New chain and cassette.....

ballanawin

Good morning all.

I know this has been done to death, however its not due to lack of knowledge I just cant decide so I am looking for some wisdom!!

I have a cube attain disc that I commute on daily, rain or shine all year round, the last chain, Shimano, lasted 3000 miles and was replaced at approx .5 my chain gauge wouldnt quite drop in but was close, I had a few new chains in stock so thought I would swap it out while I was tinkering.

Chains I had were Shimano and FSA team 11spd, the FSA ones were on offer at PX at £10 each so I had bought 3, this is what I fitted... Bargain, however the chain is showing .75 after less than 500 miles of riding in exactly the same conditions and same cleaning and lubing regime.

I have a new cassette and spare chains, the questions are.

Do I swap the chain for Shimano now and carry on with the existing cassette? (possibly worn cassette)

Do I swap the chain for another FSA, I have 2 left, and run the cassette into the ground so to speak? (knowing I may only get 500 miles)

Do I swap cassette and chain.. Shimano and start again knowing I will get 3k


Thanks all

Carl

kajjal

For my road and xc mountain bike I just use Shimano Cassettes & Chains and just change both once a year.

While I ride regularly I don't commute and tend to do road biking in the colder wetter months with mountain biking in the drier warmer months.

Vino'sGhost

Ballanawin wrote:

Good morning all.

I know this has been done to death, however its not due to lack of knowledge I just cant decide so I am looking for some wisdom!!

I have a cube attain disc that I commute on daily, rain or shine all year round, the last chain, Shimano, lasted 3000 miles and was replaced at approx .5 my chain gauge wouldnt quite drop in but was close, I had a few new chains in stock so thought I would swap it out while I was tinkering.

Chains I had were Shimano and FSA team 11spd, the FSA ones were on offer at PX at £10 each so I had bought 3, this is what I fitted... Bargain, however the chain is showing .75 after less than 500 miles of riding in exactly the same conditions and same cleaning and lubing regime.

I have a new cassette and spare chains, the questions are.

Do I swap the chain for Shimano now and carry on with the existing cassette? (possibly worn cassette)

Do I swap the chain for another FSA, I have 2 left, and run the cassette into the ground so to speak? (knowing I may only get 500 miles)

Do I swap cassette and chain.. Shimano and start again knowing I will get 3k


Thanks all

Carl

You pays your money you takes your chance!

If the cassette has 3k miles on it it may be already worn and accelerate wear on the new chain. The cheap chain may in addition be less robust. I tend to run shimano chains on shimano cassettes and change at between .5 and .75 . That way i get three chains per cassette and dont suffer chains slipping and bouncing. Im also a bit ocd about bike cleaning which ive convinced myself makes things work better.

It equates to just under 2k miles per chain so one cassette every 6 months or so. I have a different bike on the turbo and i havent changed the chain in years. I dont keep records but i think that 9 and 10 speed chains had a bit more longevity.

ballanawin

Thanks Vino's Ghost.

That was my worry too, I think I will go back to Shimano, the FSA chains looked good on paper at £10 on sale, other retailers were selling them from £20 up to £40 at the time, I am pretty sure that the cassette was fine when I did the swap so dont think the accelerated wear was due to this, however I do ride in all weather, it just concerned me the amount of wear in such a short time with the FSA team chain, considering the Shimano had been changed relatively early in its indicated life.

I too am ocd when it comes to maintenance especially having a clean and lubed chain.