Originally Posted by froze
...The average life of one of those thinner chains is about 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Welcome to the modern age.
Your shorter chain life may be due to two reasons: 1) your not cleaning the chain and gears as much as you should; and/or 2) your using wax based lubes.
I can't tell from your post whether you are actually getting 3,000 to 5,000 miles from a thinner (9 speed?) chain, or if you are repeating something you heard. If you are actually getting this kind of mileage by frequent cleaning and avoiding wax-based lubricants, then consider that I get the same mileage and rarely clean my chain because I use a wax-based lubricant.
Tom