Chains and chain wear

photonic69

My SRAM pc1130 11 speed chain has worn after 1500 miles so that the park tools gauge fits through on the 0.5 side. The 0.75 is still ok. I keep it clean and use a good quality lube on a regular basis. Surely this can’t be right? I live in and commute in a very hilly area but this should not cause any undue wear. Previous Shimano 105 chain was replaced after similar miles. What’s going on? Cassette and chainrings look almost brand new.

ibr17xvii

My experience is similar although a few years ago now.

As part of a service my LBS put on a SRAM chain for some reason & it lasted roughly about 2000 miles before hitting 0.5 although to be fair this was on my winter bike & so is used in all weathers.

I thought this was on the low side, I would normally expect to get 3k - 4k on a KMC chain.

johnnyfartpants

Yes, had a sram 11 spd chain on the summer bike and despite keeping it clean, along with the cassette blah blah, the chain wear/stretch was an issue. I've now put a D/Ace chain on to replace it......... and I'll see what mileage that gets before 'the bin'!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Any chance of cleaning too harshly and not re-lubing enough, so the pins are running dry?

Dorset_Boy

I expect to get 8-10,000 kms out of a KMC X11 chain, so 5k+ miles, even allowing for weekly winter rides of 70-80 miles.

photonic69

It is cleaned and lubed religiously! I never use a liquid degreaser that I dip the chain in, rather I use old sheets and a little white spirit to clean the outside of the chain until all gunk is reasonable removed. Sometimes I might even use a few pipe cleaners to clean each and every link should the mood take me! I then re-lube, wiping the excess after a few minutes soak then re-apply, rotate the chain through the gears then wipe the excess again. So proper clean and proper lubed.

I'm going for a KMC X11 next. I'll see what I get out of this. If not then I'll just get the cheapest chains I can and replace as and when.

pilot_pete

photonic69 said:

It is cleaned and lubed religiously! I never use a liquid degreaser that I dip the chain in, rather I use old sheets and a little white spirit to clean the outside of the chain until all gunk is reasonable removed. Sometimes I might even use a few pipe cleaners to clean each and every link should the mood take me! I then re-lube, wiping the excess after a few minutes soak then re-apply, rotate the chain through the gears then wipe the excess again. So proper clean and proper lubed.

I'm going for a KMC X11 next. I'll see what I get out of this. If not then I'll just get the cheapest chains I can and replace as and when.

Surely cleaning the outside of a chain only, isn’t really cleaning the chain is it? The wear occurs in the pins and rollers does it not? What would be wrong with using a liquid degreaser to clean it? It’s not going to melt, it’s metal. Sounds like you are just adding lube to a chain with grinding paste accumulated in the pins and rollers. Not saying it is the cause of your wear, but doesn’t sound like a ‘proper clean and lube’ to me.

PP

First.Aspect

There is a strange fervour in cycling when it comes to chain life. A bit like motorists who drive 10 miles to get to a cheaper petrol station...

Anyway, I struggle to see how you can have this much wear. I abuse the hell out of my commuter bike's drive train and it lasts longer than 1500 miles.

As an (ex) scientist, if I get a reading that doesn't make sense, the first thing I question is the way it was measured. So you could try another chain wear tool, or way of measuring it.

There was a Lennard Zinn article a few weeks ago about how inaccurate they can be.

DeVlaeminck

Yes measurement error is a possibility - have you measured a new chain with your chain checker or tried using alternative methods to see if they match up.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Another possibility, is you have used a dry lube and not re-applied after a wet ride. The first chain on my Voodoo Wazoo lasted ~500 miles, only then I discoved the Prolink Progold was a "dry" lube. The next chain, using a wet lube, lasted thousands of miles.

webboo

Did you not notice that when you peddled it sounded like you had a family of mice on board.

froze

I don't know why some people get very few miles out of a chain, there is no way a chain should only last half as long as a tire!! To me that's very odd.

So on my road bike I have a Shimano 105 chain and it has about 5,000 miles on it and it's about 1/2 to 2/3rds worn; on my touring bike I still use the factory stock KMc chain and that one has about 1,000 miles with no measurable wear, and about 300 miles of that is loaded touring miles which is more demanding on a chain then just a road bike and a person riding it.

I don't think the lube has anything to do with it, I used Rock N Roll Ultimate dry on the 105 chain, but on the KMc chain I use Dumonde Lite. I no longer clean my chains I just wipe them after every ride! I had to originally clean the KMc to get it to accept the dumonde stuff but after that I just wipe it real well after a ride and apply when I hear a slight noise from the chain starting, same with the Rock N Roll.

So the only thing left that I can think of is how smooth of a rider a person is while pedaling.

brundonbianchi

Chain ‘stretch’ isn’t actually the chain stretching. It’s ‘effective’ stretch. It’s caused by the link rollers wearing down. This gives the impression that the chain has elongated as it would if the plates had stretched ( it / they may have, but by a minuscule amount). Ergo, the cleaning and lubing routine / quality of products used is pretty critical. If one of my chains, on my best bike hits 0.5, I replace it, that way I can keep my cassettes alive for longer than 1 chain’s lifetime. If I’ve not checked a chain regularly enough, and it gets to 0.75, I change the cassette and chain together. On my other bikes, I let the chain get to 0.75, then change the cassette and chain together, as the cassettes aren’t so expensive, so adhering to the ‘best practice’ of changing both together isn’t anything like as expensive. If you put a new chain on a chewed up cassette ( one which has had a chain ‘stretch’ to 0.75 or more ) you won’t get as many miles out of it, as you might hope. Hence the reason I’m super careful with the Super Record kit.

webboo

Is that why you do fantasy miles so you can be careful to your chain

pblakeney

First.Aspect said:

I'm just going to post this on every chain-related thread.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

bondurant

N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

...I discoved the Prolink Progold was a "dry" lube.

I'm pretty sure it's not. I have used it for the last few years, it's nothing like e.g. the teflon lube from Finish Line, which drys / disappears a few mins after you've put it on. My chains last rather longer than 500 miles using it as well.

photonic69

pblakeney said:

First.Aspect said:

I'm just going to post this on every chain-related thread.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

Haha! Brilliant! Sounds just like something I’d do!