08-05-2014, 01:06 PM
The original Nighthawk chain is a cheap " market" chain. Very low tensile strength and wears out quickly. A new x ring chain has tremendous tensil strength and due to being packed with lube and sealed with x rings, will go 20-30,000 miles with minimal care.
Like you I am old school and was poor. We had to fix rather than replace. Guess that is why I still plug tires, and use clip style master links. My sprockets looked good so I just replaced the chain, although it is recommended they be replaced together. Again, sometimes I don't always do what is " recommended".
One word of caution when crimping a staking type master link. Too much pressure and you can creat a stiff link that cannot be fixed. Chain is ruined. Well, the link is ruined, it could be driven out and a new staking type link installed. Fine line between just right and too tight. Best to let someone who has some experience to stake a chain for you if you've never done one IMO.
Like you I am old school and was poor. We had to fix rather than replace. Guess that is why I still plug tires, and use clip style master links. My sprockets looked good so I just replaced the chain, although it is recommended they be replaced together. Again, sometimes I don't always do what is " recommended".
One word of caution when crimping a staking type master link. Too much pressure and you can creat a stiff link that cannot be fixed. Chain is ruined. Well, the link is ruined, it could be driven out and a new staking type link installed. Fine line between just right and too tight. Best to let someone who has some experience to stake a chain for you if you've never done one IMO.