Originally Posted by Rick@OCRR

After re-reading the OP, I think Victor may be on to something here. Personally, I get between 2,000 and 3,000 miles out of a chain (a matter of how clean I keep it) whereas my cassettes seem to last (darn near) forever.

While it is true, to some extent, that chains and cassettes wear in and out together, a "new" chain will keep the cassette "newish" for a lot longer.

Rick / OCRR