Front Chain Ring Wear

[junkie_ball]

Ok newbie question here but i have covered just over 300 miles on my new bike (specialized tri-cross) since Jan and today when cleaning the bike i noticed the large front chain ring is showing signs of wear to the teeth already. This is very noticeable on about 6 of the teeth. My question is how many miles would you expect a front chain ring to last before showing signs of wear. As 300 miles seems not very much at all to me. I appreciate this would depend on the type of terrain etc i'm riding on. 90% of the rides have been on tarmac roads with 10% on cycle tracks mainly tarmac with a few stretches of compacted gravel.

 

[nappadang]

I had to change mine recently changed mine but I'd done close to 3000 miles on mine.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Are you sure it's wear or are you looking at the teeth that are shorter than the rest to aid smooth shifting (embarrassed myself by making that mistake a few years back)

The life of a chairing depends on lots of variables including the quality of the part, riding conditions and the usage but I'd say 3000 miles+ would be realistic.

 

[junkie_ball]

I had to change mine recently changed mine but I'd done close to 3000 miles on mine.

This would be more the type of mileage i would have been expecting to get from a chain ring not just a few hundred miles.

Are you sure it's wear or are you looking at the teeth that are shorter than the rest to aid smooth shifting (embarrassed myself by making that mistake a few years back)

The life of a chairing depends on lots of variables including the quality of the part, riding conditions and the usage but I'd say 3000 miles+ would be realistic.

This is what i first thought when i saw a couple shorter teeth but the worn teeth do not seem to be evenly spaced around the the chain ring as i would expect although i maybe wrong as i'm a newbie with bike maintenance.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

This is what i first thought when i saw a couple shorter teeth but the worn teeth do not seem to be evenly spaced around the the chain ring as i would expect although i maybe wrong as i'm a newbie with bike maintenance.

It still sounds like it could be the specially shaped teeth. A photo would help if you can get one. If it's wear you'd usually see it round most or all of the chainring as in this extreme example posted by @SatNavSaysStraightOn.

 

[nappadang]

I had to change mine recently changed mine but I'd done close to 3000 miles on mine.

I must win a prize for the most appalling grasp of the English language?

 

[Mo1959]

My Forme has currently done 7900 miles and the bike shop thought they still looked ok. I would be horrified if they only lasted 300 miles!

 

[boydj]

RP has called it - the shorter teeth are clustered to line up with the ramps to assist gear changes. Wear does not generally show in the height of chainring teeth, but in the troughs getting wider and the tops getting more pointed.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Ditto what @Mo1959 says, my middle ring on my triple prowheel shows signs of wear but as this chainset has done over 8,000 miles I am not surprised as its been in all weathers, I have just changed from an 8sp rear to 9sp and it still works fine.

 

[numbnuts]

3000 miles you have to be joking, mine have done over 30,000 miles and still good and have never slipped