chain help!!! purchase specs etc for RR6+ and your experience

[needabreak]

Need to replace both of our radrover6+ chains. Rad is out of stock. All I can get from support is buy 120 links. Will not advise on best chain or why they say 120 links when all I can find for 7 speed ebike google search is 116 links. I also cannot find info about rust resist chains since we ride the beach a lot. Please give me your experience with different chains for this model bike. Also any info on best tools needed for removing links, master link etc

[Radio Runner]

A Sram PC-830 should do it. They have 114 links but any bike shop will have extra or better yet, just have them install it. (114 could also be enough)

[handlebar]

https://amzn.to/3T9jAvV

I think this might work. It has 120 links and has been certified against salt corrosion.

The bike came with KMC z7, which is the standard size for 6, 7, and 8 speeds. The rails on this chain seem to be of a thicker gauge steel. They call it KMC 6/7, which seems to mean it might be too wide for 8 speeds. They say it's fine for 7.

[needabreak]

https://amzn.to/3T9jAvV

I think this might work. It has 120 links and has been certified against salt corrosion.

The bike came with KMC z7, which is the standard size for 6, 7, and 8 speeds. The rails on this chain seem to be of a thicker gauge steel. They call it KMC 6/7, which seems to mean it might be too wide for 8 speeds. They say it's fine for 7.

THANK YOU, I ORDERED TWO.  NEEDABREAK

[Radio Runner]

Should also be said that the best rust protection is a properly maintained chain. Lube it every 2 weeks in the winter and once a month in the summer ?1 drop of quality chain lube per link , then wipe off the side plates.

Do not use motor oil, or anything from the kitchen or sewing machine.

[handlebar]

Should also be said that the best rust protection is a properly maintained chain. Lube it every 2 weeks in the winter and once a month in the summer ?1 drop of quality chain lube per link , then wipe off the side plates.

Do not use motor oil, or anything from the kitchen or sewing machine.

I use a 30cc squeeze bottle with a 20-gauge needle to apply Finish Line. A dab of yellow acrylic paint marks a starting point, stays indefinitely, and with dry lube, stays clean. A couple of zip ties mark a section so I can be sure not to miss any joints. The orange zip tie is at the painted starting point. When the joints between are lubed, I'll pull the orange, roll the chain back, put the orange perhaps ten inches to the right of the yellow tie, and lube the joints between. I wear a magnifier to see for sure that I got a drop on each joint. A chain takes 5 or 10 ml, so I can get 10 or 20 jobs from a 100 ml bottle.

Afterwards, I squirt the rest from my dispenser back into the retail bottle. I put soapy water in the dispenser and squirt it through the needle so it won't end up clogged with teflon. I use a soft paper towel to wipe the sides, top, and bottom of the chain.

Finish Line is said to be obsolete. The manufacturer says it lasts up to 100 miles. Some users say your chain will start clattering after 2 hours of riding. Others say water will was away the teflon immediately.

My experience has been quite different. I first applied it because the OEM lube on my Radrunner was grimy, which wasn't good for the chain or my pants. I think I cleaned it with WD-40 first. The Radrunner chain felt and sounded better than I remembered when it was new. I applied it to my Radmission chain within the first 50 miles and found that it ran more smoothly and quietly than new.

Because my chains have kept running well, I tend to forget lubrication for months at a time and probably more than a thousand miles, winter and summer, on wet pavement and dry. When I remember to relube, I like to think there's an improvement, but it's too small to be sure. What's more, I've seen spots of rust on only three or four rails and no joints.

Finish Line is essentially teflon dissolved in heptane; I'll bet there's something else for corrosion resistance and to help the teflon stick. Heptane is less viscous than water. That helps it wick into cracks, but if there's enough to drip, what's on the chain will be wicked to the forming drip, leaving only a very thin film and whatever additives are in that film. By not applying enough to drip, I think I leave a thicker film, containing more teflon and corrosion inhibitor, and I don't wash away the existing protection. Heptane has a higher vapor pressure than water, so it dries faster. I give it a couple of minutes to dry before wiping off any "soot" that the application brought to the surface. (Maybe in the future I'll wait at least an hour to wipe.)

[needabreak]

To anyone wondering why I let chains get in this condition. I was in a head on collision, other guy was texting and crossed the yellow line. Broken open compound fractures of tibia and fibula three separate areas, and a brain bleed. I have been out of it for 9 months. Meantime our bikes sat on a covered front porch since last November. The bikes were also covered with plastic and on top of that a 400 din thick bike cover. However outdoor moisture  still did a number on chains, front shocks, gear cassette, and brake rotors. My brain is now mostly healed, just personality changes that may be permanent such as anger, easily frustrated, and short term memory issues. Just now able to walk with out a walker or crutches and try to get my life back and bring our bikes back to life too! Controller not working on one bike either, front and rear lights just continually flash lol. Its all good, glad to be alive! 

[handlebar]

Thirty years ago on a narrow country road, premonition suddenly slowed me down. A hundred yards ahead, where I would have been, an oncoming pickup veered over the centerline and I veered onto the shoulder. In my mirror I saw an arm come out the window and wave. I guess that was an apology. I guess he was momentarily distracted.

Five years ago I started to cross a street three blocks from here. A van was coming, but by the time it stopped at the stop sign, I'd be across. I'd just stepped off the curb when I realized it wasn't slowing. As it sped by, the driver was talking on a cell phone. She never saw me. She must have used that intersection every day because she was coming from a road that didn't lead to other towns.

Twenty years ago, the best driving simulator test to date was conducted with funding from a long list of prestigious government and nongovernment organizations. With 40 drivers of both sexes and a wide range of ages, it compared talking on a cell phone to driving drunk. A revelation was that at 0.08 BAC, everybody drove better than sober. Before that, when I'd see headlights behind me, I'd hope the driver hadn't been drinking. After that, I'd hope a driver had been drinking because sober drivers are less attentive.

The study found that talking on a hands-free phone was as bad as using a handheld. Conversation itself is the problem. You have to process what you hear as you process your reply, and that simultaneous demand doesn't leave enough brain to process what you see.

Teachers ask surprise questions to scare students into paying attention. In fact, this trains us not to pay attention. Constantly processing the last few words heard and how you could respond is like talking on a cell phone. You don't comprehend or retain because you aren't paying attention to the subject matter. This produces a population who see nothing wrong with texting while driving because they don't know what paying attention means.

There have been times on the road when I  have responded instantly and correctly to the unexpected. I attribute that to 1600 hours of close-order drill in the military. When you hear the preparatory order, there's no time to think, so you have to map what to do in advance, and you have to keep one part of your brain vigilant. Actually, it's not inconvenient because when you learn to do it, the rest of your brain is free to relax or think about anything you wish. It's also a discipline. As a driver, I would keep conversation short and simple. I wouldn't touch a radio with a car in motion if it required more than turning a knob.

So, cancel all lectures and make kids spend 12 years at close-order drill to get a diploma. They'll be better drivers, and if they can pay attention, they'll recognize lies in the news.

[JimInPT]

Thirty years ago on a narrow country road, premonition suddenly slowed me down. A hundred yards ahead, where I would have been, an oncoming pickup veered over the centerline and I veered onto the shoulder. In my mirror I saw an arm come out the window and wave. I guess that was an apology. I guess he was momentarily distracted.

About 15 years ago, a raccoon probably saved my life in a similar fashion.  I was leaving my restaurant around midnight, following my standard route home, which was at the same pace every time because there's essentially zero traffic in our rural town at that hour and only six traffic lights in our entire county with none on my route, so it was always the same.  A mile or so on the journey, I had to come to a full stop in the road to let a very fat and lazy looking raccoon amble across.  A mile or so after that, a large pickup truck blew right through a cross-street intersection stop sign at a very high speed in my headlights - right where I'd have been if I hadn't stopped for the raccoon, with no stop sign in my direction to prevent it.  I might have spotted him, because in our rural area we're always watching for deer and other critters especially at night, but this was a fairly blind intersection so I wouldn't have been able to stop in time.  Probably would have been t-boned right in my door if I wasn't running just a few seconds late.  After that, I called a truce with raccoons, no matter how much they pissed me off at times.

[handlebar]

About 15 years ago, a raccoon probably saved my life in a similar fashion.  I was leaving my restaurant around midnight, following my standard route home, which was at the same pace every time because there's essentially zero traffic in our rural town at that hour and only six traffic lights in our entire county with none on my route, so it was always the same.  A mile or so on the journey, I had to come to a full stop in the road to let a very fat and lazy looking raccoon amble across.  A mile or so after that, a large pickup truck blew right through a cross-street intersection stop sign at a very high speed in my headlights - right where I'd have been if I hadn't stopped for the raccoon, with no stop sign in my direction to prevent it.  I might have spotted him, because in our rural area we're always watching for deer and other critters especially at night, but this was a fairly blind intersection so I wouldn't have been able to stop in time.  Probably would have been t-boned right in my door if I wasn't running just a few seconds late.  After that, I called a truce with raccoons, no matter how much they pissed me off at times.

A couple of years earlier, 200 yards east on that same road, I was driving an F-150 when a premonition caused me to slow to 25. The hood flew up. I don't know how bad it would have been at 55, but I pulled over and slammed it down. Ford had a treacherous hood latch.

The road came to a stop sign a quarter of a mile or so west of where the guy came over the line. Statistics showed it was dangerous. It didn't look dangerous, but a vehicle approaching from the left could be invisible past the crest of a rise, although the road looked clear.

A couple of years after the guy came over the line, a community watch sign went up beside the road, looking right from the stop sign. It didn't look big, but I noticed immediately that it blocked the view in that direction until an oncoming vehicle was a second away. If I backed up to see past it, brush blocked my view. If I pulled forward to see past it, I could be hit by a vehicle that had come over the rise. I really needed to watch both ways as I pulled out, but you can't do that if your eyes aren't on the sides of your head.

I figured that a sign so obviously unsafe would be moved the next day. It wasn't. I asked other motorists who used that intersection what they thought of it. They said it was fine. Drivers often ignore visual obstructions. If they don't see anything, they assume nothing is coming.

One morning after a year, a truck came to a stop at the sign across the road a couple of seconds before I came to a stop. I looked twice each way and saw nothing. Because the truck didn't move, I suspected that the driver saw something coming from his left, my right. I watched, and a shockingly close vehicle emerged from behind the sign.

I wrote a "To Whom it may Concern" letter. I took measurements at the intersection. I measured the position of a driver's head in a compact car, a large car, and a pickup. I diagramed how in none of those vehicles could a driver see past the sign until his front was dangerously out in the intersection. I asked if it could be moved. I didn't know where to mail it. My mother gave it to a colleague whose husband was a highway patrol officer. She reported to my mother the next day that he was thrilled. He'd reported that sign the day it went up, and his supervisor told him to forget it. Now he had a letter from a citizen.

The sign was gone the next day. I had asked only that it be moved. It could have been put on a higher post, five feet farther from the pavement, or 100 feet farther from the intersection. I guess the supervisor didn't consider the sign important.

There are lots of serious visual obstructions around here. The public is blind to them, and those responsible for public safety don't care.