Shimano XT vs SLX - 12 speed chain test

Comparing the Shimano SLX M7100 chain to the Shimano XT M8100 chain.
See the latest chain test and summary • Shimano 12 speed chain...
#shimano #chain #12speed

[@sarcritchlow]

Haa that 50/50 chain test is awesome. Why isnt that done more often? The definitive measuring tool. Well done man!

[@arfmf]

What a great test! The differences in the lineup are Deore has no chrome plating, SLX has the inner pin plated, Deore XT has the engagement side plated too and, finally, XTR has hollow pins (10g lighter 242g vs 252g) and it has a fancy coating (think a teflon pan) you have to be careful while cleaning it, if you are to harsh while cleaning and/or use too acid/alkaline degreaser the coating will be lost.

[@olivierhacking]

Thank you for the straightforward analysis! Getting a XT chain now :) would be interesting to see how the XTR compares.

[@_S13_]

Would like to know that too.

[@bluestraycat]

Excellent comparison, really valuable to know this! Think I'll be speccing an XT when it's time to replace the chain

[@stefanodruetta]

my current m8100 chain has been on the bike since september 2020 and it's getting close to .75% wear just now after 5000km. i'm 95kg, I ride a hardcore hardtail with an slx drivetrain with an oval chainring. I only use muc off dry lube (not a lot of wet riding around here), thoroughly dry-brush the transmission with a grungebrush after every ride and reapply lube, then wash the bike once every 2-3 rides. it's showing a little bit of rusting on the outside plates, yet it still shifts perfectly in every situation. previous m6100 chains only lasted around 8-900km (but I was also using teflon oil only, back then). I'm VERY impressed and eager to see wether the next chain would last the same. I'm tempted to test m7100 thou.

[@e_mtb]

I've ridden my M7100 for 2400km now (on an e-mtb) and the measurement tool says, it's still okay. Very confused about the durability values here :D

[@angeledduirbonesu1989]

Same, normally I reach max stretch around 1500 km. 350 km it's a bit low. Ok, maybe because it's an e-bike and the applied stress on the chain is higher

[@eXTreemator]

@@angeledduirbonesu1989 it makes no difference to chain wear, definitely not on this ebike. And 350 is very very low. And chain checkers can be wrong, elongation wear could be 2 times less

[@1911Zoey]

Are you light in weight and only bike in plains?

[@torquebiker9959]

Good idea with half hallf chain. Thanks for the work and sharing your results.

[@boballard6040]

Great review.. I ride regular manual mountain bike and for the few extra dollars I got the M8100. Thank you for the work.. bob

[@grooveseeker6269]

I was also amazed at your half and half chain test. But I'm even more amazed with those 200km of lifespan of the chain. Even with an emtb and what not, cmon, pros move more watts than an emtb.

[@grooveseeker6269]

@@EMTBVideos Thank you so much, keep doing this kind of stuff, I really apreciate your time, work, and effort to do this kind of video

[@steverichardson4808]

thanks for doing this review

[@jitterspec]

Excellent scientific experiment and results. Cheers!

[@onathanj]

Great comparison! More of this please!

[@EMTBVideos]

Thanks, currently working on the XT M8100 vs XTR M9100.

[@DKLVE]

Accurate and simple.....your style of reviews is getting better and better 💪

[@stin11111]

Thank you, and Thank you, you've no idea how difficult it is to find any info on the difference between these chains. Now I need to find a shop that has them stocked :P

[@EMTBVideos]

Thank you too (: Hopefully the XT vs XTR 12s video is out next week!

[@surly60]

Great comparison, thanks.

[@johnwilliamson9453]

Excellent work!

[@jumpy3857]

Thanck you for this test

[@cedriceveleigh]

Great test! Thank you.

[@creepylavalamp]

Great F'ing video!! Hoping for XT vs XTR chain test. Just subbed!!

[@Arsenit]

Wow! Great Idea! Great Info!

[@nathanlindsay2669]

Great video. Thank you!

[@jordanreniak2540]

Great video!

[@guz_manksanjaya889]

Thankz for the review i am from bali prepare buy slx m7100😇

[@TheJanakev]

Thanks. Great video. 👍

[@MartinTeerly]

I've done a lot more than 1000miles on my xt chain and it's still good

[@stuartdummkoph128]

I dip my chains in a boiling paraffin wax and Teflon powder solution. This hardens in the links and only needs to be hosed between rides. I get 250kms between treatments and my SLX chains last about 1200kms

[@jupiik]

I would expect several thousands with such treatment... I read article that with wax 15 thousands can be achieved, if you are willing to do wax, maybe you can try high end chain for much better results.. who knows

[@MrChadLedford]

Excellent Videos!

[@alifallah1954]

Subscribed cus of smart test.

[@shwndh]

I installed a brand new SLX chain about 6 weeks ago. I checked the wear yesterday and I’m at .5 already! No e-bike and I’m not really a powerful rider. Very disappointing! I used a SRAM GX chain previously and it lasted about 7 months of heavy use before getting to .5 wear.

[@Infpl]

That is my experience too. SLX 7100 chains on my bike and a 10 years old bike are at 0.5 wear only after 200 -300km. I ride only in dry conditions with brandy chain oils and regularly wipe the chain. Wonder what i am doing wrong very disappointed.

[@shwndh]

@@Infpl They just don't make stuff to last like they used to with 10 speed. My 9 speed Ultegra chain lasted like 10 years. The times we're living in.

[@agungagumy21]

Me, use slx m7100 chain n now 750km n still normally n no aus 🤘

[@MalcolmTroon]

Well done

[@eduruttkowski]

Excellent!!! I need to replace my chain... at this time I'm using a M7100, but I would like to know if you recommend to buy a M6100, M7100 or M8100 for a 12s.?

[@vintage_lenses9878]

I got 8000 km out of my KMC ebike chain on my CUBE Stereo Pro !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mostly on paved roads though.......

[@shanephillips8009]

Genius

[@mtbboy1993]

I am using an oval chain ring, non boost on boost hub, the chain wear is uneven, currently 0.17 and 0.27 wear. I suspect I tight be due to the oval. I don't remember if this was the case with round chain ring, I don't know how much difference each gea remakes and and if the difference in wear has something to do with the different gears in use, and certain spots wear more due to chain being in the same spot as always but ran tru the gears. Of course when ubidtsllinh and installing the wheel you might have the one or few cogs forward or backward, I don't know how much difference this makes.

[@mtbboy1993]

this is great, any plans for more chain testing like this?

[@EMTBVideos]

Have you seen this one? The latest chain test video kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3-wi6R3fqiEjbc

[@MagpieManny]

The combined chain got me thinking: If there is equal force across the chain doesn't it mean that the weakest part of the chain (SLX) would stretch before the stronger parts stretch (XT)? So if the whole chain was SLX that the force would be more distributed around the chain and might mean lesser stretch? Not certain. Interesting anyways :D

[@EMTBVideos]

Thanks. The force will be the same across the chain, regardless of how weak each chain is. The weaker chain could strech more, but that doesn't affect the load they're exposed to.

[@DM-hw4cr]

Correct lube also helps. Stay away from lubes like Rock n Roll.

[@EMTBVideos]

I'm pretty sure these were lubed with RnR (: But the km ridden in this test was wrong due to a damaged measuring device. Still, the comparison between the chains is valid. Check out the final chain stretch vid kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3-wi6R3fqiEjbc

[@MuhiTube]

I cant belive this! Only 200-300km! That would mean i have to change the chain every week! I drive my bike/chain (CN-M6100) now thousends of km and the chain is still OK! My opinion… Under hardest conditions every chain should be fine for min 2000km! If you maintain, clean, lube your chain!

[@EMTBVideos]

It seems we had a damaged measuring device. We get better results in the later tests. But nowhere near 2k km. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3-wi6R3fqiEjbc We did some maintainance, but not a whole lot. The point of this test is do determine the difference between them, so we tried wearing them out as soon as possible.

[@eXTreemator]

@@EMTBVideos i suggest using the total elongation test to determine the wear. Use the baseline chain as paragon and you will be able to easily see overall wear.

[@Cylcopath_GR]

Have you try m9100 chain?it will be an interesting comparison with m8100 one.

[@gordonkcampbell4081]

@@EMTBVideos how's is this test going please?

[@mortenkleppan316]

Thanks for chairing. Will other chains work together with the shimano 12 speed system?

[@EMTBVideos]

I haven't tested, but I've talked to people that have complained after buying 3rd party chains for their Shimano 12-speed system. I have ridden bikes with Shimano 12-speed combined with a Sunrace cassette. Shifting performance suffered noticeably, it shifted like the 11-speed Shimano without Hyperglide+. So my impression is both the cassette and chain need to be Shimano with the Hyperglide+ that is standard on their 12s systems.

[@illla]

I use 10 speed KMC e10 EPT chain on my eMTB bicycle with Yamaha PW-X motor with Shimano Deore 10 speed system and this chain lasts (0.5 mm stretch) for about 800 miles (1300 km). I ride it only in extra power mode (maximum assist) with no speed limit for assist (speed box mode) in terrain with a lot of hills (Seattle) doing wheelies all the time.

[@czarahlvic4290]

I've been using XT M8100 for my Slx m7100 drivetrain, sadly the chain snaps from the rivet while cycling to uphill. I think I'm gonna stay for slx or deore chain.

[@eXTreemator]

I wonder what the load you apply and how terrible is your shifting at the moment. Shimano chains are very hard to break, unlike kmc shit that i can snap every weak, i couldn't ever break them with any power

[@DM-hw4cr]

Something else is going on

[@czarahlvic4290]

Maybe cross chaining is happening here, I have 1x setup and if I remember right I was in 45T when the chain snap happen. I don't shift that much on uphill.

[@awesomekungfupanda]

Nice comparison, but the durability disappoints me. Would love to see a comparison between sram gx and x01 cassettes. The sram gx cassette on my Trek Rail 9.8 was completely worn out after 1000km and that disappointed me. Certainly because their quite expensive. Would like to know if it's worth to upgrade to x01.

[@aaddaammsskkyy]

Get cheapest nx cassete, it last longer than more expensive ones.

[@awesomekungfupanda]

@@EMTBVideos I'm using a ktm chain right now, because the shimano was worn out very fast. I'm curious how long the ktm persists

[@adrianTNT]

Once you cut the chain, you can only connect it with the quck link ? Can someone confirm ? The 7100 said "not reusable" on it, I didn't new what it means but I connected it with it's own link and it fell off after 100-200m then it it's quick link it went well for now.

[@EMTBVideos]

Shimano chains usually can be ridden with either the quicklink or the regular pin. I always use the quicklink, and I've had no issues using the same link for 3 different chains.

[@felixbrandau4751]

For some people that’s one chain per month that’s so short … is it because of the e bike ?

[@EMTBVideos]

Most people should get more than a month, the km ridden in this test was wrong due to a damaged measuring device. Still, the comparison between the chains is valid. Still, the durability isn't impressive. Check out the final chain stretch vid kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3-wi6R3fqiEjbc

[@chartreuse1356]

One issue with your test is you should have used new chainrings and cassettes so the wear is exactly the same or buy 2 more new chains and split them in half and use on the same bike. I'm assuming the chain that wore faster is probably the one that was on the other bike before you joined them together.

[@BarrettChris90]

Please measure both chains when they're brand new, for interests sake. Surely they aren't both exactly 0.00%.

[@folmonty]

Toast at 200 Km yikes! That seems like a ridiculous short period. When you say "under high load" guess that's the cause for such fast wear rate. Right now everyone is riding what they can find because supply is almost non-existent Riding eMTB's is certainly more maintenance intensive!

[@EMTBVideos]

We had a faulty chain measuring device, so they would have lasted longer. I talk a bit about it in the final chain test video kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3-wi6R3fqiEjbc