TomD77

Cleaning my chain today before lubing and started looking closely at stuff. This bike has 2700 miles and is 105 componentry level. Of the miles, I guess 85%+ have been using the large ring in a compact gearset (50/34), maybe more since I'm rarely in the 34.

Any rate, the front large gear doesn't look right, the teeth look worn with the tops of some gone. How many miles can you expect from a crankset anyway? It is 1000 miles into the 2nd chain.

Below are shots of the crankset large gear, small gear and rear casette. From my limited experience, only the front large gear looks bad. Seems that I should get a bunch more than a few thousand miles from a crankset. This is Florida and there is sand everywhere. Am I getting fast wear because of the sand?

Ridinmurray

Some of them are supposed to be that way to aid in shifting, right ???

ericm979

Yep.

fietsbob

+1, you are noticing the changes made to make your index shifting work ..
the tips get lowered so the chain does not have to climb those peaks.

Lift pins on the other side aide chain pickup, too.

oilman_15106

Does not look excessively worn to me for the mileage stated. Your chain is going to need replaced long before the chain ring. I never have but know riders who have gotten 20,000 miles out of chain rings.

fietsbob

as said here, elsewhere , earlier..
2 chain replacements, to a cassette replacement , by the time you need your 3rd cassette , you probably need new chainrings..

Pre-emptive chain replacement is good.

doctor j

Chain rings and cogs are much too clean. You need to ride more.

Chain rings and cogs look good.

11,000+ miles on my Fuji. Three or four chains in that time. Chain rings and cogs are fine.

Wogster

I would say the chain rings look fine, the teeth are shaped weird to aid in shifting. I would also say it looks a little dry, how often do you lube your chain and what do you use?

JanMM

Go to a bike shop and take a close look at brand new chainrings and cassettes; you'll see that the teeth are not all the same, as previously noted.
Is your shifting ok?

There are still chainrings on the market that don't have the shifting aids and that have identical teeth.

alanknm

Looks OK to me and I agree with Wogster, that chain looks dry.

BluesDawg

Chainrings look fine. I would think they look dry because you had just cleaned the chain and were about to lube it.

How did you scrape your front derailleur?

TomD77

That would be correct, I had just spent about a half hour with a bucket with purple cleaner/degreaser and a nylon brush that looks like an over scale tooth brush.

I'm not sure how the derailleur got scraped, the chain was thrown somehow in a crash I had 6 weeks ago and I'll bet it happened then. The scrape is a lot more obvious in the flash reflection than it is looking at the bike.

Glad to hear that the crankset is fine, thanks for the help.

As above, the chain was just cleaned as happens about every 3 weeks or around 400-500 miles. I'm trying a new lube on the recommendation of a friend who is still into motocross. It is Dupont multi-purpose spray dry wax lube w/teflon and moly that supposedly out performs other lubes by 5 to 1. Very interesting stuff read this https://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/motor...chain-lube.htm

I got an 11 oz spray can at Lowes for less than $5

donheff

That does look like some interesting stuff. Anyone else have any pros and cons about this stuff?

TomD77

If you read the reviews here (link) at Amazon, you'll see that they are all raving and are about 50/50 motorcycle/bicycle. I did immediately notice that the lube is totally dry and doesn't attract grime.

Do a google search and start reading, very interesting stuff.

Wogster

Wonder if it's available here in Canada anywhere......

donheff

Looks like Dupont markets at least three similar versions. The one already linked to is called "Teflon Multiuse Lubricant." Amazon also has one called Teflon Chain Saver Lubricant." Not clear if there is any difference other than price - the chain saver version is $3 more. Then there is a more generically named "Teflon Non-Stick Dry-Film Lubricant." Leaves you wondering which one to get -- I lean to the original $5 can.

John E

To maximize the life of your chainrings and cogs, replace your chain by the time it elongates 1/2 percent, i.e., 1/16" per 24 half-links, which started out exactly 12" long.

XR2

On the DuPont teflon. Been using it on my motorcycles for a couple years with excellent reults. Clean and cheap a combination that can't be beat. One of the bikes makes a 120HP/70FT-LBS and I'm getting about 30K miles from a chain. Been using it on the bicycle as well. I don't make near that much power but it works well there too.

PatW

I find that a worn chain ring gets sharper and sharper. When, you are likely to get cut putting a chain on it, it is probably time to replace it. A chain ring usually lasts over 20,000 miles. A way to get more wear out of your rear cluster and chain ring is to change your chain before it gets overly worn. You can buy a little gauge for about $10 at your LBS that makes measuring chain wear on the chain very easy.

TomD77

My original concern was from ignorance, I thought that the teeth on my chain ring had worn so much that some of them were breaking off at the tips. Got a lot to learn, I guess. Went by the LBS this PM and took this picture of a brand new chain ring of the same type. Looked at several chain rings of different manufacturers and noticed that not all had the alternating tooth shapes.