Economy of chainwear

[earth]

First, I have read previous posts about this already but a question occured to me.

Ok, I just cleaned my chain and checked it for wear with a tool and to my disbelief its stretched over 1% so I should replace it otherwise it will accelerate wear of my cassette and chainrings.

Problem is I've only had it for about 1000 miles. I do clean it but not religiously. I ride on the big ring 90% of the miles and tend to ride hard as well. But I'm disappointed that its worn so quick because I decided to see what the best of KMC was like, went for an X10-SL and hoped it would last a lot longer than it has.

Its also worth noting that I bought it after I snapped the original Shimano one and at the time I did not replace the cassette. That must have had 1500-2000 miles on it then. About 400 miles ago I replaced that cassette when it was worn.

So I have a worn out chain and a cassette with about 400 miles on it. I should really have changed the cassette when I got the new chain because now they are out of sync with each other. I could change the cassette and chain now together to solve that but if I have to change the cassette with the chain everytime then whats the point in being so anal about cleaning the chain?

I will clean it because its smoother and overall I hope it will all last longer but I'm still looking at a new chain and cassette every 1000 miles + cleaning fluid and lube. But my point is that the argument of a clean chain wearing the cassette less is irrelevant if I have to change the cassette with the chain anyway.

 

[bike_the_planet]

First, I have read previous posts about this already but a question occured to me.

Ok, I just cleaned my chain and checked it for wear with a tool and to my disbelief its stretched over 1% so I should replace it otherwise it will accelerate wear of my cassette and chainrings.

Problem is I've only had it for about 1000 miles. I do clean it but not religiously. I ride on the big ring 90% of the miles and tend to ride hard as well. But I'm disappointed that its worn so quick because I decided to see what the best of KMC was like, went for an X10-SL and hoped it would last a lot longer than it has.

Its also worth noting that I bought it after I snapped the original Shimano one and at the time I did not replace the cassette. That must have had 1500-2000 miles on it then. About 400 miles ago I replaced that cassette when it was worn.

So I have a worn out chain and a cassette with about 400 miles on it. I should really have changed the cassette when I got the new chain because now they are out of sync with each other. I could change the cassette and chain now together to solve that but if I have to change the cassette with the chain everytime then whats the point in being so anal about cleaning the chain?

I will clean it because its smoother and overall I hope it will all last longer but I'm still looking at a new chain and cassette every 1000 miles + cleaning fluid and lube. But my point is that the argument of a clean chain wearing the cassette less is irrelevant if I have to change the cassette with the chain anyway.

Welcome to the world of modern, high-performance derailleurs. Shimano recommend no more than 3000 kms on a chain before it is changed on its own. After that, it's a new cassette as well.

Time was (sadly I'm old enough to remember...) when derailleurs lasted for 10,000s of miles. You could even renew the chain without buying a new cassette. But the problem was that early derailleurs used friction shift to change. Each gear change was accompanied by much clunking and it relied on the rider to adjust the lever until the chain was exactly over the new sprocket.

It was an acquired art (anyone remember the Alpine Shift???), and gear changes weren't particularly quick or efficient. But as a cycletourist/commuter/utility rider, I didn't particularly care.

Then in the 80s, SunTour invented indexing. Suddenly, you could just click on the lever, as you do today, and the gear would instantly shift. Magic.

But it came at a price. To make this happen SunTour, and then Shimano, redesigned the derailleurs and sprockets with much more shallow teeth along with bevels designed to lift the chain from one sprocket to the next. The result? Quick changes, but much greater accelerated wear.

The modern derailleur is now streets ahead in terms or performace, of the older ones. It also lasts about a tenth as long...

My only suggestion if your going to use derailleurs all the time is to buy a rohloff chain with your next cassette. Their tolerancing is a whole lot better than Shimano's, many of whose chains are often half out of tolerance from out of the packet!

Alternatively, use a hub gear or a single-speed on a hack for your commute and keep your derailleur geared bike for outings in dry weather.

That's progress for you.

Cheers,

 

[earth]

Alternatively, use a hub gear or a single-speed on a hack for your commute and keep your derailleur geared bike for outings in dry weather.

That sounds like good advice except the bike in question is my dry weather derailleur geared bike.

I thought I would get longer life out of the expensive KMC. If it only lasts as long as it did I may as well go for a cheaper one. Do you think I should get a new cassette along with it?

 

[mickle]

Lose the 'cleaning fluid', whatever it is, it's washing all the lube from inside the chain.

 

[earth]

Lose the 'cleaning fluid', whatever it is, it's washing all the lube from inside the chain.

The cleaning fluid is citrus degreaser. It could well be that there is some left in the chain and its degreasing the lube I put on. Couldn't I just wash it more thoroughly after degreasing. What's the alternative? Have to get the dirt out.


NB

Once the chain is stretched too far is it a new cassette as well to keep the parts in sync?

 

[accountantpete]

Once the chain is stretched too far is it a new cassette as well to keep the parts in sync?

No -if you catch it early enough it shouldn't have worn the chainrings and cassette.

 

[mickle]

Might i suggest the .. er.. 'Mickle method'?

 

[earth]

Might i suggest the .. er.. 'Mickle method'?

What would that be?

 

[mickle]

Essentially it's a method of cleaning ones chain without the problems associated with the use and disposal of volatile compounds like white spirit, petrol etc.

The crud which accumulates on the exterior surfaces of your chain is composed of grit and dust from the environment, much of it thrown up by the front wheel, mixed with the chain lube you left on the chain last time you lubed it. Using solvents to remove it certainly works but has the downside of removing all the lube from inside the chain.

The only chain surfaces which move against each other are on the inside (once the chain gets onto a sprocket it stops moving), knowing this we can conclude that we don't need lube on the outside surfaces. It doesn't do anything there except attract grit and dust.

The Method involves nothing more than chain lube and a rag. The first job is to wipe down the chain. Park the bike up against the sofa/ shed and holding the bike with your left hand simply *wipe the chain. Use the bike's freewheel mechanism to your advantage by grabbing the lower run of chain with the rag and drag it backwards, slide your hand forward and the chain will feed backwards presenting a new section to wipe. Wipe, wipe wipe etc, Rotating the rag to get a clean section every so often. Eventually, depending on the mankyness of the chain, you wont be able to get any more off.

Now lube the chain. With your right hand slowly rotate the pedals backwards whilst dropping lube onto the lower run of chain in front of the rear mech (or wherever). When you are happy that every link has a drop of lube spin the pedals backwards a few times to allow the lube to seep in.

Go back to *.

The last thing you do is wipe, remember you don't need any lube on the outside of the chain (aside from a very thin smear to discourage corrosion). You spend much much more time wiping than lubing. When the rag stops picking up crap the job is done save one thing, ride the bike a few miles and wipe it again.

The more often you do it the cleaner your chain will be and the cleaner your chain is the quicker the job. So little and often is better. Once a week when it's dry is more than enough, more often if you do lots of miles in the rain. The less crud you have on the chain the less can get on the other transmission parts too. Lube + grit = makes a really effective grinding compound when it comes into contact with aluminium rings.

The alternative, removing all the crud with solvents, removes all the lube from inside the chain. You then need to remove the solvent because putting lube on a chain full of solvent will destroy the lube. So you wash the solvent off with something? Then you have to remove whatever you washed the solvent off with. Oh, you then have to safely dispose of the now contaminated solvent hoping that non of it has permeated you skin because whatever it says on the bottle it's not good for you or for anything else in the environment.

So. Wipe lube wipe wipe wipe. Ride it a few miles and wipe it again. Once your chain has become accustomed to the new regime it should take no more than a two minutes each time.

 

[earth]

That's interesting because this is the technique I use most often on my everyday bike.

Exactly even so far as wiping with a rag running the rag forward on the chain gripping a new section and pulling it back then wiping forward and so on.. I can get all the dirt off the outside of the chain like this. As you say the dirt is mainly stuck to lube on the outside of the chain, where its not needed. I try too keep this to a minimum and largely succeed but I suspect some lube works its way out.

Next I put new lube on and spin the chain backwards or sometimes turn it upside down and spin the pedals forward. I think a bit of load on the chain is likely to open it up a bit so the lube gets in. After a few moments the dirt from inside the chain starts to come out in the lube so I wipe it off. If I ride then more dirt comes out. This can go on for a long time and it uses up alot of lube. I also know from using a chain cleaning tool that an enormous amount of dirt can get in there so inevitably on my posh bike I use the tool or take the chain off and immerse it in degreaser. Then I run water though it.

A good lube for following the wipe down and lube technique is ProLink Gold. I used it on my everyday bike because its quicker to lube and clean at the same time.

 

[mickle]

If you are using too much lube then you are ..er.. using too much lube. Little and often is the key. The chain should be virtually dry to the touch when you've finished, which means it attracts less crud, which means it's easier to clean, which uses less lube. A virtuous cycle if you will.