Chain wear

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G3CWI

Veteran
Location
Macclesfield
I like to keep a nice clean chain and I lubricate it regularly. Today I was doing my normal chain maintenance which includes a wear check. I was gobsmacked to find that the chain is well on the way to 1% wear after only 650km. It's a Clarks 8/9 speed chain. I don't use too many dodgy gear combinations. Why would it wear so quickly?


...and Happy New Year!
 

MikeW-71

Veteran
Location
Carlisle
Clearly its quality is not the best.

Nearly 2000 miles from a Shimano chain before I changed it (it could have gone on much longer) for a KMC.
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
steel ruler is a good method - some would say more accurate as the chain gauge can actually push the rollers making it out that it's worn more than it is.
 
Location
Loch side.
Commercial chain tools are very inaccurate and inconsistent. A reading taken on the same chain when it is clean and dirty will show up differently, because of the erroneous point of reference as Moodyman says. Further, the tools large reading error over a short piece of chain exaggerates the error. The ruler method is best.
 

MrPie

Telling it like it is since 1971
Location
Perth, Australia
KMC for me too......no faffing around with that silly Shimano 'easy' link. I run Campag nowadays and refuse to spend over 100 quid on a chain tool. replace once a year, which equates to around 5k miles whether it's worn or not. Peasers.
 
Another vote for KMC from me.

Or, Sram chains are decent as well, just don't bother with Shimano chains!

There's no need anyway as KMC/Sram are far better options and generally for less money as well.
 

Biscuitfrisky

Active Member
I checked mine after 2.5k of miles over the past nine months and my chain was beyond the 1 on the chain wear measure.
I had the bike serviced to which they put a new chain on at my request, however the cassette is buggered (cadence didn't have any in stock) as the chain slipped on a few of the gear combos when I rode it back home.
Question I have to the forum, I have ordered a new cassette, should I stay off the bike until I replace, or will a couple of commute days be ok?
 
I checked mine after 2.5k of miles over the past nine months and my chain was beyond the 1 on the chain wear measure.
I had the bike serviced to which they put a new chain on at my request, however the cassette is buggered (cadence didn't have any in stock) as the chain slipped on a few of the gear combos when I rode it back home.
Question I have to the forum, I have ordered a new cassette, should I stay off the bike until I replace, or will a couple of commute days be ok?
It'll be fine for a few days if we are not talking about mega mileage or climbing.
 

Gravity Aided

Legendary Member
Location
Land of Lincoln
Another vote for KMC, order placed. I have also had SRAM in past, but prefer KMC. Available and priced right. May also replace chain with same on my expedition tourer project, given a paycheck or two. Hard to support all these foundlings if I upgrade them all at once.
 
Location
Loch side.
I checked mine after 2.5k of miles over the past nine months and my chain was beyond the 1 on the chain wear measure.
I had the bike serviced to which they put a new chain on at my request, however the cassette is buggered (cadence didn't have any in stock) as the chain slipped on a few of the gear combos when I rode it back home.
Question I have to the forum, I have ordered a new cassette, should I stay off the bike until I replace, or will a couple of commute days be ok?
A new chain on a worn cassette will, as you discovered, skip in a few gears. In theory, if you could prevent it from skipping on those gears by perhaps removing the spring-loaded derailer as in a singlespeed, it will work but only load the last link in the chain as it exits the sprocket on its way to the chainring. This will accelerate wear somewhat. I say somewhat since even a new chain only loads on about two and a half teeth in anyway.

However, that scenario is unlikely and therefore you will be riding it in gears that don't skip and are still meshed with the chain at the right pitch. That will cause no damage to the chain at all.

Go riding with no worries that you're doing damage to any component. The least frustrating remedy to your problem is to refit the old chain until the cassette arrives. That way you have benefit from all the gears.
 
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