What chain would you recommend for stock 14/42 sprockets?
I understand the chain size is 520-106 links but there are so many different kinds out there I'm lost...
I see in older threads people recommend the
D.I.D. 520VX2 X-Ring Gold Chain, but from the time of their posts it only costed $70-80. The cheapest I could find now is $115 on Amazon.
I saw another thread recommended the
RK Racing O-ring chain which is
significantly cheaper ($51) but I can't tell if it uses a clip connector which I hear is very dangerous, and also being that cheap worries me if it'll snap.
Some people buy a 520 chain with 120 links (since its the standard size which tends to be cheaper) and cut it down to 106. I've never replaced a chain so I'd have to buy the appropriate tools.
At the moment I'm thinking of getting this
D.I.D. 520VX3 120-Link Gold Chain which is $81 at current posting on Amazon but it comes with a clip master link. So I'm going to have to buy this
D.I.D. 520VX3 Gold Rivet Master Link which is $11 at current posting on CycleGear website (found identical price on Revzilla as well btw).
I'll have to cut the 120 link into a 106, which I've never done before. All I have to do is put the old/new chain side by side, count the links to a perfect 106 (or 53 since it counts both sides of the plates, right?) and dremel the off the end of the rivet pins and then punch it through with a chain breaker. After quadruple checking the length, I just wrap the newly cut chain onto the sprockets and attach the master link on the end, with the chain breaker tool. If I got this installation process wrong, please advise.
As for the chain breaker tool I see many on this forum mention the
Motion Pro one, it's a hefty $100 though..