cassette and chain wear

logitech208
logitech208 Posts: 167
edited December 2012 in Road general
I've done 4836 miles on my 105 Cassette and chain, I bought a replacement 105 cassette and chain when I got to 3500 miles thinking I would need to fit it soon but my gears still run very nicely no skipping the change is still smooth.

What sort of Mileage can I expect and is the chain likely to snap the longer I leave it.?

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    so what is the wear in the chain now? measured it?
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • logitech208
    logitech208 Posts: 167
    nicklouse wrote:
    so what is the wear in the chain now? measured it?

    Nope, hence why I am asking I figured I had done to many miles to worry about measuring it at this point., i'm just curious the sort mileage people do get.
  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    edited November 2012
    As your chain stretches as it causes premature wear to your cassette and chainrings. Other bad stuff comes later on.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    logitech208 wrote:
    nicklouse wrote:
    so what is the wear in the chain now? measured it?

    Nope, hence why I am asking I figured I had done to many miles to worry about measuring it at this point., i'm just curious the sort mileage people do get.
    it all varies on too many things. servicing. conditions. road/path surface.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • Mad_Malx
    Mad_Malx Posts: 5,183
    5000 is quite a lot though. At this stage I do think you risk of chain breaking, which will be while climbing a steep hill and could be painful.
  • kbmack
    kbmack Posts: 73
    Hi

    I had done about 4000 miles in the NW Kent area. all seemed to be 'well' till the the whole front chain-ring started to 'dance around' whilst in the bottom three or four rear cogs.

    It transpired that the rear cassette and chain were mullered.

    When said items were replaced, the bike felt as if it was new. Clearly, over time, I had got used to a deterioration of performance and the replacements rejuvenated the set up completely. My inexperience to spot this, evidently.

    For obvious reasons, I suppose we're all interested in maximising the life of our componentry, yet changing things over every now and again does breathe new life into our pride and joy.

    Conversely, do some of us change components because we're inexperienced/unwilling/afraid of maintenance which ultimately wears down critical areas very quickly?
  • tiredofwhiners
    tiredofwhiners Posts: 598
    Mad_Malx wrote:
    5000 is quite a lot though.

    No it isn't in my experience.

    I have had mine changed on both bikes just under 10,000 miles but it does get cleaned regularly, and the cassette in particular.
  • rrsodl
    rrsodl Posts: 486
    tiredofwhiners wrote:
    Mad_Malx wrote:
    5000 is quite a lot though.

    No it isn't in my experience.

    I have had mine changed on both bikes just under 10,000 miles but it does get cleaned regularly, and the cassette in particular.


    You must be a very light rider too :)
  • tiredofwhiners
    tiredofwhiners Posts: 598
    RRSODL wrote:
    tiredofwhiners wrote:
    Mad_Malx wrote:
    5000 is quite a lot though.

    No it isn't in my experience.

    I have had mine changed on both bikes just under 10,000 miles but it does get cleaned regularly, and the cassette in particular.


    You must be a very light rider too :)

    Nope, the complete opposite.
  • CarlosDSanchez
    CarlosDSanchez Posts: 455
    I got 9k miles out of an ultegra 6700 rotating 3 chains every 500 miles or so. Only got 6k miles out of the 105 one on the winter bike doing the same 3 chain rotation. That bike sees all the really filthy weather though and gets cleaned a lot less. TBH I'm not sure all the extra cleaning and effort was worth it for the extra 3k miles on the nice bike.
    Dolan Preffisio
    2010 Cube Agree SL
  • mallorcajeff
    mallorcajeff Posts: 1,489
    i currently have 6791 miles on a KMC on a durace ace di2 set up and it still shows no wear on the tool. I clean and degrease then lube after every two rides though. No miss shifting nothing, although i was only thinking today im going to change mine just to be sure.
  • rrsodl
    rrsodl Posts: 486
    tiredofwhiners wrote:
    RRSODL wrote:
    tiredofwhiners wrote:
    Mad_Malx wrote:
    5000 is quite a lot though.

    No it isn't in my experience.

    I have had mine changed on both bikes just under 10,000 miles but it does get cleaned regularly, and the cassette in particular.


    You must be a very light rider too :)

    Nope, the complete opposite.

    Interesting.

    Being a heavy weight, 16+ stone, I need to keep a close eye on the chain otherwise good bye cassette.

    In the past I have managed to damage a cassette prematurely for not changing the chain on time.
  • neeb
    neeb Posts: 4,473
    Although you can prolong cassette / chain life a little bit by rotating chains, personally I can't be bothered with that, I'm not organised enough and life is too short... Chains are relatively cheap, cassettes are expensive. Easiest thing is just to change the chain before it is significantly worn and then you can get 3 or 4 chains out of one cassette. The most accurate way to measure chain wear is with a ruler. The chain wear measurers you can buy don't measure chain extension (which is caused by pin/bushing wear and is what causes the chain to wear down the cassette), they just measure roller wear, which doesn't affect the pitch of the chain. However, the two are usually correlated to some extent and it's quicker and easier to use the chain tool, so what I usually do is wait until the chain tool tells me the chain is 0.75% worn and then check the length with a ruler. I usually change the chain about half way between the time when the chain tool tells me I should and when the ruler tells me I should. I might be able to get a bit more life out of the chain if I left a bit longer, but again, it's just not worth the hassle.
  • tiredofwhiners
    tiredofwhiners Posts: 598
    RRSODL wrote:
    Interesting.

    Being a heavy weight, 16+ stone, I need to keep a close eye on the chain otherwise good bye cassette.

    In the past I have managed to damage a cassette prematurely for not changing the chain on time.

    Indeed. The first one is still fitted to my Lucero and its a 105, and has done about (calculates from cycling log) 8,000 miles and is still fine. The second more recent one is an Ultegra and its on about 9,900 and is still not jumping about or anything. Indexing isn't perfect on the Ultegra but I put that down to the cables still stretching. As others have said, I do look after the geartrain, with it being cleaned every other ride. I don't know if its relevant, but I have never used conventional oil or dry/wet lube on it and have exclusively used GT85 from day one.

    When I clean the cassette, I don't dismantle more than once or twice a year, but I do use a lot of old rags to run between the gears to clear out all of the crap so it looks like new. As to the chain, I run the chain through my hand holding a bundle of rangs until the chain looks shiny and new, and I do the same for the jockey wheels which really hold a lot of road gunk. Once done I soak the whole chain again with lots of GT85 and hanging vertically in the garage so ant stuff left between the chain links drop out under gravity.

    Not obsessive much at all ;)

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