Cyclist4Life

Hi all,

I heard somewhere that it's a good idea to have 2 chains and to change them back and forth every so often so that they wear with the cassette (.....if you know what I mean). Well by pure chance I have ended up with 2 brand new chains and was wondering if there is indeed any benefit in swapping them every 2000kms or so. Can someone shed some light on this theory?

Damo

Bacciagalupe

Well, you won't wear out your cassette any slower with this approach, so it sounds like a huge pain to me. Just put the 2nd one on when the 1st is worn out.

lloydy

I disagree, you ought to get more life out of a cassette, often a chain is left on past it's lifetime, meaning than on replacement it's not only a new chain needed but a new cassette too, as the new chain will jump.

MichaelW

The main advantage is that is separates the two activities of cleaning and replacement. You swap-and-go then clean the dirty chain at your leisure.

Bacciagalupe

Switching chains back and forth doesn't prevent that. The only way to prevent excessive wear is to check it on a regular basis, and that most certainly does not require removing the chain.


Or, you can wash the chain while it's on the bike.

Maybe if you're using a master link, the process of popping the chain off won't be all that bad. But I really do not see any benefits that are worth the extra effort, especially for a touring scenario.

I mean, really. Would you switch between two sets of tires and expect that process to reduce wear and tear?