Chain gone pop question

[Tynan]

Howdy, the 10 speed (Xenon groupset) chain parted at the lights today

Suffice to say the chain tool was at home but it was fairly close to Liverpool Street, yes I was in cleats

Anyhow the chain is 13 months old, moderately well looked after and done about 6,000 miles of Lahnden

Should I just get three? links and splice them in myself, and will the chain tool I bought a long time ago fit 10 speed lnks ok? Or will the man in the LBS have somethign that does it in seconds rather than me in half an hour

Or should I lash out on a new chain and will it run ok with the rest of the oily bits?

ta

 

[4F]

If your chain has done 6000 I would say it is probably time for a new one.

 

[PatrickPending]

yep 6000 is a good life for a chain methinks, though check its wear either by measuring it or using a chain checker. Remember if you get a new chain and the old one was worn enough to wear away the rest of the drivetrain, that a new casette, and possubly chainset and jockey wheels may be required.

see

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

 

[kyuss]

If your chain has done 6000 I would say it is probably time for a new one.

+1. You might need a new cassette too after that kind of distance though.

 

[Tynan]

a casette only lasts a year/60o0 miles?

jeez

thanks all, see what LBS says I guess

 

[4F]

a casette only lasts a year/60o0 miles?

jeez

thanks all, see what LBS says I guess

If you replace the chain before the point of no return then you should be able to use 3 chains to every 1 cassette.

 

[andrew_s]

If you've done 6000 miles, it's very unlikely that a new chain will work on your existing cassette.
Your choices are to either fix up the old chain, and carry on riding, or to replace both chain and cassette. To fix the chain, use a chain tool to get the bits of broken link off, then join with a KMC missing link or SRAM powerlink.

If you take the carry on riding approach, you may get further chain breakages if the initial breakage was due to wear and tear rather than a duff gearchange or something. Also if you carry on too long, you may have to replace one or more of the chainrings as well as the cassette when the transmission eventually stops working properly.

If you get a new chain and cassette, and don't want to have to get a new cassette next time, you have to keep a check on chain wear and replace the chain before it's worn enough to damage the cassette sprockets. The trouble is that this can result in needing a new chain surprisingly quickly (down to 700 miles), depending on your riding conditions and how you clean and lubricate the chain. Paying £20 - £45 for a new 10-speed chain every 7-800 miles isn't cheap.

Full info from Sheldon, here

It's a matter of opinion whether it's best to change chains frequently, or to just leave them on until everything is worn out, then get new chain/cassette/chainrings as required.
An intermediate strategy is to get 3 or 4 chains, then rotate between them every 400 miles or so.
It depends on the relative cost of your parts, and the importance you attach to your time.

 

[Tynan]

it honestly never occured to me that a new and decent quality bike occasionaly cleaned and kept oiled would wear out the chain/cassette in a year of commuting

can they really not make them to last longer than that?

as you say, it's some lively wear and tear upkeep init, ah well

a 10 speed chain is 20-45 pounds, christ almightly

 

[jayce]

Nice kmc gold good chain will do the trick

 

[Mr Pig]

it honestly never occurred to me that a new bike would wear out the chain/cassette in a year of commuting

Most people don't notice. Your average Joe buys a bike and just uses it, paying little attention to maintenance, until something breaks or stops working. Their chain may be very worn but as the gears themselves are too they all fit together and work ok. Some people with thicker chains and lower mileage bikes may go for many years without changing anything.

If your chain hadn't snapped you'd still be riding the bike with no thought to chain wear. It's only at times like this that you go a bike shop and think you're being ripped off because they say that you need a stack of parts when you thought that only the chain was at fault.

I'd bite the bullet, buy a new chain and whatever else you need, but make sure you buy a high-quality chain and gears so that you'll get many miles out of them.

 

[yello]

a 10 speed chain is 20-45 pounds, christ almightly

I feel your pain Tynan.

I spend around £200 a year per bike just on chains, cassettes and chain rings. And I don't do a huge mileage. But, in honesty, it's not really that much to keep the bikes on the road... I try to tell myself!

 

[John the Monkey]

Chains are a consumable part - if you don't change them, so's the rest of your drivetrain, sadly...

Invest in a chain checker (£3) or a steel rule, and check every time you do your other maintenance. A chain rotation system can get more life out of your cassettes too (I use £10 KMC chains, so the economics make sense for me).

Thread on rotating chains here; http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=17515

 

[Tynan]

The chaps in the shot did the thing on the chain and said it wasn't that bad and the cassette apparently has some life in it still

Cue sucking on teeth when they realised it was a campag 10 speed chain, pins had to be ordered in, but it's ready for collection early doors tomorrow, a couple of spare pins and a whatever super link left over for spares, just in case

although I now know that I need a fancy chain tool to do the fancy campag rivets, which makes me fel a lot better about not having my chain tool last night, saved me from wrecking the chain I suspect

so to be clear, if I replace the chain every so many miles the casette will last longer?

I dimly recall the chain threads, seem to recall that the cost of extra chains offset any savings in casettes?

 

[John the Monkey]

I dimly recall the chain threads, seem to recall that the cost of extra chains offset any savings in casettes?

Depends what you buy.

Ultegra cassettes are now £40 on Chain Reaction, the KMC chains I use are £15 (£40 for 3). I think I'm at the point where this cassette has lasted a little over twice as long as my previous one now, and the chains still have some life in them (not at the .75 mark on the checker, let alone the 1.0 mark).

If you use fancier chain, I guess the economics look less good.

 

[Tynan]

not exactly a lot in it though is there, what are yu saving over a year?

20 quid?