Could do with some advice from you knowledgeable folks please.....

[Crackle]

You will eventually have to replace it right. So why not buy the new one now and then you can compare them next to each other to see whether the original is worn. Just a thought.

 

[Randochap]

Or ... buy a new chain, put it on; if it skips like bu**ery, go back to the LBS and shell out for a cassette.

One can usually tell right away if it is not too bad and will wear in after a day or two.

 

[jimboalee]

Your sprocket teeth don't look too bad. If the chain measures 12 1/8" over 12 links, replace it.
I have just nipped out to the bike sheds to have a look at the sprockets on my Dawes Giro 500. Its done well over 10,000 miles and the teeth are considerably worse than yours. The chain is almost at its limit, but the bike still feels sweet. I did the Solihull D run, about 50 miles, yesterday and there wasn't a missed beat.
You have no need to change your cassette.

 

[grhm]

the Mickle method below

..snip..
(2) Wipe your chain with a rag (Cotton. Old T shirts or sheets are ideal) until no more black gunk comes off on the rag. I do it with the bike in a work stand, set the bike in top gear and drag the lower run of chain through the rag.

..snip..

(4) Wipe the chain until the rag comes clean.

..snip..

No degreaser. No chain cleaning machine. Job done in four minutes.

Repeat as often as you like, the more often you do it the cleaner your chain will be and the longer it will last.

I find it hard to reconcile the 'wipe until clean' with 'done in four minutes' - I've tried this and after fifteen minutes the rag is still coming out black.

I'll admit I don't clean and lube as often as I should, but the first time I tried my bike was only 2 weeks old (~60 on-road miles) and I could not get the rag to come back clean.

Am I doing something wrong or do I just get a more persistant grade of gunk on my local roads?

 

[randombadger69]

I measure chain wear as 12 1/8" over 12 links. Hooked teeth are a visual thing. If the teeth are hooked, the new chain won't seat perfectly.
Yes, the advice about changing chain and cassette is good, but if the bike has only done just over 2000 miles, was it being ridden along a sandy beachside cyclepath? 2000 miles is not a great distance. I would expect 10000 miles from a chain.

Haha, the on-going debate about milage out of a chain. I get 1200-1500 miles from a chain and then the cassette definately needs changing. (this is on my go anywhere but mostly on road 559 x 40 MTB). I prefer to change the chain and cassette more frequently and get more use out of the chainrings.

I fitted a 9spd W/M chain to a customers bike recently after 900 miles and it just ran on the old cassette, without complaint.

There are too many variables, pedaling style, terrain, how well the chain is maintained etc.

(Even Campag chains don't do 10,000 miles!). I have a customer that pedals a high cadence and gets 5k before his C10 is fully worn. I think this is where it differs, ones opinion of "fully worn".

I would rather spend money than have a chain fail whilst pedaling full chat in traffic. My opinion.

 

[randombadger69]

Or ... buy a new chain, put it on; if it skips like bu**ery, go back to the LBS and shell out for a cassette.

One can usually tell right away if it is not too bad and will wear in after a day or two.

Nothing wears "IN".. only out.

 

[jimboalee]

"Nothing wears "IN".. only out.".

Then explain.... Why a mechanical wristwatch SLOWS during its 'Wearing in" period?
Surely, if the mechanism is 'wearing out', it should get looser and SPEED UP!

 

[Panter]

Thanks for the help guys, I now have another question though :?:

My cassette, on CRC, is £8.99. Now, for that price, it simply isn't worth changing the chain to protect the cassette as the chain cost more than the cassette would!

Is there any merit in me buying a "better" cassette? can I expect longer life as that may be the only benefit, I certainly can't fault it's shifting performance.
Or, should I just be thankful to the good people at CRC for ensuring that a replacement cassette costs less than a cheapy rear light and get another one the same?

 

[jimboalee]

You can't beat that for value.

Ribble have Tiagra 9 HG50 ( mine ) for less than CRC.

Time to make a purchase.

 

[randombadger69]

"Nothing wears "IN".. only out.".

Then explain.... Why a mechanical wristwatch SLOWS during its 'Wearing in" period?
Surely, if the mechanism is 'wearing out', it should get looser and SPEED UP!

Cant..

I suppose what i was trying to say was if you put a new chain on a worn cassette it is going to shorten the life of the chain. The term "wear in" is being used in a false manner, because all that is happening is the chain is wearing to the pitch of the worn cassette. Which is no longer 1/2".

Thanks for the help guys, I now have another question though

My cassette, on CRC, is £8.99. Now, for that price, it simply isn't worth changing the chain to protect the cassette as the chain cost more than the cassette would!

Is there any merit in me buying a "better" cassette? can I expect longer life as that may be the only benefit, I certainly can't fault it's shifting performance.
Or, should I just be thankful to the good people at CRC for ensuring that a replacement cassette costs less than a cheapy rear light and get another one the same?

Be thankful that a cassette is cheep like a budgie, because it wears as a "unit" with the chain and should be replaced with the chain.

If you spend out on a M770 cassette all you get is an alloy body to carry the nicely shot peened and chrome plated sprockets (which is a good idea if using an alloy freehub body esp. if your a heaver) as it prevents the steel sprockets "chewing" into the splines. Also you get an alloy lock-ring and some lovely "pick-up" pins on the back of the lowest sprocket for people who don't know how to set their limit-stop screws.

So basically the more you spend the less you get (in terms of weight).

My advice is spend as little as possible on a chain that you are happy is good quality and a basic but functional cassette. Because a chain doesn't care how much the cassette cost it's gonna wear it as it wears.

Hmm.. i should find a less anorak past time ..

Coming back to the wrist watch.. im intrigued now. Surely the reason it slows is because it is wearing things, that are not 100% perfect to themselves, which creates a loss in efficiency, therefore slowing it due to friction?

If this is the case the faces are effectively being machined together.. speaking parallel for a moment it is the same case with replacement cup and cone bearings. The faces of the cones are scarcely machined perfectly (unless higher end shimano and campy units). Teamed with bearings that are not 100% spherical, because this is next to impossible esp. when paying 65p a pack of 22 balls. Which means when setting the bearing preload you often get a tight spot, which dissapears after the cones have worked loose and been re-adjusted.

If all this is the same case in a watch nthen it is wearing material away, therfore out...?!!!?

Rant over, who knows?

 

[jimboalee]

If you put a new chain on a worn sprocket, would the sprocket continue to wear in preference because its case hardening has gone, leaving only a soft metal surface?
The chain rollers are new and hard.

 

[randombadger69]

If you put a new chain on a worn sprocket, would the sprocket continue to wear in preference because its case hardening has gone, leaving only a soft metal surface?
The chain rollers are new and hard.

Ride a worn cassette, i don't give a monkeys.

 

[Panter]

If you spend out on a M770 cassette all you get is an alloy body to carry the nicely shot peened and chrome plated sprockets (which is a good idea if using an alloy freehub body esp. if your a heaver) as it prevents the steel sprockets "chewing" into the splines. Also you get an alloy lock-ring and some lovely "pick-up" pins on the back of the lowest sprocket for people who don't know how to set their limit-stop screws.

So basically the more you spend the less you get (in terms of weight).

Cool, thanks

Cheapo replacement it is then

 

[jimboalee]

For interest.
EVERY week and after EVERY wet ride, I spray the chain with WD40, run it through a wiper and then give it the lightest dribble of 20/50 motor oil.
The bike is two years old next month, has covered 10,500 miles and now requires a replacement chain and cassette.
That's £2.99 for the WD40, ? for the motor oil, ? for some old Tee shirts and £40 for 1 chain and 1 cassette in two years. Not bad.

 

[jimboalee]

I will ride 10,000 miles, and I will ride 10,000 more.
I will be the man who rides to Bike Hut, and pisses up their door.