Commuting - Miles on chain

How many miles do you put on a chain before replacing it? Some say to replace it every three or four months, others suggest every 5000 miles. Does it also depend on the type of chain also? I mean a $12 chain could only last a few months of commuting while a more expensive one may be suited better for durability. Cost? This is on a touring and daily commuter. Thanks for the tips to come.

Urbanmonk

I'd think the more expensive a chain is, the less durable it is since more expensive chains are made to be light for performance.
High performance race car engines need to be rebuilt every 500-1000 miles. My neighbor has an old toyota that has about 140000 miles on the original motor.
I'd say keep it cleaned and lubed, hell u might not even have it keep it that clean and lubed if the thing's so gunked up with grease and oil from the road (not sand and grit btw) that it's completely clogged the linkages. What I heard is that if that happens, the thick grease acts like an immersion wax treatment and actually prevents stuff from getting in to wear down the link.
In any event, take a 12" ruler and measure from the end of a link. Measure out 12", the 12" mark should fall at the end of a link too. If the end of the link falls at 12-1/16 or more, consider replacing the chain. I use a digital caliper to get a real good measurement. My last chain measured .02" elongation, or about 1/48th after 1300 miles of commuting before I messed it up trying to take it off with a chain tool and ended up replacing it with a cheap SRAM with a powerlink. A properly cared for chain I've heard could last 7500-10000 miles if you ride it easy, take care of it and put it in the right gears. If you're mashing away, it might last as few as 1500-2000 miles before it becomes enlongated enough that it'll start to wear down the teeth in your cassette.

How many miles do you put on a chain before replacing it?

I've been replacing my chain between every 3,000 and 4,000 miles. It helps me stretch out the life of my cassettes if I do it before there's any signs of wear or stretch. I'm not a commuter though but I usually log somewhere around 5,000 miles yearly.

I average 15,000 miles on my chains, and my last freewheel lasted 132,000 miles, I now have over 10,000 miles on my newer freewheel and on my current chain. I log about 5,000 miles a year but this year so far has been 0 due to using a different bike that's on a trainer. The MTB that is currently on the trainer has about 12,000 miles on that chain with the same on the cassette.

Wow, 15000, what kind of maintainence do you do on that puppy dog, froze?

I try to replace every 6,000-7,000km. Bear in mind that includes my love of riding in the rain, as well as my weekend rides, where the terrain often requires quite a few gear changes. I once dragged 18,000km out of a chain when I was an impoverished university student. I did bugger all maintenance on that chain, too.

I average 15,000 miles on my chains, and my last freewheel lasted 132,000 miles, I now have over 10,000 miles on my newer freewheel and on my current chain. I log about 5,000 miles a year but this year so far has been 0 due to using a different bike that's on a trainer. The MTB that is currently on the trainer has about 12,000 miles on that chain with the same on the cassette.


132,000 divided by 5000 gives us 26 years. Thats some freewheel.

My low is 500 miles / 800 km (derailleur, wintertime, no chainguard or fenders). My high is 5,000 miles / 8,000 (internal gears, partial chaincase, fenders, used year-round.) Type of chain (derailleur or not), riding conditions (sand, salt), and bike configuration (fenders, chain protection) all have a large effect.

Paul

My expensive SRAM PC99 chains last forever in comparison to the PC69/Shimano chains typically. I used to replace 2x a season on my mountain bike, now I am at 1+ seasons on a PC99. VERY high quality chain. People assume lighter=weaker but such is not always the case. Often times you are paying for a lighter and stronger metal alloy. Its kinda like the difference between a bike made out of Hi-Ten steel vs. a bike made out of Reynolds 531... the 531 is going to be lighter and most likely stronger than the low grade Hi Ten. Weaker comes in when you go to hollow pins, but I wouldn't recommend those for anything but a road race bike.

132,000 divided by 5000 gives us 26 years. Thats some freewheel.

Could you imagine the "shark fin" on that one? It'd probably be a nubbin with a point on the side. :)

Could you imagine the "shark fin" on that one? It'd probably be a nubbin with a point on the side. :)

Ninja star, perfect for doggie defense.

Wow, 15000, what kind of maintainence do you do on that puppy dog, froze?


The least amount of miles I got on a chain is when I tried to use those wax based crap lubes and I got about 6,000 miles out of it. But once I stopped using that crap the chain life went back up again. I clean the chain about every 400 miles and use nothing but Finish Line Teflon Plus on the current chain and so far so good. Prior to the Wax crap I used TriFlow for years; and may go back if Finish Line does not live up to it's name.

132,000 divided by 5000 gives us 26 years. Thats some freewheel.

The freewheel was a Suntour Winner. I bought that freewheel in 84 but during the first 5 years of it's life I averaged 18,000 miles a year that's why it wasn't 26 years old.

Could you imagine the "shark fin" on that one? It'd probably be a nubbin with a point on the side. :)

Actually the freewheel just started skipping gears one day and replaced it with a Sach freewheel, so we'll see how long this one will last.

...take a 12" ruler and measure from the end of a link. Measure out 12", the 12" mark should fall at the end of a link too. If the end of the link falls at 12-1/16 or more, consider replacing the chain.
Simple enough.

I try to replace every 6,000-7,000km. Bear in mind that includes my love of riding in the rain, as well as my weekend rides, where the terrain often requires quite a few gear changes. I once dragged 18,000km out of a chain when I was an impoverished university student. I did bugger all maintenance on that chain, too.

Ditto. Performance Bike Shop recommends every 700 miles (1200km) for water rats in the Seattle area. That's for their mid-priced chain.

Ditto. Performance Bike Shop recommends every 700 miles (1200km) for water rats in the Seattle area. That's for their mid-priced chain.


You're kidding. Really? That's only like a month's worth of riding.

Ditto. Performance Bike Shop recommends every 700 miles (1200km) for water rats in the Seattle area. That's for their mid-priced chain.

Are you sure it's 700 and not 7000?
With a life span of only 700 miles, it better be raining liquid sand.

Are you sure it's 700 and not 7000?
With a life span of only 700 miles, it better be raining liquid sand.

Maybe they arrived at that number shortly after the middle of May 1980. ;)

Are you sure it's 700 and not 7000?
With a life span of only 700 miles, it better be raining liquid sand.

Heck, if a steel chain only last 700 miles and a tire last 3,500 miles then maybe they should be making chains out of tire material it would be cheaper and last longer. I cannot believe that chains only last 3000 to 7000 miles, there's something wrong with your bikes chain alignment or you all are making the chains go into sharper angles then necessary, or there is some crappy lubes out there, maybe a combination of everything. I have ridden many bikes and never got anything less than 6000 miles (see my earlier post) and one chain lasted nearly 24,000 miles! And my neighbor when I lived in Bakersfield California had plenty of bikes and he never got such low mileage out of his chains either; his current Gios chain has about 14,000 miles on it and it's still good. I can't help to think there's something screwy somewhere.

23 years on a freewheel and your bike's only 20 years old. Amazing!

Are you sure it's 700 and not 7000?
With a life span of only 700 miles, it better be raining liquid sand.

Hmmm. this may be the work of an enterprising sales man???? I better do some cross checking. Looking over maintenance records:

Oct 2003 2100 miles - Replace chain

I remember giving the guy a hard time but he measured for me and showed me that indeed the chain had stretched too far. He said it might be due to the 2 12% grades that I do for each commute. Hmmm.

23 years on a freewheel and your bike's only 20 years old. Amazing!

You did not read my post regarding this comment by another person-your late, let me spell it out for you again. I had the freewheel since 84 when I got the bike, during the first 5 years I averaged 18,000 miles a year, the next 4 years I did 0 miles due to bike burnout, then for the next 8 years I averaged just over 5,000 miles a year. So that would be 18,000X5=90,000 then 5,000X8=40,000+90,000=130,000 miles...I rounded it up due to some of later years I did more than 5,000. Then 2 years ago I replaced the freewheel and it now has actually a little less than 10,000 miles. Now add up the years 1984+5years of racing/training=1989+4 years of nothing=late 1993 or early 94+8 years of lower mileages=2002+2 years (a little less actually since it was purchased in May of 2002) on the new freewheel=2004

The above miles are all rounded but the average is real close if anything on the lower side especially since when I quit riding for 4 years to when I started again was not true 4 year period. Either way I am within 5,000 miles of the true number of miles.

Does this zona help your mind any? or are you still lost?

You did not read my post regarding this comment by another person-your late, let me spell it out for you again. I had the freewheel since 84 when I got the bike, during the first 5 years I averaged 18,000 miles a year, the next 4 years I did 0 miles due to bike burnout, then for the next 8 years I averaged just over 5,000 miles a year. So that would be 18,000X5=90,000 then 5,000X8=40,000+90,000=130,000 miles...I rounded it up due to some of later years I did more than 5,000. Then 2 years ago I replaced the freewheel and it now has actually a little less than 10,000 miles. Now add up the years 1984+5years of racing/training=1989+4 years of nothing=late 1993 or early 94+8 years of lower mileages=2002+2 years (a little less actually since it was purchased in May of 2002) on the new freewheel=2004



Great miles. So I'm wondering why my 2002Trek 2200 S-105 triple desparately needs a freewheel at such a green age of 2900 miles?? Lots of water in there...The mechanic said to stop soaping off the grime in between rains.
Any recommendations for a brand that is sealed unit for Rolf Vector?

You did not read my post regarding this comment by another person-your late, let me spell it out for you again.

It's not the number of miles that are in question but the ability of a single freewheel taking that many miles without coming apart or the cogs being worn down to the point where there would be no teeth left for the chain to engage with.

Hmmm. this may be the work of an enterprising sales man???? I better do some cross checking. Looking over maintenance records:

Oct 2003 2100 miles - Replace chain

I remember giving the guy a hard time but he measured for me and showed me that indeed the chain had stretched too far. He said it might be due to the 2 12% grades that I do for each commute. Hmmm.

Well you're a pretty rough rider, I don't know anyone else who commutes at sustained 20+ mph speeds, especially not up hills so that sounds about right. If you got your hands on a caliper, measure 6" every 100 miles or so to see what the rate of stretch is.

Well you're a pretty rough rider, I don't know anyone else who commutes at sustained 20+ mph speeds, especially not up hills so that sounds about right. If you got your hands on a caliper, measure 6" every 100 miles or so to see what the rate of stretch is.

I do ride fast but this bike doesn't have nearly the miles that other peopled posted. I smell a rat...I bought this bike on E-Bay and it was a couple of months old with "100 miles on it". I'll bet the guy swapped out "a few parts" and sold the good ones elsewhere. Too late now.

I bought the bike in escrow...but that was 1.5 years ago....E-Bay buyers beware.

It's not the number of miles that are in question but the ability of a single freewheel taking that many miles without coming apart or the cogs being worn down to the point where there would be no teeth left for the chain to engage with.

Don't know what to tell you about that; they were not worn down that much at all just enough to make the chain skip. What I don't understand is how people are only getting about 3,000 miles on chains and cassettes, that seems riduculas to me. Even my new Shimano freewheel now has about 10,000 miles on it still looks like new, but according to others here their's would be shot would now. Personally I think the ones that are wearing out to fast are using wax lubes on their chains, because my chain did not last long using that crap either. And the only other reason I can think of is that people are stressing the chains to much by improper gear selection causing the chain to go into to much of an angle.

OK...I checked out the suspicious stuff.
It's official. When I took the bike to 2 other shops to try and get *someone* to fix the freewheel. Both shops confirmed that you'll get about 700-1500 miles on a chain for these conditions:

* Rain
* Frequent hills
* Sandy and muddy conditions

You can ignore the chain and go longer but it wears out the cassette and other parts. Your mileage will vary. So folks from WI may get more miles to the chain without wrecking other parts.

The chain now has 850 miles and both shops measured and OK'd the chain as "good to go"

You have heard from all those folks who meticulously clean their chain and all the other good stuff, and are proud of their "chain life."

Now you can hear from someone who doesn't (I lube the chain regularly, but that is it), who weighs 225 lbs and travels some hills.

I average about 1500-2000 miles per chain, and will spend the $20 or whatever quite easily to have one replaced.

I am not a mechanic nor a bike cleaner. I have my bike for just one purpose, to ride. I hate fiddling with all the mechanical stuff, and freely and proudly admit that. Any time spent "mechanicing" is less time spent tiding, IMHO, and as I am on a busy schedule, I want the riding time!

So, now you have heard from the other side of the story.

Don't know what to tell you about that; they were not worn down that much at all just enough to make the chain skip. What I don't understand is how people are only getting about 3,000 miles on chains and cassettes, that seems riduculas to me.

Well, what I've got to tell you about that, is that, that many miles on a freewheel seems impossible. I'm just giving a guess but it seems most everyone here and just about any book source or mechanic that I've talked to, seems to believe there is no way a single freewheel could last that many miles.

I drive my equipment far harder than it was intended to go and I've had freewheels literaly come apart on me as I've been riding (as well as tires blowing, rims collapsing, crankarms breaking, chains and cables snapping, and derailers breaking) from over use and I've never come close to even half that amount of mileage on a single freewheel.

Things can last longer than what most replace them at but if they aren't rebuilt or replaced soon after those distances, they'll come apart. That's why they should be replaced and why your claim is hard to believe.

1500 to 2000 miles on a chain or freewheel seems logical to you all? That's obsurd!! What your telling me is that I should be replacing a chain and or freewheel 2 times for every tire wear out? A tire can last longer than a chain or freewheel? GET REAL! You may be mechanics working in bike shops but the only thing you all are interested in is seeing dopes come in and suck them into buying more crap they don't need! There was a guy on Parade Magazine about a year ago that had written documented proof that he has ridden over 1 million miles AND he also had the chain rings to prove it...funny thing he only had 6 rings-thats over 170,000 miles on one set of chainrings!

Sorry if I sound testy but this frequent replacement of chains and freewheels is most of the time fraudulent! Sure if your riding a MTB in sand and mud and water OR don't lube the stuff properly then OK maybe I could agree with that-BUT NOT ON A ROAD BIKE IN DRY CONDITIONS!

And Closetbiker I also never had a rim collapse on me accept when I've crashed and the rim hit something and that has only happened twice in over 30 years of riding including 15 years of racing; I also never had a freewheel, crankarm, chain, or a derailleur break, or a cable or a handlebar snap on me either during that period; of course there's been tire failures that's a given...but hey don't believe me because my claims are hard to believe.

Again I apologize for my testy comments.

There are many factors that affect the lifespan of a drivetrain.

- In the "good old days" of 5, 6 and 7-speed freewheels, cogs were thicker than they are now, and chain rivets were bulkier than they are on narrow-profile chains.There is a price to pay for modern drivetrains, alas, and I suspect it will be worst with the 15-speed cassette Shimano promises (?) for year 2015 (rumour).

- Pedalling style plays a good role.

- Cleanliness is important. In that regard, fenders with mudflaps do help a lot.


My former touring bike was bought in 1980, and I changed the freewheel in 1981 or 1982 because I went from 6-speed 12-28 to 7-speed 12-32. That freewheel stayed on the parked bike until it was hit as a result of car crash in April 2002. Same chain from 1980 to 2000. By then, the bike had a little more than 50 000 km (30 000 miles in U.S.). I then had to change the wheel, so I got one with a freehub and a cassette, and a Shimano 8-speed chain... that I changed a few months later for a Sram PC-58 chain that has travelled so far 7000 km, all four seasons.

The tourer, bought in December 2000 also quickly lost its original 8-speed chain. The current 9-speed chain has been used for 13000 or 14000 km and has a bit less than 1/32" elongation.

I ride year round, including in snow, rain and sun (sometimes), but mostly on pavement. BUT, I tend to have a very smooth pedalling style -- I spin, never mash, even uphill, which means I have very low gears. And I also have full fenders with long mudflaps, so the bicycle remains fairly quick even under the elements.

I have always thought fenders helped to protect the bike but wasn't sure to which extent. I recently realised how important they were when I fined tune the drivetrain of a friend who uses her bike only in good weather: her bottom bracket shell was in much worst condition than mine.

Regards,

I average 15,000 miles on my chains, and my last freewheel lasted 132,000 miles, I now have over 10,000 miles on my newer freewheel and on my current chain. I log about 5,000 miles a year but this year so far has been 0 due to using a different bike that's on a trainer. The MTB that is currently on the trainer has about 12,000 miles on that chain with the same on the cassette.

Reminds me of Russian saying:

Лгун,
Лгун,
Штаны в пожаре.

Reminds me of Russian saying:

Это место заполнилось людьми, которые не знают ничто о велосипедах.

Great Slam...if we're so clueless...please enlighten.

Лгун,
Лгун,
Штаны в пожаре.

The liar,
The liar,
Trousers in a fire



Это место заполнилось людьми, которые не знают ничто о велосипедах.
This place was filled by people which do not know anything about bicycles

In case anyone cares.

Reminds me of Russian saying:

Лгун,
Лгун,
Штаны в пожаре.

Think what you want but this is not a lie just as my pants are not on fire. And I agree there are a lot of people on this forum that don't know a great deal about bicycles!

OK, now I'm more relaxed. Today I called both LBS's where I live and asked them how long does chains and cassettes last, their reply was that a chain will last around 3,000 miles and a cassette about 6,000. So then I asked why I got 136,000 miles out of my freewheel and average 15,000 miles on my chains, and here is what they said: The newer chains are thinner than the old ones used on friction bike like mine, plus they now use thinner gears (obviously to match the chain) so they can get more gear clusters in nearly the same space. Due to the thinner gears and the thinner chains and also due to chains are no longer made as well as they use to be, you should be replacing them that often. They did say though that if you use Campy Centuar or Shimano 105 they tend to last a bit longer because they are heavier.

When I mentioned that how many miles I was able to get on my friction chains and freewheels they said that the average chain life on the older fatter chains was around 12,000 miles...close to what I get at 15,000! In regards to the freewheel gear cluster wear, they said that they have seen or heard of people getting as much as 100,000 miles...but it was rare.

So now I have to wait and see how long the chain I got about 2 years ago and the freewheel, both now have about 10,000 miles on them, will last.

But I still think-probably because I'm so use to my durability periods-that having to replace a chain every 3,000 miles or every time you do a tire change seems obsurd to me and these companies ought to make them more durable.

So I apologize to all of you for crappin on you.

I ride on only hilly roads, which means a lot of gear shifting and standing. There is 450m of climbing riding to work, and 830m riding home. After approx 3000km my chains start to make clicking noises, a warning it is starting to "stretch". At 5000km it is well overdue to be changed. I have used Dura-Ace and SRAM chains, which doesn't appear to be make any difference in durability.

My last chain (Dura-Ace) for my road bike was bought in Oct 2003, I'm off to buy another one today.

CHEERS.

Mark

>I apologize to all of you for crappin on you.

It's all good. If anything it makes you realize what a *real* gem you've got.

Can the older technology of a 7 speed freewheel along with the fatter chain be put on a new frame? I believe that the new Ergo and STI stuff can be frictioned shifted by going with standard brake levers and using either downtube or barend shifters-isn't that essentially what Rivendell does? I also wonder if the older style fatter chains work on triples?

Can the older technology of a 7 speed freewheel along with the fatter chain be put on a new frame? I believe that the new Ergo and STI stuff can be frictioned shifted by going with standard brake levers and using either downtube or barend shifters-isn't that essentially what Rivendell does? I also wonder if the older style fatter chains work on triples?

The mainstream days of 7sp technology isn't really all that old. It should work. The older style fatter chains should work on triples fine. I had a 7x3 setup on my old MTB.

Yes seven speed drivetrains can be put on new frames. If you go with current wheel technology you just need a 4.5mm spacer to be able to shift correctly. Of course it is not reccomended to use 7 speed chains on 9 speed chainrings, or with a 9 speed front der.

Thanks Hunter and Khoun; that was my thought process, though I didn't know about the spacers. I am considering next year to buy another bike for touring and probably a Rivendell Atlantis due to it's looks and funtionality (otherwise I would just get a Trek 520). And I do not want to get into all this chain and freewheel replacement problems, sort of like Dnvrfox in that I don't want to bothered dinkin with replacing parts all the time, considering that I'm already spoiled now, doing more maintence to me would be like stepping backwards!