Advice

[Jdratcliffe]

Back Story :-
i have a new ( 5 month old spesh allez) brought as my commute as train fares stupidly high, my commute is 22miles each way 44 a day etc etc i commute on it 5 days a week speaking to the "LBS" ( which is actually a mobile service van great guy) he surggests killing the chain to 1% and then replacing chain and cassette now this to me seems a bit ott as that £60 worths ( chain plus cassette) id much rather the £20 more reqularly for a chain than the £60 for the whole lot - now i clean and re lube the drive chain ( and deep clean the whole bike much to HID dismay) so even after 5000 odd miles the chain is still not at .75% using http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-chain-wear-tool/

Question :-

which method do you guys use on your long distance commuters?
would you recomend leaving the chain untill 1% and changing the chain and cassette or change the chain at .75% and save the cassette ( i was planning on changing it at the end of this month even though not hit .75%) ?

is this just a ploy to get more ££ outta me i commute by bike due to lack of funds primarily so need to avoid regular large costs.

 

[ianrauk]

I change my chains at 1%. That seems to work fine with the cassette with no wear or jumping noticed.
Like you I look after my chains so get a whole load of miles out of them.

 

[festival]

just keep changing the chain only until you have to change anything else, then maybe have a bigger one off service, cables jockey wheels etc

 

[MossCommuter]

I think different people have different experiences and that can only come down to terrain (my commute is partly very very muddy or dusty depending on the weather) and riding style (there are those on here who would probably attribute global warming, unrest in the middle east and the Greek economic crisis to my low cadence).

I have found that changing a chain with even only a little bit of wear always results in needing a new cassette so I am going with your mobile mechanic and have decided to run each chain/cassette combination until they are worn out and begin to slip.

 

[andrew_s]

It can be a regional thing.
If you live in the fens, the soils is peaty, and so is the muck that gets on your bike. Dead plants arent a good grinding agent so you get good wear.
If you live somewhere with sandy soil, road muck has got lots of sandy quartz bits in it and kills cassettes and chains quickly