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CeramicSpeed has released a detailed response to claims made following the recent release of the Muc-Off Nanotube Chain.
In an open letter penned by CeramicSpeed’s chief technology officer and founder of Friction Facts Jason Smith, CaeramicSpeed has queried Muc-Off’s testing processes and explained why Smith believes that the original version of Muc-Off’s graph illustrating the result of its test indicates that, as the brand says, ‘something is potentially flawed with the processes.’
CeramicSpeed claims that the test that Muc-Off used, called a ‘Full Tension Tester’ does not account for a mechanical occurrence known as the ‘Slacking effect’ which was discovered in 2015 by Jason Smith when conducting testing on a Full Tension Tester under Friction Facts.
“In a true bicycle drivetrain, the chain slacks as it snakes through the rear derailleur. A full tension tester does not account for this occurrence and therefore cannot be used as the sole means to perform an accurate test method for real-world friction data,” commented Smith.
In the supporting documentation, CeramicSpeed discussed how it believes that this so called ‘misleading data’ can be created. Included in the document is why the Full Tension Tester should not be solely used for long term testing, as well as how a chain efficiency test protocol for endurance testing should be carried out to account for the slacking effect. Finally, CeramicSpeed shows that, according to the brand’s testing, when a UFO chain is subjected to a correct endurance test, the result is a reduction in friction over time.
