ORing vs non-oring chains

[Vintagewannabe]

Question of the day is do O ring chains rob a little of the power you are trying to put down?

If you're looking to pick up HP, non o-ring is free HP. There is a notable difference when spinning a tire when a bike is on the stand from o-ring to non o-ring. To some degree it's the same as drum brake compared to discs...
Discs obviously work better, but do absorb power unlike a drum. Some of the modern trans oils, may say 80 weight but flows like water...parasitic drag does add up. And with small displacement two strokes, every little bit help.

So far in the rotating mass department I've laced up aluminum rims, gone to a 520 chain, and the coated aluminum rear sprocket.
The rear sprocket really surprised me. The old steel sprocket registered about 1.5lbs on my little spring scale, and the new aluminum doesn't even move the gauge

[Economy Cycle John]

Well it's my kit so I'll weigh in as well. I made the kit to reduce un-sprung weight, not to address clearance issues when fitting an xring to an RD. And it kinda defeats the purpose (weight savings) of the 520 kit to run an x-ring chain. And remember it's un-sprung weight, worth about 10x sprung weight savings.

I drop the front sprocket size as well cos that's usually what guys want so you get 2 mods in one, the 520 and a smaller sprocket. It's a one size fits all kind of kit meant to make it easy for guys to do the conversion, bolt on and go. Won't be right for everyone, but we sell all the stuff separately to make any kind of setup you want. Same with the gearing, won't be right for everyone but fine for most. You can get any combination of gearing you want and any chain you want individually, but I have to make the kits more uniform to be able to offer them "off the shelf" and to keep a reasonable price point.     

The xring will far outlast the roller, and you'll end up putting new sprockets on a worn chain. My thinking was to have the sprockets/chain wear out about the same time and to just replace with a new kit. Not to mention a decent x-ring chain, like the ERT posted, would add about $100 to the kit. The link posted for the ERT was $164 just for the chain, our kit is $169 total for chain and sprockets. 

My thinking is if you want longevity then run a 530 xring with steel sprockets. Some clearance issues but can be dealt with without too much trouble. I have a 530 o-ring and steel sprockets on my stock 400, put it on back in the 90s, still going strong, minimal stretch.

If you want performance run a 520 with roller chain and aluminum rear sprocket. Saves about 3lbs of unsprung weight, reduces drive train resistance.   

 

[Economy Cycle John]

This is the 530 oring on my 400. The clearance issue I had was with the flange on the bolt head of the chain adjuster, rubbed the chain a bit. So I grinded off the flange and works fine. I had no issues with the front sprocket rubbing the cases, but you could run a spacer on the front sprocket up to 2mm without chain alignment issues if you needed to gain some clearance. That chain has hardly worn or stretched at all, lots of adjustment left.