Chain / Cassette worn after 250 miles?

Eyon

This cant be right? I've been having some dodgy shifting both up and down around the middle of the cassette. So I go check the chain, after 250 miles its at 0.75 on my Park Tools checker, and looking closer, 3 of the 9 cogs on my cassette are starting to get a bit "hooked".

This explains why the shifting is getting a little ropey, but surely 250 miles is LOW?

I am a heavier (6 foot 1, 85kg before loaded up with gear and full camelbak) rider, and tend to, when riding on trails, stand and mash with the middle front ring and using around 3 or 4 cogs at the back mainly. XC riding i tend to sit and spin faster like if im on my road bike, but i tend to be on the side of strong legs rather than fast legs!

A lot of my riding is in Thetford, which as many may know is a sand base. Would this wear it faster?

Would the combination of the two above cause a cassette and chain to wear so fast? Or is there something I have possibly done fundamentally wrong?

Chain is cleaned and re-lubed after every ride with finish line wet lube, which I will be switching to dry lube after my next ride now the weather is perking up. Bike is kept in good condition and the indexing is near spot on. Dont ever go big to big or small to small either, im in the middle ring 95% of the time.

The chain is the standard Shimano one as supplied, and the cassette is a Shimano HG80

njee20

What's the difference between trails and XC!?

Finish Line wet lube is very sticky, combined with the sand which will then be attracted, and the fact you use the same gears a lot of the time then yes that sounds right. Change the chain now, change your lube, and you may get away without doing the cassette.

Try something cleaner like White Lightning Epic, or Clean Ride. You may need to apply it more often, but it'll stop your chain turning into a gritty, crappy mess.

Eyon

When I mean trails, I mean trail centres, more technical terrain, weaving between trees with shorter bursts of power to keep the speed up then coasting around corners and obstacles. XC I mean literally riding out my front door, and doing the local loops, bridleways, wider paths, not technical stuff where I can sit down and spin faster at higher speeds.

njee20

Semantics shirley, it's all the same! What do you think XC races are?

But anyway... sticky lube + sand + using the same gears most of the time = very short drivetrain life.

robertpb

Sand, natures way of telling you that you should not ride your bike here.

Every time I've ridden in sand I've flushed everything out to make sure it doesn't keep acting as grinding paste.

delta5

Mud, or grit + sticky lube plays a bit part, but I use FL wet lube and ride gritty trails most of the time too, and tbh <250 miles does seem like a short life for a new chain - unless there is something else at play as well.
Were both cassette and chain new? If not, how old (worn) was the cassette when the new chain was fitted?
You may already know - old cassette + new chain can kill new chain fast, and likewise new cassette + old chain can kill cassette fast. However if you change chain before its worn you should get through a few chains before you need to replace the cassette.
Have a read of this - http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Also, when you replace chains consider using KMC - they seem to give better mileage than others.

njee20

Except the X9SLs, which I found to wear incredibly quickly.

Eyon

Bike was new since mile zero with me. I assume it had a few miles of demo work in the shop as it was on display, but nothing major of course. Since I've had it its only done 250-280 miles or there abouts.

So the most likely premature cause of death is the sand + wet lube? Well I am now onto dry lube so that should help. I'll check the chain precisely tonight, and cassette to see if both need replaced.

If so, what are the best ones to go for? I really want a Sram Redwin cassette just because its red, but hear they are like butter and die fast. I guess an XT is a good one to go for? SRAM 9spd chain perhaps? or KMC?

Ian

delta5

KMC X9 chain (light silver, or gold+Ti) and PG980 cassette are a good combo.

The X9 Light Silver chain is a good balance of weight and toughness.

I haven't heard anything bad about the PG990 Redwin, but the PG980 is quite a bit cheaper, only a fraction heavier, and sfaik the cogs are so similar to the PG990 that it makes no practical difference. The anodised spider does make the PG990 blingier though

GHill

PG990 is pretty cheap at Merlin, should you be tempted.

Anonymous

njee20 wrote:

What's the difference between trails and XC!?

One is considered "cool", the other is not

MattJWL

PG990 cassette (redwin red to match my skewers/bolts/tartiness) still going strong after about 500 miles.

I have managed to kill an XT cassette & PG950 chain in one 70 mile very wet & sandy ride, so I can believe 250 miles even if you're cleaning every time. I use Shimano dry lube, it works for me, but I'm sure there are others that work just as well.

cheers
M

beverick

250 miles is just run in for a chain/cassette. I wouldn't expect to even start looking at the chain for 750-1000 miles and two to three times that for the cassette.

Bob

beanieripper

Finishline is the most mucky lube on the planet, hate it. Im using prolink lube on a pg990 cassette, sram or kmc chain and I can get about 2k from a cassette... change your lube

Johnskiii

I ride gritty mountains, sometimes in the wet.
Done 4 thousand miles and counting on my current chain and casette. Chain has snapped twice but Ive simply snapped a spare link in and carried on.

I dont look after my chain or cassette as much as I should either, Wash and oil the bike maybe once a month.

300 miles seems like a very poor return to me, even with your description of your riding style

freeagent

I used to do a lot of off-road driving in Landrovers... we used to do a lot of 'pay and play' days at old quarrys (the 4x4 version of trail centres)
If we went somewhere sandy we could kill wheel bearings after just 2 or 3 trips.. when we stripped them down they were full of sand/grease, which just wore them away.

I can quite believe your drive train is only lasting 250 miles if you are using sticky lube and coating it in sand.

try a dry lube (stuff with graphite or PTFE in it would be a good start) and be proper autistic about cleaning...

skaffen

Sounds similar to my chain over the winter, I ride up on the North York Moors (Guisborough/Great Ayton area) and it is *really* sandy up on the top. I tried a few different oils because Finish Line Wet is really dirty (need to clean the chain after every ride), but I just didn't find anything that worked as well in poor conditions. Tried some of the wax based lubes (White Lightning etc.) and the chain was actually stiff by the time I finished the ride (just sand embedded everywhere). At least the Finish Line kept it all moving. The chain was new on in November and dead by the end of January though, the oil and sand just ended up making the perfect grinding paste. New cassette as well (although that had lasted since the summer).

I think being heavier and taller can make you a bit harder on the drive system, I'm 6'6" and 90kg so can get a bit of torque into things when pedalling, but I'm sure the sand is a big factor.

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

njee20 wrote:

What's the difference between trails and XC!?

One is considered "cool", the other is not

No, I know what the OP means. If I go for a local/XC ride, I'll spend virtually all the time sitting down, just spinning the pedals across something smooth, flat and straight. This is why I now use a road bike for local rides!

Whereas 'trail' riding is actually enjoyable! There are berms and corners and bumps and jumps and *shock horror* hills! For some, their local riding is more 'Xtreme to the max' than my nearest trail centre, so it's subjective really.

Anyhoo.....lots of wet lube + sand = not good for your chain!

dennisn

Have YOU done any adjustments to the bike? Don't overlook the possiblity that you have
somehow caused this problem.

Eyon

Dennisn, I am quite proficient in doing a simple job of indexing. Just because I am not a mechanic does not mean that I will cock it up somehow. Shifting was 100% perfect up and down in all rings before the cassette wore out.

Thanks for the advice though everyone else. I think it must have been the FinishLine Wet Lube + lots of sand made a grinding paste and wore it down faster.

Last week I stripped the cassette down, cleaned it till it looked like new, got a chain cleaner and made the chain gleam again. Also took a look over the offending cassette rings and tried to remove the burrs on the teeth, and things are a little better.

Shifting is a little slower but it will now shift (where it didnt before), might just need an extra turn of the wheel to do it. Should get a few more miles out of it before it needs changing. I know its not the most intelligent thing to do but If they are both knackered, might as well get my monies worth.

Going to order up a SRAM Redwin cassette and the gold coated KMC chain, bling for blings sake.

Anonymous

When replacing cassette and chainrings, if you go for light alloy components they'll wear faster. Steel will last longer. Heavier yes, but cheap and durable.

Gold plated makes no sense to me other than bling. It's expensive and I can't see it would reduce wear. If anything I'd have thought it would increase it as the coating would be very soft and you'd get the same effect as wear on the rollers themselves surely (as you'd be losing a layer of metal).

I just go for a cheap SRAM 951 chain each time and keep a pile of powerlinks with me, matched with a cheap 950 cassette. Gone through 3 pairs of cassettes & chains in 2 years I think. Mostly using dry lube. Wet lube only on days when it's a complete bog out there and the bike is going to get utterly coated in mud.

Change your chain more frequently and you'll reduce frequency of cassette replacement. But really need to replace it if the chain is 1% worn as the new chain may slip on the worn cassette (even if it looks sparklingly clean, as I discovered). Might wear the chain faster too.

Also check the condition of the jockey wheels and the chainrings.

If shifting is tricky, also check the gear cable condition & lube them often. Quite amazed how much my shifting has improved by replacing the inner and outers when I thought it was something wrong with the rear mech set up.

njee20

Going to order up a SRAM Redwin cassette and the gold coated KMC chain, bling for blings sake.

It's not gold, it's ti nitride, it's a low friction coating, which IME makes sod all difference and looks pretty tatty once the chain's a bit worn. Certainly doesn't make any discernible difference to longevity.

bennett_346

njee20 wrote:

Going to order up a SRAM Redwin cassette and the gold coated KMC chain, bling for blings sake.

It's not gold, it's ti nitride, it's a low friction coating, which IME makes sod all difference and looks pretty tatty once the chain's a bit worn. Certainly doesn't make any discernible difference to longevity.

He was reffering to the gold as being the colour, not the chemical element, so stop being so petty. He already said that it's just for the sake of bling

The difference between XC and trails is one has the sole purpose of being as fast as possible on set routes that can have road lengths for the sake of adding distance, and generally have fewer technical sections, and the other's sole purpose is to get out, ride some trails and not worry about how fast or fit you are, focusing instead on having fun and pushing your technical skill boundaries.

Eyon

njee20 wrote:

Going to order up a SRAM Redwin cassette and the gold coated KMC chain, bling for blings sake.

It's not gold, it's ti nitride, it's a low friction coating, which IME makes sod all difference and looks pretty tatty once the chain's a bit worn. Certainly doesn't make any discernible difference to longevity.

Yes I worked that one out, if it was solid gold the last thing I'd do is put it on my bike, i'd rather melt it down and make some profit from a £30 chain

AJB09

I've just had to replace my cassette as it has had it after a year of hard riding in Canada - good choice on the Redwin PG990 - they are going for a proper bargain on CRC!

What would people recommend as a hard wearing AM/FR acceptable cassette?