O ring or X ring

[edthegreat4554]

hey anybody. who can tell me the difference between the O-ring and x ring chain? also what are the benefits of both of them? and witch one would be better for sand and mud riding?

thanks
Ed

 

[katoom525rider]

o vs x-ring chain difference

I recently bought and installed a new DID erv2 x-ring chain and found the x-ring have grooved o-rings that retain grease in the cavities to allow more lubrication. I believe the chains should start at the same tensile rating but after time the wear would be greater on the o-ring chain so the x-ring chain would have a longer lifespan. There should be the answer you're looking for on the didchain website

not sure why url addresses aren't allowed but a shortcut if you're using xp is to type in didchain and hit crtl enter.

 

[kmccune]

The o-ring chain will take less power to turn due to less friction, if you ride a 250F or less use the x-ring. The o-ring chains last longer though IMHO.

 

[Jaybird]

There is no differnce in the chains that have o-rings and those that have x-rings. The difference is in the profile of the sealing ring themselves.
A conventional O ring is just that, an O. An X ring is in the shape of an X.
The only reason for the X ring is to allow a slight bit less friction when the chain articulates. The problem with an X ring is that the sealing surface is far less than that of an O ring. Actually, the X ring is a miniature O ring that has four arms coming off of it. The X offers less protection from contaminants than a regular O ring, due to it having less sealing area.

As I always harp...a ring chain is simply a device that is designed for use in high contamination applications, like a sloppy ride. The chain is only as good as the care you give it. Once you have just one ring that is violated by tearing or cracking, then the chain and sprocket set are on a downhill slide that they can't recover from.

Also, once the lubricant that is pre-sealed in the reel is consumed, you can't replentish it and the chain is going south fast.
Also...adding grooves in the rings to allow more grease sounds good, but in reality it is a moot thing.
Grease has to be able to flow freely to the friction point of the pin and bushing, and unless the chain reaches a high temp., that isn't going to happen.

Grease is nothing more than oil that is whipped together with a base soap to give it more viscosity than the plain oil had. The oil is the ONLY thing in the grease that will protect things from friction and rust (this isnt true for moly or teflon grease). In time, this oil will seperate from the soap base. When this happens, if the oil is contained between the rings then it can still protect, but if a ring is even slightly damaged or cracked, the oil will definately seep out of the area, leaving nothing more than a soap base...which may look like grease, but it has no more oil and does virtually nothing for friction protection.

 

[XRpredator]

paraphrasing Jaybird
CLEAN YOUR CHAIN