Best performance for money 10 speed drive train consumables

[nickobec]

I have a bunch of 10 speed from race bike, TT, trainer, commuter et al, running mainly SRAM, red to rival as well as DA7900 and Ultegra 6600. So not likely to be moving to 11 speed just yet.

Running a little low on chains and cassettes and remembered this post http://bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic ... 12&t=86135 and the link to http://blog.artscyclery.com/ask-a-mecha ... our-money/

Duck's recommendation on chains in DA, so tossing up between a bunch of DA or the nickel coated KMC (they seem to last for me) chains. Any other chains should I look at? I found SRAM chains a little noisy.

Cassettes, leaving my SRAM Red 1090 for hilly race days, probably end with ultegra for racing, TT and even the high mileage training bike/wheelset. Will go Tiagra for commuter and CX. I do like SRAM 1070, but they are priced out the market.

Chainrings, I have no idea of best value for money/performance so open to suggestions.

[Duck!]

Shimano have discontinued 10-sp Dura-Ace (and the XTR MTB brother) chains, which takes that out of consideration. KMC produce a lot of Shimano chains, so pick their top model & it should be pretty similar to D-A.

Ultegra cassettes have better hardening than cheaper models, so will last longer. Sprocket ramping is the same for all levels, so there's no difference in shifting performance between Dura-Ace & Tiagra. SRAM have some nice variations in cassette ranges, especially the wider ones, but like their chains, can be noisy.

Chainrings, just go with what best suits your crank. The greater contact area means they don't wear anywhere near as fast as the rest of the drivetrain (but compacts will wear faster than traditional rings).

[Classikbike]

New Tiagra 4700 is 10 speed should be good and have the trickled down technology from 9000 DA. Im sure it can be found at a great price but weight will of course be quite a bit higher.

[Duck!]

4700 Tiagra chains & cassettes are subtle evolutions of the 4600 equivalents, not anything groundbreaking. Although 10-sp. the shifters & derailleurs draw heavily on the geometry of 11-sp. bits and won't mix with other 10-sp. components. I suspect, but do not know for certain that they will play nicely with 11-sp. bits.