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Chainring replacement frequency

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Old 11-08-18 | 10:20 PM
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Chainring replacement frequency

Im curious, how frequently do you change out your chainring? Obviously the answer is when it's worn out. Do you get a certain amount of mileage or the number of times you replace your chain. Ex after two chain replacements is your chainring at its changeout time?
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Old 11-08-18 | 10:27 PM
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I got just shy of 18,000 miles out of a Praxis Works big ring (which was a 48T, I dunno if that makes any difference.) At that point, it had a handful of chipped/bent teeth, so shifting was either fine, or not fine. Probably could have extended it's life with some filing-- the teeth weren't getting that "shark-tooth" shape and it wasn't aggressively wearing out chains, but I just took it as an opportunity to replace it.

I only have about 8,500 miles on my RaceFace narrow-wide, and 3,000 on the Praxis Works compact on the other bike-- so replacement for those is quite a long way off.
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Old 11-08-18 | 10:28 PM
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I've replaced one chainring, but someone else put most of the wear on it.

So, over 50 yrs, almost never.
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Old 11-08-18 | 10:51 PM
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1250 miles out of a Praxis Alba set up. Several broken teeth and shark toothed the big ring. Replaced with Shimano 105 and life is good.
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Old 11-09-18 | 05:53 AM
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Since I re-trained to more of a spinner than masher, I can get a lot of wear out of each drivetrain. Of course steel rings help too. The ratio I'm getting is something like 3 cassettes/chains for each crankset. It'd probably be more if I replaced chains more often.
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Old 11-09-18 | 06:41 AM
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If you keep your drivetrain reasonably clean, a decent chainring will last many many years. I would say several years and in terms of mileage, 30,000+ miles. Maybe even twice that.

FYI, I get about 3000 miles from a chain, 10,000 from a cassette, to give you context.
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Old 11-09-18 | 06:45 AM
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I've probably got about over 25,000 km on my 5700, and perhaps twice that total from a previous owner. Still looks decent.
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Old 11-09-18 | 09:19 AM
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Unless the teeth are damaged, there no need to change one unless it's so worn that it causes chain suck. I've never kept a bike that long.
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Old 11-09-18 | 09:57 AM
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I start inspecting chainrings for wear at about the 12,000 mile mark. I had one Ultegra chainring last over 20,000 miles. It never went "sharktooth" or lost any teeth. It just wore more deeply -- beyond the round ridge that, originally, was at the base of the teeth. The effective diameter of the ring was worn smaller.
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Old 11-09-18 | 10:21 AM
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I have over 7,000 miles in higher mile bike with a Praxis big ring (46 cross bike) and it shows no signs of wear yet. Probably one of the cheapest per mile replacement item on the bike I'd imagine. I have changed the chain on that bike just once and the cassette is still going strong as well. The "general" rule of thumb I've heard is every 3 chains replace the cassette, every 2-3 cassettes replace the rings, assuming you clean & lube the chain regularly. Unless shifting is poor, obviously, then replace immediately.
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Old 11-09-18 | 10:24 AM
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40-50K before DA rings skip on a new chain in my experence.
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Old 11-09-18 | 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by woodcraft
I've replaced one chainring, but someone else put most of the wear on it.

So, over 50 yrs, almost never.
Same here... front shifting was horrible (even for SRAM!) and new chainrings fixed it right up.
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Old 11-09-18 | 05:44 PM
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Watch chain wear and change before it's too far gone. I destroyed a set of 6800 chain rings by not paying attention to how worn the chain was.
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Old 11-09-18 | 06:11 PM
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Virtually never. Replaced a couple with broken teeth.
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Old 11-10-18 | 02:54 PM
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I usually get about 3 cassettes worth of mileage out of the middle ring on my triple. The other rings last much longer, being less used. And about 3 chains per cassette, so about 9 chains per ring. To reduce ring wear, ride more in your bigger ring. More teeth = less ring wear and less chain wear because of reduced chain tension. I wear the big ring more on our tandem because it has a bigger cassette and thus I tend to ride in the big ring and larger cogs which equals less front shifting. On my road single, the cassette is much smaller and I mostly ride in the middle ring, a 39T.
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Old 11-10-18 | 08:47 PM
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In 50 years of riding I've replaced my chain rings exactly once and that was to change from bio-pace to round.
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Old 11-10-18 | 09:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Jon T
In 50 years of riding I've replaced my chain rings exactly once and that was to change from bio-pace to round.
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California riders will get very different results from those in the PNW who ride year 'round. If the OP is looking for information, good to check location.
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Old 11-10-18 | 10:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
California riders will get very different results from those in the PNW who ride year 'round. If the OP is looking for information, good to check location.
I am in "sunny" so cal and do ride year 'round.
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Old 11-11-18 | 06:23 PM
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Never, got bikes from early 80's. Always replaced chain before wear, and before I knew how to measure, new chains on an annual basis . Over the pass few years, I've upgraded chainrings and chain sets, to alter my gearing, but original rings are still good. KB
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Old 11-11-18 | 09:19 PM
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Originally Posted by woodcraft
over 50 yrs, almost never.
+1 this. Over 40 years, I've changed rings because the gearing was wrong, but not for wear.
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Old 11-12-18 | 08:51 AM
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I replaced my big ring at about 20k miles, more out of a feeling that it was "time" than any obvious need, since it seemed to be working fine and looked just a little worn. Still haven't replaced my inner ring, looks fine after 30k miles. Crank is SRAM Apex 50/34, fwiw.
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Old 11-13-18 | 07:09 PM
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I replace a ring when it goes THUNK THUNK THUNK when I hit it out of the saddle. Or I get sick of filing off burrs which cause chain suck.
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Old 11-17-18 | 09:37 AM
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It's more about how you ride, where, and its resulting stress you put on it. Just like your knees.
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Old 11-20-18 | 02:55 AM
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I run a 1x and change out the chainring every 8 months to a year--remember, it's one ring doing all the work. My gauge is when I start to drop chains. I've used Race Face and Wolf Tooth and the WT def outlasts the RF.
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Old 11-20-18 | 06:59 AM
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Soft aluminum granny rings wear out fairly quickly, luckily nobody uses them anymore.

That is the only example I can think of, other than extreme drivetrain mismanagement or neglect.

Chainrings tend to last longer than any other wear item.
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