Originally Posted by
Trucker Dan
I only lube and wipe every ≈300 miles. I get the same chain life as my friends that are anal about clean chains.
In my book, cleaning every 300 miles is pretty anal.
But here's a question: Does it make more of a difference for 9-10-11 speed systems, than for 6-7-8 speed? I think all this business about maintenance comes from the high number of cogs in roughly the same amount of space. Load bearing materials are thinner and contact areas are smaller, leading to faster wear. The highest number of speeds I have on any freewheel/cassette is 7 and I think I've only changed a chain for wear once, and it was about 25 years old.