Skip-link chain
Encyclopedia
Skip-link chain is an obsolete roller chain
for bicycles
in which side plates are alternately short and long, and so rollers are alternately close together and far apart.
In bicycle chain
s, skip-link chain has the same one-inch spacing as both the earlier block chain
. Due to the asymmetry, the rollers fit over long teeth used with earlier block chain, but due to the use of rollers, efficiency is better than block chain. Skip-link chain is typically arranged with the long plates also the wide-spaced outer plates, which mimics the visual effect of block chain. Since sprocket teeth run on rollers, they cannot be usefully wider than the width of the narrow-spaced links, so the tooth can be no wider than with a symmetrical chain. Thus, skip-link chain spreads wear over half the number of teeth and has worse sprocket durability than a symmetrical roller chain. Chain wear is dominated by wear between pins and bushings, and this is the same as a modern roller chain.
Skip-link chain is specific to bicycles and is not otherwise widely used.
Roller chain
Roller chain or bush roller chain is the type of chain drive most commonly used for transmission of mechanical power on many kinds of domestic, industrial and agricultural machinery, including conveyors, wire and tube drawing machines, printing presses, cars, motorcycles, and simple machines like...
for bicycles
Bicycle chain
A bicycle chain is a roller chain that transfers power from the pedals to the drive-wheel of a bicycle, thus propelling it. Most bicycle chains are made from plain carbon or alloy steel, but some are nickel-plated to prevent rust, or simply for aesthetics. Nickel also confers a measure of...
in which side plates are alternately short and long, and so rollers are alternately close together and far apart.
In bicycle chain
Bicycle chain
A bicycle chain is a roller chain that transfers power from the pedals to the drive-wheel of a bicycle, thus propelling it. Most bicycle chains are made from plain carbon or alloy steel, but some are nickel-plated to prevent rust, or simply for aesthetics. Nickel also confers a measure of...
s, skip-link chain has the same one-inch spacing as both the earlier block chain
Block chain
A block chain, also called a "bar-link" or "block-and-bar" chain, is a mechanical drive chain. It is composed of side plates, where each plate straddles one end of a block and is connected to the block with a pin going through a hole at one end of the block...
. Due to the asymmetry, the rollers fit over long teeth used with earlier block chain, but due to the use of rollers, efficiency is better than block chain. Skip-link chain is typically arranged with the long plates also the wide-spaced outer plates, which mimics the visual effect of block chain. Since sprocket teeth run on rollers, they cannot be usefully wider than the width of the narrow-spaced links, so the tooth can be no wider than with a symmetrical chain. Thus, skip-link chain spreads wear over half the number of teeth and has worse sprocket durability than a symmetrical roller chain. Chain wear is dominated by wear between pins and bushings, and this is the same as a modern roller chain.
Skip-link chain is specific to bicycles and is not otherwise widely used.