DaveReading
Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
- Location
- Reading, obvs
I have always assumed that the act of spinning the crank would induce the oil to find its way into the bushes and rollers.
I don't have the patience to wait 10 minutes.
How many miles before changing chain and Cassette?
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I have always assumed that the act of spinning the crank would induce the oil to find its way into the bushes and rollers.
I don't have the patience to wait 10 minutes.
That’s fair comment. My 3k+ miles is probably higher than average as I’m a pensioner, ride in a flat part of the country and don’t put much of a strain on the drivetrain.
However, I do clean and lube regularly, as I’m retired I have the time!
Glow worm
Legendary Member
- Location
- Near Newmarket
Chain and cassette get a clean/ lube once a week- I normally get 3,500 miles out of them before I replace both.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
I use a chain measure tool to decide when to replace the chain. I will only replace the cassette if it slips with new chain. I always have a spare cassette sitting around just in case. I don't track local ride mileage , so just go on the basis of the tool telling me wear. I oil as necessary based on miles covered and in what conditions.
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
As I often start a post nowadays with...when I was fit....
My figures used to compare fairly well with yours.
KMC, Campag, shimano, Sram, I've used them all and only ever got around 1200 miles to a chain with 9 and 10 speed and that was with a fairly good maintenance regime.
Like you I used to wonder how guys get appreciably bigger mileages and while I cant speak for others, at the time my riding style would be (in my own little way) punishing. Out the saddle and hammer up inclines, push push push at every opportunity, this must have some bearing on chain life.
Nowadays...I suspect I'd get a lot more out of a chain, those days are gone forever
I dont bother too much about chain wear. I know the feeling if riding with a new chain and cassette. It just feels more responsive and smoother. So when I sense that I have done a fair milage, I change the chain/cassette in the spring to give me a clean running bike through the summer months. In the winter when you pick up all the dirt and grime, I just keep going with the old ones. I would avoid changing mid winter or end of summer, just to get the new stuff all dirty very quickly.
IanSmithCSE
Guru
- Location
- Worcester, Worcestershire
Good morning,
I don't really track chain life but it is well into the multi thousands of miles on my regular use bike.
But I ride a 42/52 chain ring and 11,13,15,17,19,21,23,25 cassette, and nearly all of my riding is on the big ring and the 17 and 19 sprockets with an occasional drop to 42*21. The means a chainline that is almost as straight as a single speed.
Do you ride big chainring and big sprockets giving a quite bendy chainline?
Bye
Ian
I don't really track chain life but it is well into the multi thousands of miles on my regular use bike.
But I ride a 42/52 chain ring and 11,13,15,17,19,21,23,25 cassette, and nearly all of my riding is on the big ring and the 17 and 19 sprockets with an occasional drop to 42*21. The means a chainline that is almost as straight as a single speed.
Do you ride big chainring and big sprockets giving a quite bendy chainline?
Bye
Ian
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
What chainlube are you using?
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
There are two main options for dealing with chain and cassette wear. Either fit a new cassette and chain and run it till it skips. Or fit a new cassette and chain, replace the chain at the 0.5% elongation point (with an assured measuring mechanism - those slot in chain 'tools' are notoriously random), and after the third chain, replace both and start again (which is what the Halford guy has based his advice on). Sometimes you can get four chains per cassette in this way, but I suspect this depends on prompt replacement of each chain as it hits 0.5%. @User9609 has done some interesting work/experiments on chain wear (search on here for it).
700 miles and 2100 miles for chain and cassette life is appalling(ly low). Regular lubrication and maybe a serious clean at the halfway life point (for me 1000km) should increase the OP's chain life significantly (ie double).
My chains need replacing at about 2200km if I'm trying to get multiple chains per cassette. When I have 'missed' that point I just revert to chain and cassette wearing together (first option described above). Last two times for me running the chain and cassette on till the chain skips, their life was 5269km and 5736km. When changing after the chain has elongated (ie the multiple chain to cassette option) a key point here is not to throw the old chain away until you're content that the new chain will run on all the sprockets without skipping (under power ie on a hill). If it does, just refit the old chain and ride on.
Maths will show that running chain and cassette on together is economic for up to 9 speed drivetrains (£16 cassette and £9 chain) - as opposed to faffing around measuring etc. 10 speed and above, the higher cost of the cassette means it's worth trying to run several chains on the same cassette.
I'm another who doesn't really track it and if I'm honest I don't have a chain routine. I generally know it needs oil because it gets a bit noisier, which reminds me I need to oil it. I also tend to ride a chain to destruction and change it and the cassette at the same time. 4000 miles seems to be the norm on the roadbike. This is probably a bad and wasteful thing to do but I always forget. i do have a park tool wear thingy and the current chain is over .75 but under 1. I think it's reached 4k so after this summer I shall probably replace it and the cassette and all my brake and gear cables, brake blocks and handlebar tape because it's a while since I've done that. And that's about as accurate as I get with maintenance miles.
Same here. Cassette and chain get worn into the ground and get changed once a year if needed.
Waterwheel
Regular
By the way when cleaning your bike do not use citrus degreasers as these are acidic and will very slightly corode the chain every time you clean it. Instead just use detergent and water to clean the chain. A chain that is cleaned and relubed at least once a week will last far longer than one that is only occasionally cleaned and relubed. You should be able to get around four months wear out of derailieur chain if it is cleaned weekly or double that for a single speed chain.
DaveReading
Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
- Location
- Reading, obvs
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
I find an 18" steel rule more reliable. But one has to watch the parallax errors, after all 5/1000s (aka 0.5%) of 10 (inch) links is only 1/20th of an inch - only primary school maths required if one works in inches. Calipers are an alternative, but over no more than 6 links (for mine).
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Why a steel rule[r]. This often crops up and the material of the measuring stick is always specified, which I find interesting.
Are the manufacturing tolerances in plastic rule[r]s so poor that the errors introduced are greater than those from eyeballing a measurement of an oily chain? Or is it a question of durability? Environmental friendliness? Or is it something bizarre and cunning like the expansion/contraction of the steel rule[r] will match that of the chain?
Are the manufacturing tolerances in plastic rule[r]s so poor that the errors introduced are greater than those from eyeballing a measurement of an oily chain? Or is it a question of durability? Environmental friendliness? Or is it something bizarre and cunning like the expansion/contraction of the steel rule[r] will match that of the chain?
