Chain and gear life
 

Is 35,000 kms a long time to be running the original gears and chain?


Mine has started to shift rather badly and sort of skips now and then.

Well if it shifts badly and skips then get a new cassette. Check the chain strech with a stretch tool (Park makes a nice one) to decide if you need a new chain.

35 THOUSAND km? (21,750 miles for the metrically impared) Yes that's a VERY long time. You are waaaaay ovedue for a new chain and a new cassette and, probably, new chainrings.

I run my chains and cassettes 5000 to 7000 miles (approximately 8000 to 9600 km) and many mechanics think that's a long time.

Yes, that is a very long time! I'm lucky to get 1700 km out of a cassette on my mountain bike.

You are a godess Machka. 35,000km out of a chain is unheard of around here.

Are you serious?

Well ... the bicycle is 3 years old and has 35,000 kms on it. I do not have any recollection of ever having the chain changed, and I know the gears have never been changed.

What I do recall, though, is that just before I went to Australia in late 2004 (when I would have had about 20,000 kms on the bicycle) my LBS checked the chain and told me it was OK right then, but should be changed "soon".

So off I went to Australia. During my trip there (5000 kms in total) a friend checked my chain and told me it was OK right then, but should be changed "soon".

I returned to Canada, rode it a while then last summer I took it to another shop. The guy checked the chain and told me it was OK right then, but should be changed "soon". I would have had about 28,000 or 29,000 kms on the bicycle at that point.

I still have done nothing about it ... but now, at about 35,000 kms, I'm starting to experience some problems.



IF the chain was changed, and as I say I don't actually recall that it was, there is a vague possibility it might have been changed at some point during the winter of 2003 or spring of 2004, and would now have probably a little over 25,000 kms on it.

Need it or not, I reckon you deserve to treat yourself with a new chain.

The problem is that if the chain has stretched over such a long time it could have ruined your cassette as well as the chainrings. Making it a much more expensive operation than if you just replaced your chain. But if you care for your bike and dont hammer too hard everything will be fine and a new chain should solve all your problems.

I find that very hard to believe.

chain wear is likely more a function of chain load rather than mileage. If you rarely sprint or stand up, are fairly light, spin on well lubed chain, your drive drain will last longer than putting racing loads on it.

I've seen Machka's web site, and she does long touring rides with insane mileage (slower than human mileage tours), and I accuse manitoba of being flat as a pancake.

As obvious as it seems, expected mileage out of a chain and cassette should be a function of pedal pressure squared * mileage... instead of just mileage.

In response to machka's need at hand, I'm with HillRider. The components wear together, so if you only buy a new chain, it will skip horribly and get ruined. Likewise, if a new cassette is bought but not a new chain, the old chain will wreck it in no time.

While I think that 35,000 km is too far for a chain, it is not necessarily too far for other components. I used to measure the chain on my commuter, but now I just replace it twice a year as part of my standard maintenance. I put over 30,000 miles (~50,000 km) on my original cassette before I had to pitch that. The rings are around 35,000 - 36,000 miles and have not needed replacement. I have had to replace the pulleys on the derailleur.

The trick is to keep the chain lubed and as clean as possible. I think it's a good idea to replace them before you get noticable stretch because you'll get a lot more life out of the other components. Especially if you ride a bike with 9 or fewer speeds, the chains are fairly cheap.

That's exactly what happened ... I did buy a new chain a little while ago, and couldn't even pedal down the street.


And that's also what I've done. I have been very careful about cleaning that chain and keeping it lubed. Now, however, I suspect I'll have to replace the chainring, cassette, and chain. Still, I guess getting 35,000 kms out of them isn't too bad. I think what bothers me about having to replace them is that it is only 3 years!! Somehow I guess I thought everything should last much longer than that.


I've got to have several other bits and pieces checked and replaced too ... the bearings in the rear wheel, for example, are shot, and the bottom bracket is very noisy, and my pedals are falling apart ....

Give that bike a rest, Machka!!!! It sure deserves it! I'd say a week vacation at least down at the local bike spa (LBS) for the works!

That's part of the problem though .... in Winnipeg, where I was till Sept 2004, I had a decent LBS where I took Machak regularly for check-ups etc. He was pampered back then!!


But now I live in a place where there really isn't a local bike spa. The one place I took him last year did a bit of work on him, but didn't have the tools to do much more - he told me he couldn't do anything with the bottom bracket, for example. He mainly deals with older bicycles or cheaper bicycles or whatever .... and I was down there the other day only to discover a big sign on his door that says: "No More Bikes, Please!!". I'm not sure if that means he's swamped, or if he's going out of the bicycle mechanic business.

There's a new spa in town, but I know nothing about the mechanics there, except that they are also swamped and it would be a long time before I could get Machak in there.

I have some bicycle maintenance knowlege, but the stuff that's going wrong now is beyond my abilities.

or a new bike! i've never put that many miles on a single bike.

ed rader

There's nothing wrong with the frame ... it is only 3 years old!! And if all goes well, I'd like to log well over 100,000 kms on that frame.

And the front forks are practically new ... I had them installed in the summer of 2004.


It's just some of the moving components which seem to be showing signs of wear.

i didn't say there was anything wrong with the frame. only that i have never put that many miles on a single frame. when i rode alot i changed frames about every two years. not because they were "worn out" but because i wanted something new/different.

ed rader

Ah I see ...... well, in my case my frame was custom built to my size. I had been having trouble finding a bicycle that really fit me well (smallish, female proportions), and so I opted to go the custom route. I've never been so comfortable on a bicycle before!! :)

My first reaction to the OP was that 35,000km was way too may to expect from a chain/cassette but the following postings clarified the situation a bit. A small, light woman riding in flat terrain may indeed not wear out a chain in that time.

One recommendation to the OP: learn to work on your own bike. You sound very dependent on the local bike shops for both advice and service. For someone who rides as much as you do, the minor investement in the special tools and service manuals would be a wise move.

I'm not a small, light woman but I am a light man riding flat terrain. I only have 4000 miles on my road bike and I am on my 3rd chain and second cassette. I lube regularly and replace when chainwear indicator says so. I might add that i got new wheels this spring and just threw on a new chain and cassette to go along with the wheels.

I also may work the drive train harder than machka, but the numbers she gives are staggering. I can't see anything lasting that long, even with a hamster pedaling. :D


On my MTB's i change chains every thousand miles or so. Heck, I am on my second chain ring for the year on one bike. Not to mention my 2nd cassette and 3rd chain.

Are you in sand?

Machka,

Get a book on bike mechanics or adopt Sheldon Brown as your patron saint. If anyone needs to do their own maintenance it would be you because of your epic wanderings.

Machka, I think you are doing quite OK. I have given up on trying to replace chains before cassette wear causes new ones to skip; I am now in the mode of riding the drive train into the ground (until it skips unacceptably, that is). A colleage of mine has commuted more than 18 months 40km a day with very little maintanance to his chain other than pointing a can of WD-40 :eek: at his chain occasionally and I just replaced his first drivetrain for him. He got approx 12,000km. Some of the gears were extremely worn.

You deserve a new drive train and a medal. :)

Yes. She certainly is. I'd love to squeeze that many miles in 3 years from either my components or my legs.