Chain life 2400 miles - is that unusual?

chrisaonabike
chrisaonabike Posts: 1,914
edited June 2013 in Road beginners
As the title says, I've done a bit over 2400 miles and when the man in the shop put the chain wear tool in, it dropped straight in and he said it needed replacing. It's a Tiagra groupset (10sp, 50/34), CN 4601 chain.

I'm a bit surprised it's only lasted that long (8 months) - should I be?
Is the gorilla tired yet?

Comments

  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    well miles is a poor measurement for how long a chain lasts... but it's not unusual, people are very different in how hard they are on chains.
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Checked mine yesterday as feel its making noises. Have had bike a year (very roughly similar milage per month) and chain is at 0.75mm wear.
    I am not too bothered as would like to upgrade chain anyway. It does make you think about your riding style though.
  • Bozman
    Bozman Posts: 2,518
    Fair distance if the bike is used all year round, good maintenance will help with mileage but winter grit takes its toll on a chain.

    Chain wear tools seem to write off a chain earlier than a steel rule, so I prefer to use the old fashion method of the rule.
  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    +1 my chain wear tool dropped in easily yesterday, on the 0.1 setting, so I got the ruler out and there was still a bit to go. I replaced the chain anyway but you really need to measure with a ruler to know.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • chrisaonabike
    chrisaonabike Posts: 1,914
    jibberjim wrote:
    well miles is a poor measurement for how long a chain lasts...
    Carbonator wrote:
    .. It does make you think about your riding style though.

    Is there anything much I could do to make the next one last longer? I don't cross the chain much, I try to spin rather than grind, and I clean and lube the chain every few weeks (or every week if the weather is bad).

    I'm not overly bothered, since I'm replacing the cassette as well (12-28 ---> 12-30), but it would be nice to know if there's something obvious I might do to eke out the chain life a bit more.
    Is the gorilla tired yet?
  • doug5_10
    doug5_10 Posts: 465
    ChrisAOnABike wrote:
    jibberjim wrote:
    well miles is a poor measurement for how long a chain lasts...
    Carbonator wrote:
    .. It does make you think about your riding style though.

    Is there anything much I could do to make the next one last longer? I don't cross the chain much, I try to spin rather than grind, and I clean and lube the chain every few weeks (or every week if the weather is bad).

    I'm not overly bothered, since I'm replacing the cassette as well (12-28 ---> 12-30), but it would be nice to know if there's something obvious I might do to eke out the chain life a bit more.

    Get a better chain, e.g. KMC. Lower end Shimano chains aren't known for their longevity. I've got a tool, I find the ruler method a bit of a faff, especially if you don't have a chain with a quicklink to get the chain off the bike simply. At .75% its on the verge, just replace before the 1% side slots in completely.
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  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    You don't have to remove the chain to measure with a ruler. You can get another couple of thousand miles or so out of the chain if measured correctly.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    I'm on ~5000 miles on my current Tiagra chain.. will probably replace it next week.

    don't do many wet miles though.
  • Sprool
    Sprool Posts: 1,022
    doug5_10 wrote:
    Get a better chain, e.g. KMC. Lower end Shimano chains aren't known for their longevity.
    I thought KMC made all the chains Shimano sell under their own name?
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    Sprool wrote:
    doug5_10 wrote:
    Get a better chain, e.g. KMC. Lower end Shimano chains aren't known for their longevity.
    I thought KMC made all the chains Shimano sell under their own name?

    Doesn't mean they're made to KMC specs.

    Anyway. I tend to think most 10-speed chains are a bit prone to accelerated wear compared to what we were used to with 8- and 9- speed, especially if your maintenance is allowed to slip.
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  • dowtcha
    dowtcha Posts: 442
    The park tool I have is .5 and .75. I thought when its slots in at .75 its time to replace the chain. Why are some tools 1% and others .75%.
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    doug5_10 wrote:
    Get a better chain, e.g. KMC. Lower end Shimano chains aren't known for their longevity.

    Tour-Qtr did a fairly exhaustive test of chains and perhaps surprisingly, the lower end Shimano chains did pretty well. 105 outperformed ultegra and I think was also their favourite chain.
    http://www.tour-magazin.de/services/qtr ... 7.html#/44
  • VTech
    VTech Posts: 4,736
    2400m from a chain is good value. A gallardo needs a clutch every 2000m, that's expensive :)

    As a wearable item I'd be happy enough replacing the chain every 2000m-2500m.
    Living MY dream.
  • gavbarron
    gavbarron Posts: 824
    VTech wrote:
    2400m from a chain is good value. A gallardo needs a clutch every 2000m, that's expensive :)

    I imagine if you were rolling around in a Gallardo though you probably wouldn't give a monkeys how long your bike chain lasted
  • TakeTurns
    TakeTurns Posts: 1,075
    Thats good mileage tbh. I've tried both 7900 and KMC high end, both lasted about 2000~.

    Putting less strain on the chain will help its longevity. Don't use big-big, i.e, big ring at front and big at back, or even a few below that. That's where most of the strain will be applied.
  • Velonutter
    Velonutter Posts: 2,437
    Cleaning your chain every few weeks isn't anywhere near enough, I clean mine after every 100 miles and if the weather has been bad then I use my park tool chain cleaner on it to totally degrease.

    I regularly cross my chains, and changed my chins every 2000 miles/ measure 75% which ever come first.
  • Mikey41
    Mikey41 Posts: 690
    Just to check I'm measuring this right... Measuring from the centre of one link to the centre of another should be 10cm and needs replaced at 10.1cm?

    If that's right, my chain is knackered at 1300 miles :( (Tiagra)
    Giant Defy 2 (2012)
    Giant Defy Advanced 2 (2013)
    Giant Revel 1 Ltd (2013)
    Strava
  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    No, measure 12 inches from the centre of the link and see how far the 12 inch mark is from the centre of that link.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • Mikey41
    Mikey41 Posts: 690
    *measures carefully.

    It's still OK then :) thanks.
    Giant Defy 2 (2012)
    Giant Defy Advanced 2 (2013)
    Giant Revel 1 Ltd (2013)
    Strava
  • marcusjb
    marcusjb Posts: 2,412
    Not unusual really.

    Typically get 2500-3000 in winter/wet riding conditions and maybe 500-1000miles more if it is dry.

    I have got less than 1000 miles with hard winter riding. But that was extremely bad gritty nonsense.
    Stuff about riding a bike a long way
  • crikey
    crikey Posts: 362
    Stop using a chain checker; you will get 5-6-7000 miles out of a chain and cassette.

    Chain checkers are modern nonsense, leading to exactly the kind of non-dilemma posed in this thread.

    Just ride the bike until you begin to have issues with the shifting which are not related to the cables, then think about changing the chain and cassette.

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