Chain Keeper Review
I tested the Chain Keeper for two months on my October Hand Made cyclocross bike both on and off road during winter training and I'm very happy to report that the chain never jumped off. In fact I think that the design is so effective that it's impossible for the chain to come off.
Bike setup
For the test I used my cx bike setup with 1 x 10 gearing and the following components:
- Campagnolo 13-26 tooth cassette
- Campagnolo Centaur short cage rear derailleur
- Campagnolo chain
- Campagnolo Centaur rear Ergopower brake/shift lever
- Shimano Dura-Ace 7700 series crank set with a 42 tooth ring.
- Paul Chain Keeper
Installation and setup
The installation is straight forward but the final setup is a little tricky. I found that adjusting the clamp height, clamp rotation, the guide fore-aft position and the guide rotation angle can be quite finicky and it took several tries to get it just right so that the chain didn't drag in the top and bottom sprockets. Once it's set it works great!
Component Review
The machining and finish is what I've come to expect, top notch, well thought-out and built to last. Compared to my old setup it's more reliable because there's no way for the chain fall even over rough terrain that can cause the chain to bounce off. It's slightly lighter, about 8 grams and it makes cleanup much easier now that the chain-ring is exposed on both sides.
Many of my racing friends have expressed interest in this item since seeing it on my bike and all of them think it's a great idea.
Thanks again,
Bill
