Bell Rollerless chains

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I bought this Bell branded chain at my neighborhood hardware store. After looking at it, it's going back.

NO ROLLERS!

they figured out how to make a chain with fewer parts, 1 less part per link. I can only imagine the amount of friction and wear this will have. The side plates are depressed in to form a shape to take the place of the rollers with a center gap where the highest pressure would be. The gap will fill up with crud pretty fast. No chance of any lube to stay in place inside the roller.

The master link is the old school 3 piece type, not the 2 parts superlink style shown on the package.

The chain pictured on the package does not match the chain in the package.

So buyer beware. Look in the packing when buying chains from now on.

Bell.rollerless.chain (8)

Bell.rollerless.chain (1)

Bell.rollerless.chain (5)

Bell.rollerless.chain (2)

Bell.rollerless.chain (3)

A normal chain on the left, the Bell Rollerless chain on the right.
Bell.rollerless.chain (4)

Bell.rollerless.chain (7)

Various brands on the left, Bell Rollerless on the far right.
Bell.rollerless.chain (6)
 
Interesting customer rating results...
Amazon 4.3
Walmart 3.8
Ace 2.9
Do it Best 2.8

My favorite 5star rating was...

'I got this chain because it was Bell and I didn't want some cheap knockoff chain!'
:rofl:

So...Walmart shoppers are generally smarter than Amazon shoppers...and Hardware store customers are way smarter than both. :crazy:

What about the sprockets? Doesn't anybody care about the sprockets? They are the innocents in all this, they don't deserve this abuse! :20:
 
I bought this Bell branded chain at my neighborhood hardware store. After looking at it, it's going back.

NO ROLLERS!

they figured out how to make a chain with fewer parts, 1 less part per link. I can only imagine the amount of friction and wear this will have. The side plates are depressed in to form a shape to take the place of the rollers with a center gap where the highest pressure would be. The gap will fill up with crud pretty fast. No chance of any lube to stay in place inside the roller.

The master link is the old school 3 piece type, not the 2 parts superlink style shown on the package.

The chain pictured on the package does not match the chain in the package.

So buyer beware. Look in the packing when buying chains from now on.

Bell.rollerless.chain (8)

Bell.rollerless.chain (1)

Bell.rollerless.chain (5)

Bell.rollerless.chain (2)

Bell.rollerless.chain (3)

A normal chain on the left, the Bell Rollerless chain on the right.
Bell.rollerless.chain (4)

Bell.rollerless.chain (7)

Various brands on the left, Bell Rollerless on the far right.
Bell.rollerless.chain (6)
I bought a bunch of bell bike stuff from Walmart when they switched suppliers..I must have bought a dozen chain both single and muti speed chains and put one on a bike and realized No Freakin ROLLERS... I WAS NOT HAPPY...Any way ,I rode the bike a short distance and seemed to work fine..Well that's my beef with these chains.. Good luck...
 
What about the sprockets? Doesn't anybody care about the sprockets? They are the innocents in all this, they don't deserve this abuse! :20:
Yes, it makes you wonder how much extra wear the sprockets would experience. We need a volunteer to do an experiment: start with two identical bikes except one with a roller chain and one with a rollerless chain. Measure the sprockets, ride them the same distance*, and measure the sprockets again. Perhaps Colin Furze will conduct the experiment for us.

* or use a test stand with a motor turning the cranks

colin furze.jpeg
 

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