I only have 10 speed chains now. I don't know what chain came with my IGH since I bought it used. It does have a lot of side to side flex so that makes me think its a 7/8 speed but maybe the flex is due to wear? The reason I think 7/8 is I did break the master link and going through my junk box a KMC 7/8 speed quick link seemed to be an exact match. I did test fit a new Sram 8 speed chain I bought for another project just to make sure it fit the sprockets and it did so that was going to be my spare if I had kept the IGH.

I was at my local shop yesterday and they have a mid drive bike with the Enviolo hub and they told be to come back next week when the rest of the snow melts and take it for a test ride. I'm for sure going to take em up on that and keep an eye on other reviews of them and see if they come up with any new maybe stronger models since they do seem to be working with mid drive people.

[Retrorockit]

I wonder if you have some sort of Campagnolo metric chain of some kind. Their stuff often doesn't match Shimano based stuff.