Accelerated chain and cog wear...?
09-09-07, 09:45 PM
#1
Bottecchia fan
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 3,520
Bikes: 1959 Bottecchia Milano-Sanremo (frame), 1966 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1971 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1973 Bottecchia Gran Turismo, 1974 Bottecchia Special, 1977 Bottecchia Special (frame), 1974 Peugeot UO-8
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 33 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
Accelerated chain and cog wear...?
A few months ago I bought a new chain and freewheel for an old vintage ride. I ride it as much as I can but realistically there can't be more than a few hundred miles on the new parts. Everything is well lubed and adjusted and I am not experiencing any issues. So the other day I bring the bike over to the LBS - a small shop I haven't gone to but that has an excellent reputation for quality work. I was bringing it in to have the BB and headset serviced since I don't have the appropriate tools. I asked the owner/mechanic to see if there was anything else he thought it might need so he threw it on the workstand and poked around while I waited. He got a chain wear guage and checked my chain and said it was fairly worn. Then he got out a cog wear guage and checked several of the cogs on the freewheel and told me I should replace them both if I were going to put a lot of miles on the bike. I was more than a bit surprised. I really couldn't believe they could wear that much in such a short period of time but I know the mechanic has a reputation for good work and I've never heard anyone complain about him so I don't know what to think. I told him I'd wait on that since fall/winter is coming and I won't be riding that bike much anyway but I'd like to find out how to measure that myself. How do you use those guages to measure chain and cog wear?
09-09-07, 10:12 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,191
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 114 Post(s)
Liked 119 Times
in
92 Posts
Also, the article instructs on how to measure a chain using a tape measure or good ruler, see towards the bottom "Measuring Chain Wear".
Park makes a gauge that essentially measure the distance between rollers. However, Sheldon's method is more than adequate for checking your chain.
You might want to measure your chain and see if it falls within specification. If it is within specification, then you can assume your chain is okay, then proceed to see the article's section "Chain and sprocket wear", and judge the sprocket conditions for yourself.
09-09-07, 10:13 PM
#3
Bottecchia fan
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
Posts: 3,520
Bikes: 1959 Bottecchia Milano-Sanremo (frame), 1966 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1971 Bottecchia Professional (frame), 1973 Bottecchia Gran Turismo, 1974 Bottecchia Special, 1977 Bottecchia Special (frame), 1974 Peugeot UO-8
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 33 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
Thanks for the pointer.
