MrMojoJoJo

Just got back from the LBS and they told me that my chain needs to be replaced. I have 1500 miles on it and both myself and the employee thought it was a low number of miles. I keep it rather clean...

Has anyone else using this chain had to replace it so soon? Does this sound normal?

RT

It does not sound normal, especially for a chain of that 'quality/expense'. I get more mileage out of my $13.95 SRAM chain, however my riding may be different than yours...

Phil85207

If you are sure that's a correct number of miles, and you keep it clean and lubed, I think I would start using a cheep chain.

merlin55

It is normal that you were told to replace your chain....easy repair, good profit for the shop.

Depending if you ride in the rain, how often and how you clean and lube the chain it could be worn out, or have another 1500 miles of life. It just depends.

recon455

Did you get it measured?

trinamuous

Get a chain checker.

Hot Potato

Get a good ruler, with markings down to 1/16 inch. Put the zero mark at the center of a pin. Note where the pin nearest the 12 inch mark is. Once it hits 1/16 inch more than 12 inches, replace. I suppose you could put the zero mark at the end of a pin too, if that is easeir, as long as you measure the corresponding spot on the other end.

Google this, if you still have questions about how to measure. I have over 2k miles on my chains, and they are only half way to the 1/16 mark.

acaurora

I had this same situation, and the cable stretch was proved by the park chain wear indicator tool. After only 1500 miles, it was at .75% already. I found out that it was due to me cross-chaining so much. Now I am more conscious about what gear combinations I'm in.

Hunt-man

I'm lucky to get to 1,000 miles with my Ultegra chains. I climb alot of hills and weigh in at 175lbs. I keep it fairly clean and lubed. WTF?

Here was my question:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...7#post10712997

DaveSSS 

Park Chain checkers greatly exaggerate the elongation. They are a great chain-selling tool for your LBS. With a Shimano chain, that tool would report a new chain to be .25% elongated even though it is not. Subtracting that false wear helps, but even then, the wear on the rollers at each end of the measured length can be nearly as large as the elongation, so the tool still exaggerates the wear.

A precision 12" scale is the most practical tool for measuring elongation.

Hot Potato

This.

A chain checker detects the gap between rollers?, a ruler measures the distance between pins. Rollers wear, but it is the pin wear that causes "stretch." Your drive chain is damaged by "stretch," not roller wear. At least as far as I can tell by researching the subject. Hope I got the terms right.

I use a metal ruler with 1/16 inch marks. No, its not a "certified" ruler, such things are difficult to find and pricey. But its not a cheapo tape measure either. I am an unabashed cross-chainer, finding front dérailleur use on compact cranks to be tedious, and ultegra chains hold up well for this clyde.

tntyz

How was shifting? In my limited experience, shifting got worse with chain wear and the problem couldn't be adjusted away.

ls01

Yeah, I have issues with all of this "stretched" chain business too. I check my own chains. I have a couple of bikes with similar miles on each. Just under 2000 miles on both chains, neither chain is showing any appreciable wear, they both still measure 12 inches almost exactly.

Clean often, lube well.

And now a word from the other camp.
A friend of mine had a Schwinn road bike. with about 14000 miles on it. He never changed the chain, heck, he didn't even lube the chain unless he could hear the squealing over his I pod! But he still got 14000 miles from this drive train. He spent aprox. $120.00 replacing the rings, cassette, and chain.
Now we advocate shedding a chain every 2000 miles or so depending on wear, and lubing every 100 miles or so as some average figures. Lets say a chain is $30.00 and each chain uses 1 bottle of lube over its life span. thats $40.00 every 2000 miles, 14000 divided by 2000= 7 x$40 =$ 280.00!!!!!

Yeah, I cant really say this is how I will treat my bike either however from a monetary standpoint lubing and cleaning is clearly not the most economical way to go if we just go by standard replacement cycles without measuring the chain. Even if I get 4000 miles from a chain, without replacing anything else do I even approach his $ per mile.
The point? no point just some things to think about while you are out there destroying a good chain.

Hunt-man

It seems that chain wear has become a bigger issue with 10spd drive trains. Thinner / lighter means more wear and less life. I'm half tempted to go back to 9spd.

DaveSSS 

A little more info about elongation versus roller wear. Both can be important with regard to determining if a chain is worn out. A well maintained Campy chain may show as little as .2% elongation after 6,000 miles of use, but that does not mean it is not wornout. A caliper check of the distance between the rollers might show an increase from .200 inch to .240 inch. A check of the side clearance with feeler gages might show .013 inch, or about twice the original side clearance. The chain is shot, despite having little elongation.

The roller wear can also wear the cogs so one or more of them will not mate with a new chain, so it's not just elongation that needs to be considered when it comes to reducing cog wear. If you leave a single chain in use for too long, the most-used cog will wear-in to match the smaller rollers and cause new-chain skip, when a new chain is installed.

My solution is alternating the use of three chains with one cassette, and never leaving a new one in use for any longer than it's half-life. If you get the third new chain into use and don't have any new-chain skip, you can keep alternating the three chains at shorter, but convenient intervals and never encounter chain skip. It's a lot cheaper than using 6-8 chains and tossing each one after only 2,000 miles.

Uni-Vibe

Don't bother checking and measuring. That's a waste of time.

Change your chain every 1500 miles. Changing the chain that frequently will result in much longer cassette and chainring life. It's cheap maintenance.

"Rotating" used chains is also a waste of time.

iam7head

when in doubt, just change it.

it's way easier and cheaper to change the crank and cassette, 10 sp chains usually need to get replaced faster than 9 spd, but it's not even that expensive to
swap it out in the first place

Uni-Vibe

If you have time to think about and to do all this, you ain't having enough sex, and you ain't riding enough.

kamalster

^ rofl

DaveSSS 

I have time to think about this becasue I'm retired mechanical engineer (since 2003 when I was 50). It takes no time at all. What's stupid is tossing half worn chains at 1500 miles. You'll spend three times as much as I do on chains and get no more mileage from your cassette.

Jabba Degrassi

Just to see if I'm understanding correctly, the idea is to extend cassette life by making sure your cog doesn't get too used to any one particular chain? I understand how this extends the cassette life, but how does it help with chain life? I'm genuinely curious.

DaveSSS 

People who toss chains prematurely in an attempt to protect a cassette don't get nearly as much use from them as they could. With a 3-4 chain rotation, you can use each chain longer, perhaps up to 1% elongation since each of the chains is similarly worn and won't cause new-chain skip. This process does not make a chain wear any slower or actually last longer.

Campy chains just wear differently than most other brands. They elongate far less, but the rollers only wear a little slower. That's why I use a roller wear check to decide when to toss a Campy chain. You could do that with other brands too and toss them when the space between the rollers increases by about .040 inch. Shimano and KMC chain have a little greater spacing to start with (around .210 inch). That can only be done if the chains are used in a rotation.

rob!

It's not that cheap with 10 speed chains. 1500 miles for a lot of people on here is every 2-3 months (or even less).

Jabba Degrassi

I think I get it. Rotate a handful of chains with one cassette, and by the time the chains are really and truly done for, the cassette is as well, although it's life has been extended because it's not wearing to ONE particular chain, so you just start all over with a new cassette and another handful of chains that you rotate. Is that about right?

RT

Ride a chain 'til it skips, even with precise adjustment. Replace cassette and chain together. If the 10 speeds wear too quickly, go back to a 9 speed or up your maintenance budget. I've never had so much trouble with 8 or 9 speeds, but am not a racer. I put on about 7,500 miles a year and easily get one chain and cassette out of each season.