Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - the replacements

a few questions for everyone just to get a lay of the land:

how often do you replace your chain, cog, and chainring (in mileage or time, whichever makes more sense to you)?

i assume that most people replace their chain more often than they replace other drivetrain components--does anyone replace them at the same time?

of course cogs and chainrings wear concominantly to chains--are you concerned about this? i'm not, but i want to know what others think.

i change my chain about every 3 or so weeks...cog/chainring when they start to look shady...

Every 3 weeks, really?

I change mine, maybe twice a year. As for drivetrain stuff - I have yet to do any of that yet since I've been getting all sorts of different stuff and I play with different set-ups with two different bikes too.

yeah, one of the reasons i'm asking is because of the discrepancies like this. i should proably get one of those chain wear indicators to see when i should replace my chain rather than just speculating.

bottom line: what sense does it make to replace your cog and chainring when you replace your chain? and is this "sense" enough to make you actually do it?

i mean, maybe it makes a difference but it's so slight that it's not worth all the $$ and time.

For some reason, and I may be wrong, but I've always felt that the order for these things goes something like chain > cog > chainring.

But that the differences between chain and the rest of the drivetrain is far more vast.

I recently received with a Colnago track bike that I purchased that was 25 years old, the matching chainring set and cogs on the wheels. The Campagnolo cog that was on one set of the wheels is in remarkable shape -- it doesn't look any different wear-wise than my EAI. Both are steel.

And the chainrings look to be in decent if not really good shape considering how old they are. That said - this bike was take care of very well and the chainrings and cog and wheels were ridden on the track only.

The chain, I replace more often moreso when I either start to feel a lot of stretch (depending on the chain) or I feel like the chain (again, depending on brand) isn't performing that well. I also feel that, riding brakeless, the force on the chain is higher and thus probably requires replacing more often.

I replace the chain when I'm getting frustrated with it. I don't measure it (I don't know what you're asking about stretch tools - I think you can just use a ruler, really) but if it's feeling like it's needing to be adjusted a lot, it's gone.

Cogs usually last 4 or 5 chains. I wait for the teeth to start getting 'shark finned' where they look bent one direction. For DA cogs, that seems to be about 1.5 per year? It kind of depends on how much flipping of the hub I do.

Chainrings I seem to go through faster than cogs. I think that's because they are usually aluminum. The teeth tend to get bent, and or show areas where the metal is just compressed and out of shape. Since the cogs are made from stronger stuff, they seem and they seem to last longer, I tend to change my gear ratio through the chainring, not the cog. Once I have the cog on good, I don't want to take it off unless it needs to be replaced. Usually it's a 16t and a 14t, with anywhere from a 44-48t chainring. It gives a lot of different options, and I don't have to keep wondering if I got the cog on there tight enough.

Hopefully that helps some :rolleyes: