Chain & Cassette wear - how soon ?

[goo_mason]

I bought a chain-checker recently as I'd done over 1000 miles on the new bike, and right enough it showed it had stretched (though not to the longer extent on the tool).

I fitted a new chain on Friday, and today was the first chance I had to ride it. The chain's slipping in a number of gears, though not all (I guess the slippy ones are the ones I'm in most often and have worn more), so I've had to order a new cassette. I'll refit the old chain tonight until it comes.

So - I thought catching stretch early enough was supposed to prevent damage to the cassette, but obviously not. Just how often do you have to change chains to prevent knackering anything else ? Once every 500 miles ?

(Chain was a Shimano HG-73, cassette is an HG50 12-25).

Perhaps in future I should move to SRAM...

 

[John the Monkey]

Perhaps in future I should move to SRAM...

I like KMC chains myself, and I'm trying out a 3 chain method to lengthen cassette life. The quick link also makes it easier to pop the chain off and clean the grit off the chainset etc

Pro Bike Kit do the KMC X9 93 chain for £9.77 and have some Tiagra cassettes on special at £10.18

 

[goo_mason]

Thanks, John.

I may try that next time. My new chain was £9.99 from CRC, and I got the cassette from them for £14.99 so it wasn't extortionate. I've spent rather too much so far this month (vet bills and pills for the cat, squirrel-proof bird-feeders, the ex's birthday present from wee one etc etc), so I'll probably order a couple of KMCs and a spare cassette next month before prices rise !!

I fitted the chain with a SRAM 9-speed Powerlink as I liked them on my SRAM-equipped MTB

 

[fossyant]

I'm using the X9-99 and 93 on bikes - good chains. Got about 2000-2500 winter commute miles out of a chain and cassette (tiagra) on my MTB

 

[dodgy]

Don't give up on your new chain / old cassette too soon. Sometimes new chains will skip even if you have changed them on time (according to chain checker tools). The good news is that most chains will give up a bit of slack in the first 30 miles or so and the slipping will go.

Dave.

 

[HLaB]

IME with my SRAM and KMC chains I get at least 2 chains to a cassette, I'd probably get more if i looked after them better but with Shimano HG chains I only got 1 chain to a cassette. For me I roughly get around 1500ms out of a chain before the chain checker indicates that I have to replace it.

 

[gbb]

Jeez, i must be the luckiest cyclist around ( sorry if youve heard this before)
My Raleigh Chimera had done around 3500 all year round miles on the original drivetrain, and HG50 chain IIRC
I replaced the chain and left the cassette and chainrings ....no problems whatsoever.
The cassette looks very ok, the chainrings are showing wear, but no skipping or anything.

That reminds me...it's still sitting in the shed, bit of a scrub up, and it's time to go...old faithful

 

[Tynan]

some here change stuff because they think they should I suspect

 

[John the Monkey]

I change according to Sheldon's word, Tynan.

So mote it be.

(Joking aside, chains are cheap, cassettes and chainrings less so - I'd sooner replace the former before they chuff the latter).

 

[cheadle hulme]

How much are cassettes then? My last one was an SRAM 9sp from eBAY for £18 from woolhatshop. Chains are about £10.

The last combo on my bike lasted c2000 miles. About 1.4p per mile. And thats on a commuter that gets rained on and not washed.

If your're that bothered about cost then fair enough, but it seems like a bit of a faff to me.

If a block was £100 and lasted 1000 miles then I might start a chain swapping process. Until then I'd rather keep my hands clean.

 

[02GF74]

i don't use a chain checker but a vernier caliper. Once chain has worn (note: chains do not stretch) to 1 %, which is 127.6 mm for 10 links, then I replace. I am sure I have got away with 3 chains on the same cassette.

Once the cassette has started to go, the chain may jump a little bit on the most frequent cogs but will settle down as the chains wears - after that pooint the cassette goes to Shimano heaven.

 

[John the Monkey]

Depends on the level, CH.

We did some figurings on cost in the linked thread;

I'm using £10 KMC X9 93 chains, so assuming I go for £30 cassettes (Ultegra, at current CRC prices), the rotation method only has to make the cassette last twice as long to have paid for itself (excluding the possibility of chain ring replacement, which I would guesstimate at £36ish (Tiagra level triple) to £55 (Ultegra level).

Of course, the cassette should actually last 3 times longer (3 chains).

 

[upsidedown]

Blimey, i've done over 4000 miles this year on mine, and it's the chain that was on it when i bought it second hand. Still feels and looks good, i wasn't even aware it would need changing soon. The only problem i have is some rounding off of the teeth in 4th, which means i have to go up to 5th and down 1 as it won't catch on the way up.

I guess using downtube friction shifters disguises a lot of problems though as there's no set position for each gear.

 

[Mr Pig]

Why not just put your old chain and cassette back on? they were working fine weren't they? So just run them until dead and then fit your new stuff.

Although by that time you'll need new chain-rings too, but it could be years...

 

[goo_mason]

I wore away the chainrings on my MTB in a year because I didn't know about chains wearing / stretching. When I replaced them and then chain, I found my cassette was also badly worn. So it was an expensive lesson to learn, and hence why I've been checking the road bike's chain. (The chainrings were permanently attached to the cranks and so it was a new set of those, not just a couple of replacement rings).

If I could wait 30 - 60 miles for my new chain to settle in and not slip on my worn cassette, I would - but it's far too dangerous in traffic to be putting the power on and the chain suddenly slips, causing some serious wobbles and destabilisation. This time, a total of just under £25 for a new chain and cassette is worth it from a safety point of view !