Feedback Sports Thru-Axle Chain Keeper review – very simple yet clever

Feedback Sports' eco friendly Chain Keeper is our new favorite workshop accessory

Feedback sports through axle chain keeper
(Image: © GuyKesTV)

BikePerfect Verdict

Feedback Sport’s chain bobbin is a smart, eco friendly, servicing/cleaning simplifying addition to your workshop/travel routine at a great price.

Pros

  • +

    Simple, super effective design

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    Eco friendly

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    Affordable

Cons

  • -

    None really

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Feedback Sports introduced us to a whole range of new tools and workstands at the Bike Connection Agency meet up this spring. They also told us how they’ve created their own Sustainability Action Group to reduce their eco impact with recycled plastic-free packaging and increased use of sustainable bio plastics. Their new Thru-Axle Chain Keeper is a great example of applying those principles to a simple, well executed and affordable workshop tool that you might be amazed how often you use. 

Feedback sports through axle chain keeper vertical angle

There are a few 3D printed alternatives to Feedback's roller but none have the hard wearing, hard working eco credentials (Image credit: GuyKesTV)

Design

To be honest there’s not a ton to talk about here. The Thru-Axle Chain Keeper is basically a narrow bobbin about the size of an 11-tooth sprocket. The hole through the centre lets you slide it onto any 12mm rear axle while raised edges on either side hold the chain in place. 

The roller wheel is made from a renewable bio-based, PA56 polyamide plastic and comes on a recycled plastic header card.

Performance

Once you’ve removed your rear wheel for cleaning, transporting or servicing you slide the through-axle back into the bike, slotting the Chain Keeper on part way through. Running the chain over it provides enough of a stretch to get the chain and rear mech engaged rather than hanging loose. It also means you don’t get chain cleaner/lube from the chain onto the axle or grease from the axle onto the chain which is possible if you just drape the chain over the bare axle.

Because the roller spins and slides back and forth freely you can spin the cranks and/or even shift through the full range. That makes chain cleaning or servicing much easier although obviously you can’t check indexing without a cassette in place. Adding tension to the chain also stops everything slapping around if you’re moving the bike round or boxing it up with the back wheel removed. 

With no moving parts, there’s nothing to go wrong with the roller wheel, while the high-density plastic is very solvent resistant too – so it should last for years even in a busy workshop.

Feedback sports through axle chain keeper in action

The roller slides onto the axle to keep the chain and rear mech taught and lets you turn the pedals for cleaning too (Image credit: GuyKesTV)

Verdict

Feedback Sports Thru-Axle Chain Keeper isn’t revolutionary in design or purpose, but it’s really nicely made in an ecologically sensitive way for an affordable cost and it’s become one of my favorite workshop/travel accessories since I bought it back from Italy.

Tech specs: Feedback Sports Thru-Axle Chain Keeper

  • Price: $10 / £10 / €10
  • Options: Anodized alloy QR version also available ($49)
  • Weight: 17g 
Guy Kesteven
Technical-Editor-at-Large

Guy has been working on Bike Perfect since we launched in 2019. Hatched in Yorkshire he's been hardened by riding round it in all weathers since he was a kid. He spent a few years working in bike shops and warehouses before starting writing and testing for bike mags in 1996. Since then he’s written several million words about several thousand test bikes and a ridiculous amount of riding gear. To make sure he rarely sleeps and to fund his custom tandem habit, he’s also penned a handful of bike-related books and talks to a GoPro for YouTube, too.


Current rides: Cervelo ZFS-5, Forbidden Druid V2, Specialized Chisel, custom Nicolai enduro tandem, Landescape/Swallow custom gravel tandem

Height: 180cm

Weight: 69kg