116L DLC Bike Chain - KMC 🚴 X11SL 11 Speed: Enhance Cycling Performance with Top-Quality Chain Review

Yes the price is crazy. But I've had one on my sport bike since August 2014. Hundreds of miles including a one day STP, two RSVPs, a couple of high pass challenges and many thousands of miles in practice runs. It's admittedly little used in the winter (mostly just commuting to work on another bike), but I actually ride it most of the year. This is chain so I absolutely assumed the blue paint would fade or chip. But today I remove it and it looks maybe a little faded but not much. No chips or…

I have several hundred kilometers on the chain. It's light and sleek and looks great on my bike. The blue matches perfectly and I get lots of compliments on how cool it looks. I've used hot tub chain wax instead of regular lube and it stays clean and shiny. Mixed with a Dura Ace cassette and the shifting action is perfect. Does it cost twice as much as a Dura Ace or SRAM Red chain? From looks alone I'd say probably, but it also seems to have a performance boost, so yes. We'll see how long it…

[Upgrade after 500 miles of use] Downgraded from 5 stars to 2 stars. The DLC coating (black) on the side of the chain came off very quickly. It's friction on an 11-speed cassette. My other x10sl Gold Ti Nitride 10 speed bike never came across it, I've ridden over 500 million. Is it because the DHL coating isn't actually stronger than Ti-Nitride? Another hypothesis is a broken gear. 11th gear has narrower spacing than 10th, so maybe a greater chance of rubbing on the gears? I will now try to…