Ebike chain advice pls

[Dirk Van Der Dirk]

Have a Wisper 705 ebike, rear motor and 7 speed derailleur. I need a new chain, and this is the first time of asking for the ebike. For my other 'acoustic' bikes I always go for a Wippermann Connex, but can only find their 8SE which is recommended for 7 speed ebikes with derailleur and it costs a fair amount. As the ebike is rear motor and derailleur, could I use one of their 7 speed 'normal' chains on it like their Connex 700? Any advice appreciated.

 

[Mike Ayling]

Have a Wisper 705 ebike, rear motor and 7 speed derailleur. I need a new chain, and this is the first time of asking for the ebike. For my other 'acoustic' bikes I always go for a Wippermann Connex, but can only find their 8SE which is recommended for 7 speed ebikes with derailleur a
nd it costs a fair amount. As the ebike is rear motor and derailleur, could I use one of their 7 speed 'normal' chains on it like their Connex 700? Any advice appreciated.

First, delete that word "acoustic" from your vocabulary. We are talking about bikes, not musical instruments.
IMNSHO opinion any 7/8 speed chain will work, it will just wear, out faster than if if you did not have an ebike specific chain.

 

[Jameshow]

I would think any 7 speed chain would suffice as the motor load isn't going through the chain but directly through the back wheel? In fact the chain load will likely be less than an acoustic bike!

 

[Mike Ayling]

I would think any 7 speed chain would suffice as the motor load isn't going through the chain but directly through the back wheel? In fact the chain load will likely be less than an acoustic bike!

Interesting thought!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I would think any 7 speed chain would suffice as the motor load isn't going through the chain but directly through the back wheel? In fact the chain load will likely be less than an acoustic bike!

depends on the drive type
true for hub drive

but the mid drive types - like Bosch - all the power goes through the chain
motor and from the rider

When my chain first wore out my LBS said he replaced it with " a better one that can take more power"
no idea what he meant but that's what he said

I have had a couple of hub drive bikes and the chain seemed to last for ages
the first one (in 2011) it was actually difficult to put much power through the chain as it just went up to 15.5 mph (I presume) as soon as you started turning the pedals!
so the wear and tear on the chain and gears was pretty minimal compared to normal
(Oh - and it had a throttle - which was legal on that as it was pre-2016 which reduced it further!!)

 

[Mike_P]

KMC do ebike chains. List a 8 speed rather than 7 or 7/8 https://www.kmcchain.com/en/series/ebike

 

[TheDoctor]

I can confirm that a standard 7 speed chain works fine on a hub drive ebike. With a hub motor (like my Swytch conversion) the chain only ever sees the power of your legs, never that of the motor.

Edited to make clear I was talking purely about hub drive

 

[Mike_P]

I can confirm that a standard 7 speed chain works fine on an ebike. With a hub motor (like my Swytch conversion) the chain only ever sees the power of your legs, never that of the motor.

Might be different with a mid drive.

 

[Gunk]

You may need to check the cassette if you need a new chain, because of the lack of gear changing on e-bikes, the middle cogs seem to wear out much quicker.

 

[TheDoctor]

Might be different with a mid drive.

Aye, but the OP said it was hub drive.
I agree, mid drive would be different. I'll amend my post to clarify.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

You may need to check the cassette if you need a new chain, because of the lack of gear changing on e-bikes, the middle cogs seem to wear out much quicker.

That is very true on mine

I have got a second chain ring with changes the "normal gear from 4th to 5th but it doesn;t make a lot of difference
I generally have to change the gears when 4th and 3rd are worn out but 5th is hardly used and 6th is in pristine brand new condition!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

What is the difference between an acoustic, classical and bass bike?

 

[yello]

I'd like a fretless bike.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

That is very true on mine

I have got a second chain ring with changes the "normal gear from 4th to 5th but it doesn;t make a lot of difference
I generally have to change the gears when 4th and 3rd are worn out but 5th is hardly used and 6th is in pristine brand new condition!

On which topic I just read about someone who replaced the most used gear on his derailleur with another one the same size

so he has 2 gears that are identical and he can ride the same in either and changes between them as normal

which seems to make some sense on an ebike

would it work??