Taya Onze-111 (UL) 11-speed chain

The Taya Onze 111 (UL) chain looks great, but unfortunately its performance isn't as impressive. With the noisy drivetrain, occasional messy shifts and no improvement in weight over a standard Shimano Ultegra train, it's a hard one to recommend.

Taya is a brand I wasn't familiar with before receiving the chain for review, but it turns out it has been around longer than I have (established in 1969) and produces a dizzying array of chains in all the colours you could imagine. From a bit of research it would seem that its cheaper budget end offerings are widely available in high street cycling outlets so I'm not sure how I've missed them.

> Find your nearest dealer here

The Onze 111 UL is at the higher end of the range, marketed as a lightweight (the UL in the name being Ultra Light), and made from a high carbon steel with Taya's patented DHT (Diamond Hard Tech), a hardening process that applies a tougher layer to the outer steel – and in this case a Titanium Nitride gold colour coating too.

Straight out of the box, the chain looks great and is slippery as can be – most new chains are coated with a thin layer of thick grease, this was slick and oily, needing a wipe down to make it easier to handle. Also in the box were two proprietary Sigma quick links and a small saddle-bag-friendly sachet of chain lube.

I decided to fit the chain to my most recent bike as the chainset and rear cassette were relatively new, although a bit of a mix – Ultegra outer chainring, Absolute Black inner, and Miche cassette.

Fitting

Fitting was as routine as expected, with a slight curveball in the Sigma link. I needed to refer to the little instruction pamphlet in the box, as they were nothing like the standard quick links from the likes of KMC or SRAM. Taya's consist of a sideplate with two pins, and another sideplate with two holes. You need to put both pins in to either open end of the chain to join it, locate one hole over one of the pins then gently bend the chain inwards so that the other pin locates, then pull to engage as with a KMC/SRAM link.

I was somewhat sceptical at first, but it went on with no issues and once locked was virtually indistinguishable from the standard links.

They are single use and the chain has to be broken with a tool to separate it again, but as mentioned you do get a spare Sigma link in the package or you could use a standard quick link.

Performance

As it was just a chain swap, I left it at that and went out for a ride. Initially it seemed OK (if a little rattley) but when I got to some steeper inclines and needed the lower gears I found it would randomly slip on the lowest gear, throwing my cadence out and making things harder than they should be – along with the terrible noise that sounds like teeth of the cassette being ripped off.

When I got back, I had the bike up on the stand and reset the indexing from scratch. Next ride, not much difference – same rattley noise, same slipping in the lowest gear.

This time I went further, even checking the derailleur hanger alignment, stripped and cleaned the cage and again, re-indexed. Still no good.

If I'm honest I was a bit perplexed and lived with it for a week or two, just avoiding the lowest sprocket where I could and leaving out the steepest hills on my local routes. Eventually I caved, popped a Shimano Ultegra chain on, checked the indexing again and... bliss. Quiet in action, smooth shifting and no messing about on the 30t either.

Wondering whether it was the odd combination of components, I did try the chain on another bike with a full Ultegra drivetrain and the results were much better: smoother shifting and no slipping in any gear, but still noisy – and this was on lightly worn components. The chain is still on there now performing perfectly well bar the noise, and heavily lubing the chain did quieten it down some but the background noise is still there.

Taya makes big claims too that the Onze will last for 7,000km. I'm not so sure any chain will last that long but to give it its due, I've put 500-600 miles on this one and there are absolutely no signs of wear, even with slipping off the cassette sprocket, and the gold finish is still flawless.

In terms of its cost and weight it's a bit of an oddity. Retailing at £44.99 and weighing in at 268g, it sits squarely in the premium bracket, on par with the Shimano Dura-Ace chain for RRP, but the Dura-Ace is lighter at 243g. To go lighter than Dura-Ace will cost you too: the KMC X11-SL is only 239g but costs a whopping £69, but again KMC offers a full range that are much cheaper. Even a standard Ultegra chain is lighter than the Onze at 260g and at least £10 less.

I would summarise that, paired with brand new matched components and some careful setting up, and if you want a range of colour options (if you can find them), then the Taya might be worth a look – otherwise the industry standards have you covered.

Verdict

An attractive chain that does an okay job, if somewhat needy on the setup side and noisy on the move