Chain/cassette/chainring wear

mustol

Further to an earlier post, I just replaced my chain on my Spesh Allez Triple which had stretched noticeably after 1200 miles, despite regular cleaning/lubing. However, when I went out for a ride, the new chain was slipping when i put the power down on the smaller 2 chainrings and the 4th and 5th sprockets - seemed OK on all other combinations. The middle chainring and these sprockets do get a lot of use around the hilly Devon country lanes - but the smaller chainring is saved for the big hills. I put the old chain back on and it was fine. I can't see any obvious wear on the sprockets or chainrings (I've looked to photos of new ones on the net). My plan is to carry on using the old chain until it starts to slip, then replace the cassette and chainrings (it's only entry level, so the cost isn't too great). Am I doing the best thing or is there anything else that could be causing the problem?

Herbsman

mustol wrote:

Further to an earlier post, I just replaced my chain on my Spesh Allez Triple which had stretched noticeably after 1200 miles, despite regular cleaning/lubing. However, when I went out for a ride, the new chain was slipping when i put the power down on the smaller 2 chainrings and the 4th and 5th sprockets - seemed OK on all other combinations. The middle chainring and these sprockets do get a lot of use around the hilly Devon country lanes - but the smaller chainring is saved for the big hills. I put the old chain back on and it was fine. I can't see any obvious wear on the sprockets or chainrings (I've looked to photos of new ones on the net). My plan is to carry on using the old chain until it starts to slip, then replace the cassette and chainrings (it's only entry level, so the cost isn't too great). Am I doing the best thing or is there anything else that could be causing the problem?

You say your chain has stretched despite regular cleaning and lubing. Note that cleaning and lubing doesn't prevent chain stretch, it simply reduces friction and thus increases the time taken for the chain to wear. But it's going to wear sooner or later, no matter how much cleaning and lubing you do.

Did you change it only because it had measureably stretched or because it was causing problems with shifting? If there are no problems with shifting then just keep using it.

If I were you I would continue to use the old chain with the old cassette, as you are doing. In future, either change your chain more often, or change the cassette whenever you change the chain. Usually you can leave the chainrings as they don't wear as much as cassettes do, because the load is spread over more teeth - I normally get a new chainrings after two cassette changes.

Some cyclists buy two or three new chains with a new cassette, switching between the them every few months. Apparently rotating multiple chains gives you more time between cassette changes than using one chain. I'd take the easier option myself and just keep one chain going until it starts skipping.

Herbsman

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... 4#16869244

WGWarburton wrote:

Hi,
When the chain wears it will start to skip on lightly used sprockets. A chain wears faster than the sprockets so you replace it first- If you replace it with a new one and it skips on the worn sprockets instead, then your cassette needs repair or replacement. Mostly these days people just replace the whole thing.

If you spread the usage across sprockets then the differential wear is smaller.

The idea behind rotating chains is that the chains wear along with the cassette, so you aim to start with new ones, and swap them frequently as the cassette wears. The chains wear at the same rate as the cassette and each other so you can use all of them together for longer.

rolf_f

Herbsman wrote:

Some cyclists buy two or three new chains with a new cassette, switching between the them every few months. Apparently rotating multiple chains gives you more time between cassette changes than using one chain. I'd take the easier option myself and just keep one chain going until it starts skipping.

That isn't really the easier option (assuming you occasionally remove the chain anyway to clean it properly which also helps).

The reason the drive train lasts longer that way is that the chain normally wears quickest, followed by the cassette and then the chain rings. Wear in the chain accelerates wear in the other components. If you rotate chains, each chain wears in parallel with the cassette. The OP currently has one worn chain that will wear the running gear out increasingly quickly. Three part worn chains would triple the time for that process.

So, by rotating chains, your running gear lasts at least twice as long.

The harder option is using one chain and then having to replace it far more frequently!

mustol

Thanks for the advice - I changed the chain because it had stretched, not because it was skipping. I'll keep using the old one until it starts to skip, then I'll replace the cassette.

Bozman

1200 miles out of a chain, was it made of chocolate?.

Herbsman

Rolf F wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

Some cyclists buy two or three new chains with a new cassette, switching between the them every few months. Apparently rotating multiple chains gives you more time between cassette changes than using one chain. I'd take the easier option myself and just keep one chain going until it starts skipping.

That isn't really the easier option (assuming you occasionally remove the chain anyway to clean it properly which also helps).

The reason the drive train lasts longer that way is that the chain normally wears quickest, followed by the cassette and then the chain rings. Wear in the chain accelerates wear in the other components. If you rotate chains, each chain wears in parallel with the cassette. The OP currently has one worn chain that will wear the running gear out increasingly quickly. Three part worn chains would triple the time for that process.

So, by rotating chains, your running gear lasts at least twice as long.

The harder option is using one chain and then having to replace it far more frequently!

Mate, you're talking to someone who is too lazy to even clean his chain more than once every couple of months. My chain costs £10 and with a £14 cassette it lasts about 5,000 miles (approx 1 year) even on my lazy cleaning /lubing schedule. For me it's easier just to leave it alone as opposed to rotating chains for the sake of making £24 last longer.

mustol

Bozman,

Yes, think it was chocolate, but it was KMC's own bottom of the range white chocolate, as opposed to decent 70% cocoa solids chocolate. I was somewhat surprised by the amount it had melted in that period of time, I'll just check more often in future or take it off and keep it in the fridge!

I'm hungry now!

Bozman

Good come back Mustol!
Chains are a dodgy issue, i use Duraace/FSA slk chains i clean them well and lube them and since i've read some of the scare stories on here.. i measure them with a steal rule too, but waiting for some stretch is like watching a pot and waiting for a seed to sprout.
Recently i've been looking for a bike for a mate, every lbs we went in i asked about chain life, answers were 4000 to 5000 miles and i generally got a laugh when the 1000 miles figure was mentioned..."12 chains a bloody year!!!".

rolf_f

Depends a bit - if you mtfu and cycle through December and January you can do a lot of damage to a drivetrain in a very short time.

As for chain swaps - it does depend on kit. I replaced the chain, cassette and outer rings on my tourer after 20 years and a good 7500 miles last year. But that's an old 7 speed. My Campag 10 speed gets more tlc!