Chain replacement ? in Bicycling Mag

I worked as a wrench MANY years ago, but I DO NOT remember any sort of
rule of thumb advising unconditionally to replace a chain every
1000mi!! The only rule I recall is the 12" between chain pin centers.

So, what do you think? I would think it would depend on a few factors:

--how scrupulously one lubricates their chain (AND wipes off the
excess!)
--how hard one rides (heavy time trialist or big gear masher vs.
spinner)
--misuse of crossover gears (ouch!)
--Campy 10s (just a guess on this one)

Every 1000 mi. seems quite excessive--hell, I barely ride and I would
have gone through 4 chains this year following that rule!! Can't
afford doing that with Campy Record 9s chains...not on my salary
anyway...

What do you professional wrenches think about this??

The 1000 mile figure for a chain is very low, however, if it wasn't
sufficiently qualified. I'd say average chain life for a road bike (before
shifting deterioriates and excessive sprocket wear kicks in) runs about
2,000 miles in our region, with the potential for longer life killed off by
the wonderful hills we ride in. For me it's worth replacing a chain every
2,000 miles though, if the alternative were 5,000 miles in Florida, where
the tallest point (or so I've been told) is Space Mountain in Disneyworld.
Nothing against Florida but, for me, no mountains to climb just wouldn't cut
it.

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReaction.com
"K Tubbs" <bike...@usa.net> wrote in message
news:ddbf4311.01112...@posting.google.com...

I had this same thought a week ago. I was reading "Zinn and the art of
mountain bike maintainence" and Zinn said replace your chain every
500-1000!!! miles. But I measured mine and it was easily within the same
spec that Zinn had also defined. So I am using the same old chain. I would
also like to know if there is another reason for this rule. Why should I
spend money on a chain when I need new sunny-glasses and tightypants? ;)

Vaughn

My perception of this problem is summarized at:

http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/100.html

Jobst Brandt <jobst....@stanfordalumni.org>

The most extreme example of this I've seen is on the left chain on my
road tandem. Although the chain IS handling my entire output, AND I
didn't really keep it all THAT clean, I replaced the chain at well
over 10,000 miles (16,000km) because it had a bit of surface rust. It
still measured "like new".

The big difference is the chain runs absolutely straight (or did
before I shortened my front bottom bracket axle). Which brings up
another variable - those who ride with bad chain angles (i.e. big-big
combo) are going to wear out their chains much, much faster than those
who use appropriate gear combinations.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

We say change the chain every 2000-2500 miles and use the least expensive
compatible chain. Altho the measure the chain method is the best, like your
engine oil in your car, people like a number rather than a inspection...

I change my chain every month-in the summer, with a cheap Sedis chain(but own a
bike shop) and use hard to replace freewheels ..
Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl ST.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com

Measureing is the only real way to tell when it is time to replace a chain.
It is easy to do, requires no special tools or training and bascially costs
nothing.
-----------------
Alex __O
_-\<,_
(_)/ (_)

I get 2500-3000 miles per chain before they elongate by 1/16 inch and are
replaced. These are normal Sedis RCS-80 chains (or the later equivalent) on
road bikes. Keeping the drivetrain clean is a key to this longevity.

I suspect they'd last even longer if I weighed less than 175 and lived where it
wasn't hilly.

Brian lafferty

"Alex Rodriguez" <ad...@columbia.edu> wrote in message
news:9u5o0u$sso$2...@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu...

> I read a tip...stating that one should

> What do you professional wrenches think about this??

I'm not a professional wrench, but we have four bikes here and ride in
the neighborhood of 100 miles per week, quite a bit of it on (sometimes
very dirty) steep single track. So, we take drive train maintenance seriously.

We use a Rohloff chain measuring tool to gauge chain wear and
scrupulously change out chains at the recommended elongation (different
depending on whether sprockets are steel or alloy). The intention is to
minimize wear to the sprockets themselves, which are more expensive to replace.

To avoid chain wear, we aim to clean the drive train after every dirty
ride; sometimes this means several times a week. To facilitate cleaning,
we use SRAM chains with the PowerLink, which makes it easy to remove the
chain for cleaning, and we lubricate with TriFlow, which picks up
relatively less dirt than, say, Phil Wood Tenacious Oil and is readily
cleaned off the chain via immersion and agitation in Simple Green.
Cleaning the chain frequently means that you get it down to a very quick
operation: the chain is never badly soiled.

Yes, if the chain is badly worn, you should look to replacing the
cassette/chainrings, because it is folly to operate a new chain on worn
sprockets or vice versa. A badly worn chain will wear your gears badly.

For more details, see http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html.

Art

While such measuring tools are handy, it has been pointed out here many times
that they do not actually measure the pin wear.

The recommended solution is measuring 12 inches of chain pin to pin with a tape
or accurate ruler.

Myself I use a pair of calipers.

Measure your chain wear and you should be OK if you replace the chain before it
reaches the limit. (1/8th inch in 12 inches IMMSMW)

Personally I think cleaning is of questionable value because what it can do is
wash the grit and grime into the areas where it cannot be properly flushed.
The outside might be clean but the inside where the actual wear takes place is
another issue.

I just use White Lightening liberally and replace the chain when it is worn
out.

jon isaacs

Also, I am not obssesively clean with my cassette. I use dry lube and spray it
whenever my chain begins to squeak.

My recommendation is to keep using the same chain and cassette until you
completely worned out both, and then, just replace both at the same time. It is
cheaper and lazier. Both concepts keep me happy.

Andres

> While such measuring tools are handy, it has been pointed out here many times

Sorry, repetition does not make truth. Jon, you use a caliper, so you
are not naive. Examine the Rohloff Caliber, and you will see that it
measures pretty much the same as you would do with your own
general-purpose tools: chain length. If the Rohloff Caliber does not
measure pin wear, then neither do you.

I used to do this, and prefer the Rohloff, which does much the same
measurement, but more accurately and conveniently.

The Rohloff tool puts the chain under tension (which makes the
measurement more accurate) and measures the distance between rollers
separated by several (3-1/2) links. It takes seconds to get an accurate
reading, much faster for me than using my Helios dial calipers.

This is a lot of if-if-ifing. Yes, if you do not do a proper job of
cleaning your chain, your chain will not be properly clean.

One reason I like using Simple Green is that you rinse with water, which
entrains away even more contaminants: it is easy to inspect the rinse
water for particulates and simply rinse again and again until the rinse
water remains crystal clear.

It is important to work the chain while in the SG wash and water rinse;
that working process is important in flushing out the particulates.

White Lightning being a "dry" lubricant, it will pick up less in the way
of road dirt.

Jon, maybe you ride only paved roads. The reason we do what we do is
because of riding really dirty single track all the time. It's very true
that a bike operated only on paved roads will get a whole lot less dirty
than one operated on soil. So much so, that the bike maintenance trip
becomes an entirely different experience for the single track rider.

Still, there is an argument that says extending the service life of a
$10-20 chain is a waste of time. I admit it: by the time we discard a
chain, it has had many hours of maintenance labor put into it. The
upside: I get to ride with a clean chain most of the time, which I like,
and my drive train is trouble free all of the time, which I also like.

I guess that we all agree that a chain should certainly be replaced
before it gets too worn. I cannot stress too much how important this one
point is.

Arthur Ogawa

>>> We use a Rohloff chain measuring tool to gauge chain wear.

Can you explain how you identify chain elongation (pin wear) from a
between rollers measurement, rollers that have clearance on their
support. This clearance varies with the kind of chain wear (dirt or
road) while the pin-to-pin spacing determines chain pitch error and
sprocket wear.

What is more convenient, inexpensive, and cleaner than a non
contacting measure by holding a yardstick next to the chain? The
accuracy is more than enough to detect 0.2% wear. Besides my yard
sticks were promotional gifts from hardware stores.

Maybe you are unaware of the tension in a chin on a bicycle. The rear
derailleur serves for enough tension so that th=ere is insignificant
sag in the bottom run of the chain, an easy place next to which one
can hold a scale. By three and a half links I suspect you mean three
and a half inches of chain. That is a problem in itself because pitch
elongation occurs only between roller pairs, the inner link with its
rollers, always being in 1/2 inch pitch. I have talked to Rohloff and
got nowhere because I don't think the geometric concepts are clear to
them.

Jobst Brandt <jobst....@stanfordalumni.org>

Does it measure the distance between pins or the distance between the rollers?

I think the point here is that roller separation is not necessarily an
indication of the separation of the pins.

I ride a variety of conditions, road and off road, mostly dry but when I ride
the local MTB trails (I often commute via trail in the summer before the poison
oak gets too bad) there are several water crossings where everything gets wet
and muddy. I have more than a bit of experience riding with both motorcycles
and bicycles in a variety of off road conditions.

I still question the cleanliness of the inner wearing surfaces of the chain.
Just because the wash seems clean doesn not mean you are getting that fine grit
and grime out the inner sections and that is what causes the wear.

As someone who used to work on tractors and trucks for my living, my philosphy
is that you either leave it alone or you take it apart on clean it so that you
can wipe the surfaces clean. Removing the dirt from outside makes it look
nicer but mostly just redistributes the dirt on the inside.

Well, I wonder how much and if you persistance results in a significantly
longer chain life. My scheme both on and off road is to use WL and keep the
chain well lubed and replace it when it is worn.

But, your point is well taken that it takes a good deal of time to do the
maintainance you do. Personally I have already cleaned enough dirty parts in
my lifetime.

jon isaacs

The tool bears on rollers, but the rollers in question are separated by
several links in the chain. The way I figure it, if you have concerns
about measurement error due to the roller not being concentric with the
respective pin, there _will_ be an error at each of the two ends of the
measurement. I think this error is not enough to matter, and at any
rate, the error would tend to make the tool overestimate the wear on the
chain and only to the extent that the rollers themselves and the
shoulders they bear on wear.

We measure the chain when newly installed and track the wear over the
service life of the chain, which in our riding is well less than a year.

True. Seems like it should be possible to measure this effect. I'll
think on it.

> ...I wonder...if you persistance results in a significantly
> longer chain life

That is the fond hope, although it remains to be seen if it is true. It
is difficult to do controlled tests, as you might imagine: there are
simply too many variables.

Someone raised the point that lubricating a chain would tend to sweep
contaminants into the wear points. So, how do you go about keeping your
White Lightening-lubricated chain "well lubed"? Are you not concerned
about this effect? Or does your chain remain pristine clean by some WL magic?

I have heard of others using White Lightening. I am encouraged to try it.

Art

Depends on the casette-for $30 casettes and $10 chains, this is fine...for
$85-$150 casettes, it's cheaper to replace the chain(like with a $20 chain).