maintenance schedule?

Sprool

How often do you check your chain wear?
And your cassette?
How about spoke tension? Rim alignment seems to be self evident when you're rolling.
I'm doing about 80 miles a week on hilly terrain. I don't go out if the weather's filthy. I keep the bike pretty clean after rides, maybe giving the cassette and chain a good clean twice a week. I'm wondering roughly how long I can expect my chain to last and when I should expect to renew chain and cassette. Couple of years? 2000 miles already done since I got the bike in Sept last year, and no sign of wear anywhere yet.

imposter2.0

if something begins to play up, I will take a closer look at what might be the cause. Until then, just ride, clean, lube, ride, etc...

keef66

Well I've never managed to make a chain last 2000 miles, so I'd give it a bit of a measure. And if you find it's got beyond 0.75% wear, you could have worn the cassette to the extent that a new chain will skip.

(I do ride whatever the weather, and my chainset's a triple, which can involve more acute chain angles. I reckon I've averaged 1000 - 1500 miles per chain, but replacing them promptly means I'm still on the original cassette after 5000 miles)

Sprool

I'm riding a triple too. Checked chain length between 12 links and its spot on 12 inches. Not getting any cog skipping on rear yet either.

wishitwasallflat

I've never had a chain last more than about 1.5k miles - I ride all weathers though and wipe chain down with a rag soaked in WD40 and lube after every wet ride and every 80 miles or so if dry. I got 4 chains for last cassette replacing them at 0.75 wear on a Park Tool Checker

Sprool

How did you tell they were starting to wear? Did you measure them periodically or did it start to skip on the rear cassette?

wishitwasallflat

Sprool wrote:

How did you tell they were starting to wear? Did you measure them periodically or did it start to skip on the rear cassette?

Don't wait till they skip they will be too far gone by then.

When I first started I must have checked every month or so but now I know that every chain I have had lasted about 1.5k I check em when they are brand new (just to make sure I have a baseline and they are ok) and then don't bother again until they reach 1k miles. I then keep an eye on them maybe every couple of weeks or so - just depends how close they are getting to that 0.75 finger dropping in. Once they are close I search web for cheapest KMC and order a replacement so its ready to go once it hits the 0.75 mark. That way I have always got about 5k out of each cassette - I reckon I could maybe push that though but as I use SRAM APEX level cassettes they are not crazy expensive and I reckon they don't owe me anything if they last 5k.

keef66

A worn chain won't skip on the cassette, it will just start to wear the cassette teeth to match the increased pitch. I just use a Park Tools chain wear checker periodically. I've read all the arguments about the shortcomings of such simple devices, and accept that I may be replacing chains prematurely, but I like the ease of use. With my deteriorating eyesight I can't be doing with squinting at sixteenths of an inch on a steel ruler held shakily against an oily chain.

If you were to wait for it to start skipping as a sign of wear you'd by then have trashed the cassette and possibly one or more chainrings.

Sprool

Thanks for the info and advice. Are these cheap Acor chain wear gauges on ebay worth buying (£4.99)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acor-New-Bike ... %26ps%3D54
Or do you need a £17 Park Tools one for accuracy?

rolf_f

Sprool wrote:

Thanks for the info and advice. Are these cheap Acor chain wear gauges on ebay worth buying (£4.99)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acor-New-Bike ... %26ps%3D54
Or do you need a £17 Park Tools one for accuracy?

Depends if you want to mis-measure your chain wear with a nicely machined tool or a crudely stamped one! I think the end result will be the same. I have the Park one but know it is slightly dubious but, as I do a lot of miles and am absent minded, erring on the side of caution is a good idea. Not that it stops me from leaving chains on for too long.

wishitwasallflat

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/13081072 ... =66&ff19=0

PS -

keef66 wrote:

I've read all the arguments about the shortcomings of such simple devices, and accept that I may be replacing chains prematurely, but I like the ease of use. With my deteriorating eyesight I can't be doing with squinting at sixteenths of an inch on a steel ruler held shakily against an oily chain

Well put sir I feel exactly the same