Chain Stretch - Good News...

[Randochap]

All chains are not created equal

I guess the question is ... what chains are we talkin" about?

7 speed, 8-speed, 9 or 10? How about the new campag 11-sp 5.5 mm. This one is really gonna hit you in the wallet!

7 quid for a chain checker!

I can't remeber the last time I phaffed with a tape measure. Like since my wife got oil on her dress pattern!

 

[yello]

I guess the question is ... what chains are we talkin" about?

A very very good point.

The KMC 8 speeds that I use on my fixed don't have a long life span at all. But then they do get a bit of hammering (comparatively). Then again, at £4 each, I don't really care.

The KMC 10sp chains I use on the audax bike are way more robust. I looked after the original campag chain I had on it but cost prohibited me replacing like for like.

 

[numbnuts]

I get about 6500 miles out of my chain

 

[byegad]

Chain life is a strange thing. Some people change every 1000 miles and need to! Some change at 1000 miles and don't need to. Others get much more wear from their chain. I used to get around 7000 miles from my commuter bike's chain with minimal wear on the sprockets, so much so that I could wear out three chains before the cassette needed changing. It all depends on how you ride and where you ride I guess.

Personally, I do feel that over cleaning especially using degreasing fluids can shorten chain life. If you wash out the bearing grease you will wear the chain prematurely.

My chains get cleaned every so often, well when they look too dirty, with a copious amount of GT85 sprayed on as the chain is dragged through a cloth and a toothbrush is used to clean the less accessable parts. Once clean I use a propriety chain oil to re lube it and away I go again.

 

[woohoo]

I guess the question is ... what chains are we talkin" about?

7 speed, 8-speed, 9 or 10? How about the new campag 11-sp 5.5 mm. This one is really gonna hit you in the wallet!

7 quid for a chain tool!
I can't remeber the last time I phaffed with a tape measure. Like since my wife got oil on her dress pattern!

If only..

To install the 11spd chain requires an unprecedented degree of precision. Which is why Campagnolo requires you to use their UT-CN300 chain tool for installation. By using the UT-CN300, the chain is perfectly stabilized, allowing you to install the Ultra Link with the exacting care the design demands.

Ribble price is £98.96 and that's in their 10% off sale.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=CAMPTOOL370000000000

 

[BentMikey]

And of course it's not really chain "stretch", but only wear.

 

[hambones]

6-7000 miles out of my chain so far with plenty of life left in it. Will replace chain and cassette when necessary which will prove far cheaper than keep changing needlessly after 1000 miles!

 

[Randochap]

brain fart

If only..




Ribble price is £98.96 and that's in their 10% off sale.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=CAMPTOOL370000000000

Sorry, I meant chain checker for 7 quid. They cost around $14 here.

edited in post above.

Yes, the new Campag chain tool is ridiculous. But, hey if you can afford the new 11-sp ....

 

[Randochap]

Penny wise

6-7000 miles out of my chain so far with plenty of life left in it. Will replace chain and cassette when necessary which will prove far cheaper than keep changing needlessly after 1000 miles!

Though you will eventually have to change both, it is far more economical to change a chain at the aformentioned wear point a couple of times than to replace both a short time after the critical .75, when the "stretched" chain wears the cassette beyond help.

If you've put out, say, £100 for a Campag cassette, you can buy 3 Wippermans and a round of beer for that.

 

[hambones]

Not so re: above. Chain £18, cassette £35, after 8000 miles compared to 8 chains every 1000 miles - as they say, 'you do the math' ;-)

 

[fossyant]

All depends upon what you are running every day, all weathers....

I run my MTB (commuter) with Tiagra cassettes (£15) and KMC X8-99 chains (£10-£15 depending upon where you get them) - go through a casette and a couple of chains per annum...

I only use about 5/6 gears for my commute, big ring all the time (only a 46 on an MTB), but use mainly the 15,17,19,21.....

I'm seriously considering a fixie as the main gears are just two (15/17), but I have a few long drags.....

I wouldn't run my 7400 Dura Ace Kit every day...just a stupid waste of cash...

 

[Randochap]

Not so re: above. Chain £18, cassette £35, after 8000 miles compared to 8 chains every 1000 miles - as they say, 'you do the math' ;-)

The problem is we're basing our calculations on different models.

Now I've waded in, let me clarify my position:

1000 miles is a very short chain life, but quite possible off-road or due to over-lubrication, combined with grit, muck what-have-you.

3000 miles is more like it for a 10-sp chain (again, depending on how the owner maintains it).

Again, there are no simple mathmatical models I know that account for the diverse approaches to drivetrain maintenance we are seeing here.

But let's make sure, as I said, we're comparing apples to apples. 10 sp. is not the same as 8 -- that's why I run 8 on my commuter/winter bikes.

Lastly, I'm glad you're not a customer. We'd go out of business.

 

[spandex]

NO!!! You have just spoilt it all - I'm not particularly fast, I know that, but there is no need to tell me that my cr@p speed is the only reason my chain is still alive!!!

Sorry Hun

Relax. My chain's done 1600 miles now. Spandex is just an animal

That I am

 

[Bodhbh]

A Park Tool chain stretch indicator!

Take it back and demand a refund.

How to decide if you need a new chain.

Park the bike against something solid, like a brick wall....

That's quite useful, I bought the Park Tool but can't quite figure out how to use it. Seems to flop a bit of metal on top of the chain, but you can almost roll it about to sit where you like. First principles I can understand.

What 2 points do you use for the ruler measurement? Between 2 pins?

 

[4F]

That's quite useful, I bought the Park Tool but can't quite figure out how to use it. Seems to flop a bit of metal on top of the chain, but you can almost roll it about to sit where you like. First principles I can understand.

What 2 points do you use for the ruler measurement? Between 2 pins?

From Sheldon...

The standard way to measure chain wear is with a ruler or steel tape measure. This can be done without removing the chain from the bicycle. The normal technique is to measure a one-foot length, placing an inch mark of the ruler exactly in the middle of one rivet, then looking at the corresponding rivet 12 complete links away. On a new, unworn chain, this rivet will also line up exactly with an inch mark. With a worn chain, the rivet will be past the inch mark.

This gives a direct measurement of the wear to the chain, and an indirect measurement of the wear to the sprockets:

• If the rivet is less than 1/16" past the mark, all is well.
• If the rivet is 1/16" past the mark, you should replace the chain, but the sprockets are probably undamaged.
• If the rivet is 1/8" past the mark, you have left it too long, and the sprockets (at least the favorite ones) will be too badly worn. If you replace a chain at the 1/8" point, without replacing the sprockets, it may run OK and not skip, but the worn sprockets will cause the new chain to wear much faster than it should, until it catches up with the wear state of the sprockets.
• If the rivet is past the 1/8" mark, a new chain will almost certainly skip on the worn sprockets, especially the smaller ones