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Do you run your chain and cassette until the cassette won't take a new chain and then change both or at what stage do you put a new chain on? Or do you run a couple of chains so they wear at the same rate?
Chain checker - when it needs to get changed, it gets changed. I don't like buying new X0 blocks.
Chain checker .75 gets changed......when rear cassette looks knackered it gets changed......any random burrs just get taken off with a mini dremmel makes them last a lot longer as does keeping the drivetrain clean and lubed.
Once a year - when I change the rest of the drive train. Tried chain checkers but found it made bugger all difference.
My chain costs about £20 ! I let it wear together with the rest of the drive chain components.
Doing the whole lot means there is no faffing with slight worn bits and new bits. One job once a year - all compatible and all cheap stuff. SLX, 1x10 etc.
Once a year - when I change the rest of the drive train.
That pretty much what i have been doing, run it till it is worn so much it starts slipping then change the lot, i lube it every ride which seems to extend the life a fair bit.
When the bike industry tells me my gears are out of date
Never had a drive train wear to the point of slippage.
Throw some Muc Off in a chain cleaning device after every grubby ride and crank the pedals a few times then hose (no need to clean the rest of the bike).
A couple of minutes well spent
Tried the chain checker thing. At .75 worn, i still found I needed a new cassette. This also meant every 6 months. Now, seem to get between 9 and 10 months changing both, then every other change a new 32 up front. Pretty nasty grinding paste conditions locally in winter. Still on 3x9 by the way. ( awaits wrath of the marketed to 🙂 ).
Trying swapping two chains every two months this year to see if it extends the life of my cassette as I bought two chains and two cassettes in the last 12 months.
Never had a drive train wear to the point of slippage.
Out of interest how much riding do you do?
I don't do massive miles but ride every day something like 1,600miles a year mixed road/trail, been about a year since last changed the chain/cassette. What kind of miles are others doing before a change of chain?
Current chain on my Spearfish had just shy of 2,500km on it before WEMBO in October - 6 months of riding. It's only just hit 0.5 since then with maybe another 800km - cheaper chain this time.
Chain checkers are in the main useless unless you get the £40 Shimano one.
I have three chains on constant rotation, changed and cleaned in white spirit after almost every ride. Been doing that for 2 years now and when I've checked with a metal rule over 12 links they show Zero 'stretch'.
Out of interest how much riding do you do?
10-15 miles twice a week off-road
On 2 bikes - one still 9 speed
Mainly on the Malvern hills though which is quite forgiving on parts - very little slop and grinding paste
Whenever I go to Wales though the drive gets a thorough cleaning!!
I just let chains and cassettes wear together now and change them when they're ****ed.
have been down the whole swappy swappy route to try and extend life years ago but when cassettes are £12-20 and chains £8-12 I really don't see the point of trying to keep up with a schedule and paying an extra £8 for a chain to try and extend the life of a £20 cassette.
If i was on XX1 or something with an expensive cassette I might behave differently.
But then I have an XTR cassette on my XC race bike that's about 5 years old, cos it only ever does race miles it wears a lot slower than the other bikes, I think it's had a couple of chains in that time.
What kind of miles are others doing before a change of chain?
12,000 miles on the road SS and it was still working at that point but I changed the whole lot anyway as it made terrible noises and scared me 😉
A lot less on other bikes but it depends entirely on conditions they are used in so a bit pointless comparing.
Isn't the problem with wearing chain and cassette until buggered, that it hastens the demise of the chainring(s) as well? The chain rides higher up the teeth wearing them more quickly, so you have to replace chain, rings, and cassette each time.
I always push the chain too far though...it's easily done!
In our hire place it's 2 chains per cassette, 2 cassettes per crankset. Seems to workout pretty well. It's seldom we get to a second crankset as the bikes are replaced every year (and we're only open April - October)
1500-2000miles on mtbs
4000-5000miles on roadbikes
change chain, cassette and rings.
****ing around with 3 chains per cassette is for folk who faff and obsess about their bikes more than actually ride IMO
Chain checkers are in the main useless unless you get the £40 Shimano one.
How do you figure? You can just measure with a ruler, it's not scientific.
I change my MTB at 0.75, to avoid trashing the expensive cassette. My road bike I run the whole lot into the ground and change when it's utterly ****ed. Chain rings are about 30,000 miles old now. Big one's a bit spiky. Had many chains and cassettes on that though.
I did a test.
I used to do the Park Tools chain checker deal, changing chains every time they told me to. I'd get through one maybe two chains and then the next new one would skip on the cassette and I'd have to buy a new cassette.
Then I stopped doing that and run one chain, one cassette, until destruction.
Guess what?... My cassette and chain last a hell of a lot longer and I'm not binning perfectly fine chains and cassettes. Worn cassette meshes with worn chain still basically and takes a very long time before it's all too worn and skips.
I'm utterly convinced that the chain checker business is false economy, but people are convinced it saves them a cassette because they can change a chain and not have to change the cassette, but fail to realise the cassette is still being replaced just as frequently, or more so.
As for wearing chainrings, I haven't noticed any problems there. My bike will die before my chainring will.
Oh, and thing I found and I notice with other people, you can be convinced your cassette needs changing because it starts skipping, when in fact the mech just needs re-indexing or gear cable needs replacing.
Still, Park Tools make a lot of money out of chain checkers, and chain companies out of chains. Coincidence? 😉 (and Park Tools even changed their checker to make it a lower tolerance so you now change the chain more frequently still).
Oh, and caveat to all this... if your chain prematurely dies and cannot be fixed with a missing link, then you are stuffed and will have to use a new cassette if you're forced to use a new chain. That's the only factor where changing the chain very early helps. But with missing links it's really a none issue, and with a KMC chain the likelyhood of it snapping anyway is low.
Once a year - when I change the rest of the drive train. Tried chain checkers but found it made bugger all difference.My chain costs about £20 ! I let it wear together with the rest of the drive chain components.
Doing the whole lot means there is no faffing with slight worn bits and new bits. One job once a year - all compatible and all cheap stuff. SLX, 1x10 etc.
This,
I'm utterly convinced that the chain checker business is false economy, but people are convinced it saves them a cassette because they can change a chain and not have to change the cassette, but fail to realise the cassette is still being replaced just as frequently, or more so.
Nope, I definitely get better life out of a cassette by changing chains. Do agree if you're running cheap cassettes, but with XX1/XX cassettes its worth keeping on top of chain wear IMO.
thered - Member
Chain checkers are in the main useless unless you get the £40 Shimano one.I have three chains on constant rotation, changed and cleaned in white spirit after almost every ride. Been doing that for 2 years now and when I've checked with a metal rule over 12 links they show Zero 'stretch
I would hope so. A rule won't indicate roller wear tho
I change them every 1500 on my commuter, I find it crisps up the shifting no end on my 9 speed setup. The fast bike is the same as well. Unfortunately I don't clock the miles up on my bouncy one to need a new chain.
mtb agreed not changing killed my xx1 cassette first time round, 0.75 on a xx1 chain seems to be about 1500 miles local/peaks/dalby/sherwood, i change at that now
road, my KMC X10 SL is 11,000km in, first 2000kmish on a SRAM Red cassette, the rest on an Ultegra, chain is way over the 1.0 wear mark, but until it starts slipping, why change it? happy to bin the cassette when i change,
When changing the cassette why aren't many changing the cassette as well?
I've always swapped chainrings and cassette together as the chainrings always look well past it. Before SLX steel toothed middles, on LX and XT aluminium rings this was ridiculous
Having tried the 3 chains (change at 0.75, 1%) approach I didn't like that the middle chain didn't spend long on the bike. As to a 3rd chain slipping on a part worn cassette, it used to take me 1-2 short-medium rides to ride the chain in, which never really slipped all that much tbf
Am currently on a 2 chain system. Change at some point between 0.75 and 1% stretch whenever I catch it
Reason being my problem with running it all to death (one chain) is I'm finding the chain is regularly snapping before I consider the slipping to me a problem, more so at the end of a casettes life smoother and smoother pedalling becomes necessary
Having that extra chain seems to get some more life out of it all
I change when the cheaker reaches 0.75. Typically I get 3 chains on one cassette. I've never needed to change the chainrings. But I never keep the same cranks for more than a couple of years.
My fixed gear did 18months commuting on the original chain. I was happy with that.
Another case of paralysis by analysis.
I run mid range Shimano stuff and change it when it's completely ****ed. It's not worth turning it into an episode of Mythbusters.
Agreed, until you add expensive cassettes into the mix.
I snap chains fairly regularly once they wear. I'd get a year out of an XX1 cassette most likely, which is pointless when I can get 2-3 times as long by spending £40 on chains.
SLX groupset... Absolutely. Trash it, replace the lot. Life's too short.
Which is why I'd never by a daft cassette. There's nothing to gain.
Bling cassettes are on my list of 'don't bother' parts. Along with carbon rims and anything made by Hope.
There's nothing to gain.
10-42
KMC chain... change at < 100 miles because it will have snapped
SRAM chain... change at a couple of 1000km but still not worn. just change it anyway.
andytherocketeer - Member
KMC chain... change at < 100 miles because it will have snapped
SRAM chain... change at a couple of 1000km but still not worn. just change it anyway.
My experience is totally the opposite. I'm tracking the mileage on Strava Gear at the moment and I'm clocking 950miles on one KMC and just over 1000 on another. Both done mud, crud, slop, sandy shite, and hammered a lot of hills, even Alps. Not once snapped. Even if it did snap, just slap in a missing link, and continue on.
SRAM I used to snap all the time. Though again I just used links to repair them. KMC, while I carry the links I only ever donate them to other people who snap their SRAM chains, though most I know have moved to KMC now. Occasionally you get someone in the group with Shimano and may as well leave them to it as it's a right faff with the pins, then they stick the chain on the wrong direction and have to do it again 😉 .
XT cassette on one bike and SRAM 1050 on the other, both are still going fine and don't look noticeably worn, and no skipping.
I think also my chain lube regime makes a difference too. Since switching to Squirt I'm not grinding crud into the chain and cassette all the time.
Just replaced the chainset on my commuter (Cannondale Badboy) due to the pedals being ****ed and stuck in the cranks.
The chain and cassette where 4 years old of almost every weekday commuting (8 miles each way), but the old chain meshed fine with the new chain rings.
Decided to replace the rusty old chain as it was in a bit of a state, and the new one skipped like mad on the old cassette. So now I have a new cassette too. Pretty cheap to fix and good value per mile (all 8 speed steel stuff).
The my MTB its all XT 9 speed, and I'll run it until it's all done for. One reason I'm not into sram 11 speed, you either spend a fortune on the cassettes, or on chains...
I run Deore/SLX/XT stuff,... I think my chain is about 3000 miles old on the MTB now.
on the more recent Charge, it's about 1000
I have had 10spd for about a year, changed the chain at 0.75% and it was slipping on the cassette so had to change that too, luckily the Hope Trex (being bigger) was Ok to carry on being used. I'll change at 0.5% next time.
RF N/W seems to be doing well.
tracking the mileage (kilometerage) in a spreadsheet rather than strava:
SRAM anything between 1200 and 2900 km per chain, all changed because I felt like it
KMC 153km
that's on the MTB
on the CX bike (all SRAM chains, same as MTB) current one is over 2000km. need to check stats at home, since my google spreadsheet say it's still original chain (probably is).
So i am probably doing the right thing then running sub £40 9sp XT cassette & Sram chain whatever CRC has on offer at the time and run till Knackered and change the lot.
I run them until they die, but I only use XT cassettes and Sram hollow pin chains so its only about £65 when they are dead.
Seem to last a while, but I run lightish lube (Squirt) and keep then clean.
SRAM anything between 1200 and 2900 km per chain, all changed because I felt like it
KMC 153km
You changed a SRAM chain after 750 miles? was it really [i]THAT[/i] bad?
Is the KMC a typo?
Do people really change a chain under 1500 miles of use?
between 1/16" and 1/8" over 12" per 12 links.
because I felt like it. was not bad at all. just felt like it. have a stash of useable old ones and a stash of new ones.
KMC not a typo. sub 100 miles. if it had the decency to let me finish that ride, it would have been over 100 miles. brand new chain, brand new cassette, brand new chain rings too. and oddly there was even one comment on here when I mentioned it saying how badly I'd looked after the chain. 153km. 3 rides (well 2.5) of the equivalent of towpath and road. how much maintenance am I supposed to have done? complete strip down degrease and relube (twice) ?
sometimes theose low milage change of chains is immediately before a week in the Alps or somewhere. call it precautionary. easier to pop a new chain on at home than on the trail.
Do people really change a chain under 1500 miles of use?
I just replaced a Shimano XT 10 speed chain after 938km of use, showing fully worn on my chain checker. 1000km is a pretty normal life for one of my chains...
Do people really change a chain under 1500 miles of use?
Yep, I normally get between 500-1000km before the shifting starts getting a bit iffy and chain suck becomes a problem.
Do people really change a chain under 1500 miles of use?
Yep! As per those above, about 800 miles or so. When it's buggered.
Road bike was probably over 10,000Km when I changed it but it was well worn being over half a link in 12 longer!
Changed the chain on my hardtail at 1600km or so, was just on the 0.75% wear indication but sounded quite crunchy. That distance has included a lot of muddy miles.
Use a light lube very sparingly on my chains.