New chain and freewheel
 

Last couple of freewheels and chains have been only lasting about 1500 miles to 1700 miles I am using KMC Z51 chain and Shimano 7 speed 14 34t Megarange freewheels but they don't seem to be lasting as long as they used to. I over lube every 100/120 miles and let in penetrate a while then wipe excess just as always. I used to swap two chains to one freewheel now I have to swap both at once. I always swap out at 1% "stretch" and that is now every six to seven weeks.


Is SHIMANO or KMC quality changed ??? Any ideas ??? :foo:

Freewheel's Cogs are made from same steel as the cassette's cogs .. no difference.. worrying is your choice.

A few points.

You don't say whether this is MTB or road, nor anying about conditions so there's no basis for judging how well or badly you're doing.

How are you measuring? If not over a decent length using a ruler, you might be overestimating the stretch.

As far as the chain rotation method goes, you need to rotate frequently to get any benefit. Waiting until there's significant wear defeats the purpose. In your shoes, with 1500 miles chain life, I'd rotate every 300 miles or so.

Lastly, chain wear rates are a function of quality, and moving up one or two levels might get you better life, but there's no assurance that the added mine will offset the added cost. I'd start by trying to address the possible causes of the issue.

It amazes me to see people getting such poor life out of their chains. So I'm wondering if those people have strong legs and pedal in higher gears at low cadences. That probably, IMHO is putting more power and stress into the chain that will wear it out quicker. Shifting to lower gear and pedaling faster might be an answer to chain life.

How do you measure?
Chain checking tools have a reputation for being inaccurate.

I have been using the same steel rule for quite a while I ride a Trek 3700 on rail to trails in any weather, I do tend to have a lower cadence and am using higher and higher gears as legs have gotten stronger. Thanks to all for your informative musings on the matter.