Do people really buy these?

<< What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400 on one? >>

Some people have money to burn. My buddy just spent $700 to lighten his bike by
1/2 lb. New carbon fiber Evolution saddle, Record seatpost and bottle cages. That's twice what I
paid for my new frame and fork. I'm gonna tell him about the $400 chain and see if he orders one.

Originally posted by Mike Krueger
What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400 on one?

Not to mention the fact that the life expectancy is less than your standard off the shelf $20 ~ $50 dollar one...

"ZeeExSixAre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400 on one?

performancebike.comProfile.cfmOpen ↗

Would this be for uber-racers-only who can afford it? I seriously can't fathom it. The next most
expensive chain is about $70. What gives?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

I see in the latest Performance catalog that Giro has a new helmet that costs $190 or something
like that. I ask myself the same questions? Are there people out there stupid enough to really buy
this stuff?

Bob C.

ZeeExSixAre said:

What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400 on one?

performancebike.comProfile.cfmOpen ↗

Would this be for uber-racers-only who can afford it? I seriously can't fathom it. The next most
expensive chain is about $70. What gives?

Someone told me yesterday, "Some people have more money than sense!"

-Zilla

ZeeExSixAre said:

What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400 on one?

Quoted message said:

performancebike.comProfile.cfmOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Would this be for uber-racers-only who can afford it? I seriously can't fathom it. The next most
expensive chain is about $70. What gives?

I doubt many racers are going to spend $400 on a chain. It would only make sense if you have a
seriously light bike, which would also make it illegal for racing use. You can get down to the legal
limit of 6.8 kg (15 pounds) cheaper than this.

The bikes with this kind of components are more often seen in photographs on the Internet than on
the road. I doubt many of them are ridden much.

-as

"ZeeExSixAre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400 on one?

performancebike.comProfile.cfmOpen ↗

Would this be for uber-racers-only who can afford it? I seriously can't fathom it. The next most
expensive chain is about $70. What gives?

I think this is one of those items that an LBS owner would buy to hang on the wall next to the
carbon fiber spoked wheelset. It projects an image to the customer that they are running a real
performance/racing bike shop. A lot of bike shops will buy these obsurd items just for this purpose.
And of course there is always the odd customer who will see it and decide he absolutely must have it
at any cost!

Dave

A $399 chain works as a publicity device, even if they sell none.

It started us chatting about Wipperman chains, right?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Psycholist
"ZeeExSixAre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400 on one?

performancebike.comProfile.cfmOpen ↗

Would this be for uber-racers-only who can afford it? I seriously can't fathom it. The next most
expensive chain is about $70. What gives?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

I see in the latest Performance catalog that Giro has a new helmet that costs $190 or something
like that. I ask myself the same questions? Are there people out there stupid enough to really buy
this stuff?

Bob C.

I think in most cases, that 'latest and greatest' (in their mind) accounts for vast improvements in unseen performance...

Quoted message said:

c) The helmet isn't going to wear out after 3,000 miles and need to be replaced.

Unless you ride 3000 miles on your head.

Per lowdin.nulowdin.nuOpen ↗

"ZeeExSixAre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400 on one?

performancebike.comProfile.cfmOpen ↗

Would this be for uber-racers-only who can afford it? I seriously can't fathom it. The next most
expensive chain is about $70. What gives?

Dear Phil,

I feel waves of nostalgia when I see those hollow pins and cutouts in the side-plates.

Back before the earth's crust cooled, a famous American trials motorcycle rider became obsessed with
weight and took a drill to every possible part on his machine, boring holes in cooling fins, brake-
pedal and gear-shift arms, innocent flanges--even the kick-start lever!

It took hours and sometimes ruined expensive parts, but it saved nearly two pounds on a 200-
lb machine.

Unfortunately, all those holes tended to collect more than two pounds of mud. Wet dirt weighs less
than steel, but once the holes filled up with crud, more stuff would accumlate nearby. (Professional
European riders explained that waxing an undrilled motorcycle was more sensible, since less mud
would stick to it, and it was much easier to clean off afterward.)

Somehow I suspect that the weight-saving hollow pins and the clever holes in the side plates of
these expensive chains fill up with oil, wax, and grime. It would be interesting to have someone
weigh one at the end of a ride.

Of course, you'd need a postal scale, since chains weigh only about 235 to 310 grams. Wearing a
watch or sunglasses might well wipe out all that high-tech advantage.

Carl Fogel

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

psycholist said:

I see in the latest Performance catalog that Giro has a new helmet that costs $190 or something
like that. I ask myself the same questions? Are there people out there stupid enough to really
buy this stuff?

The helmet isn't as bad.

a) Spending $50-$100 on a helmet is reasonable, so you're only talking about paying about 100%
more. The chain was about 1000% more than a $20-$40 chain.

I've seen many prefectly good helmets int eh $25-$50 range, so $50-$100 seems expensive to me.
Especially when you consider that the expensive helmets do not provide any more protection than the
cheap ones.

Quoted message said:

b) The helmet is actually visible and noticeable. They might want to make a fashion statement. Not
like I would do that, but at least I can sort of understand it.

That's the main reason to spend the big bucks.

Quoted message said:

c) The helmet isn't going to wear out after 3,000 miles and need to be replaced.

If can go bad in less than one mile if you are unlucky and crash as you leave your home.

Quoted message said:

The $400 chain is absolutely amazing...

I wonder if this is much lighter than the Regina SL from a while back? I too don't see why you would
spend that much money on a part that will wear out relatively quickly. But then again, I do pay for
my own bike parts and I don't have money to burn.
-------------
Alex

"ZeeExSixAre" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What is so great about a chain that somebody would spend $400

on one?

Quoted message said:

performancebike.comProfile.cfmOpen ↗

Would this be for uber-racers-only who can afford it? I

seriously can't

Quoted message said:

fathom it. The next most expensive chain is about $70. What

gives?

It also doubles as high-end speaker wire -- just make sure you wipe off the grease so you don't
stain the carpet. -- Jay Beattie.

Carl Fogel said:

Somehow I suspect that the weight-saving hollow pins and the clever holes in the side plates of
these expensive chains fill up with oil, wax, and grime. It would be interesting to have someone
weigh one at the end of a ride.

Of course, you'd need a postal scale, since chains weigh only about 235 to 310 grams. Wearing a
watch or sunglasses might well wipe out all that high-tech advantage.

Carl Fogel

Hell, boy, you just don't know how to save those precious grams do you. My watch is titanium and my
sunglasses weigh only 24 grams.

But the best weight-saving measure is in emptying digestive tract immediately before the race.
There's at least a couple of hundred grams there. That way I don't have to swap my steel fork for a
carbon one.

Neither carrying water nor drinking before the race is worth almost 2 kg. And drinking light beer
keeps the liquid weight factor at a minimum. Even makes my head feel light. Problem is I go a bit
slower . . .

/Robert "weighing up the possibilities" Brown

i would never pay that much for a chain! i got my ksyriums for that much! sheesh, not worth it!

On 3 Mar 2004 11:01:15 -0800, [email hidden] (Carl Fogel) may

have said:

Somehow I suspect that the weight-saving hollow pins and the clever holes in the side plates of
these expensive chains fill up with oil, wax, and grime. It would be interesting to have someone
weigh one at the end of a ride.

Of course, you'd need a postal scale, since chains weigh only about 235 to 310 grams. Wearing a
watch or sunglasses might well wipe out all that high-tech advantage.

Forgetting to take a leak before mounting up would make more of a difference in total mass.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 13:47:41 -0800, "Jay Beattie"

may have said:

It also doubles as high-end speaker wire -- just make sure you wipe off the grease so you don't
stain the carpet.

But it doesn't have gold-plated plugs!

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 14:54:09 -0500, Alex Rodriguez <[email hidden]>

may have said:

I've seen many prefectly good helmets int eh $25-$50 range, so $50-$100 seems expensive to me.
Especially when you consider that the expensive helmets do not provide any more protection than the
cheap ones.

According to some reports, the cheaper helmets actually do better in the impact tests. It seems they
aren't engineered to be as light as possible and still just barely meet the standard.

If the helmets actually get a chance to do any good, then, the cheapskates like me are going to be
well served by the frugality.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

Jay Beattie' may have said:

It also doubles as high-end speaker wire -- just make sure you wipe off the grease so you don't
stain the carpet.

But it doesn't have gold-plated plugs!

Rohloff sells a gold plated version of their S-L-T 99 chain. <http://www.rohloffusa.com/frame.htm>.

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities (Illinois Side)

"Tom Sherman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Werehatrack said:

Jay Beattie' may have said:

It also doubles as high-end speaker wire -- just make sure

you

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

wipe off the grease so you don't stain the carpet.

But it doesn't have gold-plated plugs!

Rohloff sells a gold plated version of their S-L-T 99 chain.
<http://www.rohloffusa.com/frame.htm>.

Yes, these are particularly fine with tube gear. Superb imaging. Plenty of mid-range resolution, but
not etched. -- Jay Beattie.