First of all we here at iBikeride have to thank Katie our friend from Moore Large for approaching us and asking us to review one of the KMC top of the range chains the KMC X9SL and one of their patented KMC Chain Tools.

I could spend time giving you all the bumf that comes with a new product, but really you just want to know how well the chain and tool works.  However if you do what to know all of the technical info then please see the KMC site here.

We were soon sent a KMC x9sl chain and a KMC Chain tool in the post.  I know what your thinking how can you get excited about a chain for a bike, but this little beauty has a reputation as a great chain among the racing community and to top it off it really does look bling with it's gold colour.  I cant wait to get it home and installed on my bike.  I am so looking forward to it I completely forget that my cassette is over a year old and well worn/broken in.  As we all know when you replace a chain you "should" replace the cassete at the same time.  Once I realise my mistake I decided I couldnt wait or to be honest justify a new cassete so I decided to install it anyway and see how we get on.  When it came to removing the old chain (a SRAM chain that came as standard with the bike) that I had installed a SRAM Powerlink to aid chain removal and cleaning couldnt have been any easier.  It was made easier to get the Powerlink undone was due to the KMC Chain Tool.  It looks like a strange pair of pliers.  It simply slots inside the chain with one prong of the tool on either the powerlink.

The first opportunity I get to go out and ride with the new KMC x9sl chain is one snowy, wet and cold weekend at Thetford.  Whilst loading the bike onto the car at my pick up point one of the other riders pointed out how long the chain was.  "What idiot installed your chain Phil?"  That would be me then!  In much rush to get the chain on I hadn't measured the links in the old chain and matched the new one up.  Good job I brought the old one with me just incase of problems.  I decided it was too cold and wet to bother changing the chain over.

After riding through Thetford in the snow and wet the chain was surprisingly coping rather well, even with it probably being aprox 5 links too long and on a old cassette and chain rings.  There was a bit of chain suck but it wouldnt have been fair to penalise the chain with the mistake I made during instalation.  Only time would tell how the chain really copes.

The next day after thawing out I take some links out and shorten the chain.  The next big test for the chain was the first round of the Gorrick Saddle Skedaddle Spring Series, I was a little anxious about the race and how the chain would cope.  It was very muddy and wet and we all know what the gritty mud around that area can do to your bike, it eats it!  Surprisingly the chain coped really well, much better than me and my time showed (dont ask!).  There was only ever chain sucked when put under extreme pressure from me on the uphills and I miss timed the shifting.

Overall I was very impressed by the chains performance.  My only slight annoyance was the link that connect the ends of the chain was bent during the race.  Now I have a had a SRAM Powerlink on the bike for quite some time and never had a problem with it.  I know these things are meant to be replaceable but I felt it was quite a short number of miles for the link to become bent.

Pics below illistrate my point quite well I think:

Now the question you all want answering, if I was spending my money would I buy the chain myself?  To be honest the answer is yes and no.  If I was changing the cassette chain and chain rings then no, this is due to the price of the chain and you can get deals on cassettes and chains when bought together if you look around.  However if I was looking to just replace the chain with an older drivetrain then yes I would.  This chain does the job and does it well.  If I was a more serious racer then perhaps I would notice the difference in this chain more so. Whilst waiting for my race to start mentioned above I was checking out what chains people were using and I noticed quite a few of the X9SL's with other racers, so the chain is obviously a trusted and respected chain.  To be honest with you I can see why because it does the job well.

In summary, if you want a good chain thats light and does the job very well, not to mention the bit of bling the gold one brings to your bike then get yourself a KMC x9sl.