Originally Posted by
Six jours
In my experience, most trackies now use 3/32". Regardless, wroomwroom isn't a trackie. He's using road stuff on the road and finding that his chainrings are completely done after 6,000 miles of use. Most roadies will tell you that this is unacceptable. Moreover, in my time as mechanic for a fleet of velodrome rental bikes, I never saw a worn out chainring, and these bikes were often 15 years old and running 1/8" chains on 3/32" rings and cogs.
Regardless, I'm simply trying to make one point: 3/32" chainrings should last quite a bit more than 6,000 miles, and if they do not, something is wrong.
You're not reading very carefully, I'm afraid. I run a singlespeed, and hence am condemned (blessed with?) to mash uphills. And another reason you can't quite compare a singlespeed usage with a geared road bike is, they usually have two or three chainrings, so the wear is more distributed.
Hey, I do have a bike with a 3/32" chainring that has lasted quite long without any signs of notching: it's a bike with a steel chainring and a Nexus 8 geared hub. Obviously, no need to mash with this bike, and the steel-ness of the chainring has something to do with this, too.
Any chance in your time, the chainrings were mostly steel and not aluminum? That might explain your happy memories.