How many miles before changing chain and Cassette?

[Nigelnightmare]

I once had a 9 speed chain wear out in less than 200 miles on my recumbent trike (ICE Qnt).
I put it down to a faulty chain (x3)/cassette as they were all new.
The replacements are still going strong 3yrs later (over .5 but not yet .75).
I ride around 34-40miles a day (17.6 miles each way + some pootling around).
The drive system gets cleaned monthly-ish but lubed and wiped clean weekly.

Edited due to typo's.

 

[Blue Hills]

Edited due to typo's.

Another typo to sort there.

Sorry.

All the best.

Yes regular lubing is important I think. For years I had the crazy vague idea that the chain oil was to prevent rust, so as long as all was black all was well.
I tend to think the regular lubing, with removal of grit, is more important, within reason, than which oil.

 

[silva]

How to get grit out? On shiny summer days along the road I've seen ppl using pressure washers on the drivetrain of mountainbikes. Pressure from outside, doesn't that just move the grit deeper inside the links?
I wonder if there's any way to get grit out without disassembly reassembly of the links (see that Sheldon Brown joke article).
A chain case probably doesn't help either since most of the grit is likely worn away material.
Maybe centrifugal force when riding can transport worn off particles out, if there is enough liquid/oil present.
At least I see an indication for that, after lubing an outside clean appearing chain and a ride, I notice black oil on the circumference of the link plates so I started a regime to lube, wipe off regularly, until no oil left / too dry (black dust on rollers) and repeat.
Weird thing is that shortly after lubing, the chain always needs to be retensioned. Maybe the worn off grit inside still "fills" space within the chain links contact areas where the wear takes place, and the oil "freeing" it by making it mobile, causing the centers of the links to move apart more (aka increased pitch).
I then have to think what if I just don't lube. :P

 

[Landsurfer]

I soak a cloth in white spirit (kerosene) hold it around the chain and using the pedals run it through the cloth cleaning the chain.
Then lube on the inside of the chain only ...
Current chain cassette combo 3K miles plus .... i never measure it ... i change it when it starts to jump on the cassette, and change the cassette as well. But not the single front chainring ...
After all this is the UK not Iswereistan ....... there are Cycle shops ...replacing stuff is easy .....

 

[andrew_s]

I just find it very odd how people have adopted this mentality of arbitrarily discarding things on no rational basis and when the items still have lots of useful life left in them. It seems to be a fairly recent thing too. No-one I rode bikes with as a youngster would change a chain for any other reason that it had snapped or got mangled between a sprocket and frame after coming off. The idea of binning one on the say-so of a 0.5 or 0.75% measuring tool would be laughed at,

Back then, cassettes (or freewheel sprockets) weren't that expensive relative to other transmission components, and they were a proper thickness with proper full-size teeth, and didn't wear down like 10 or 11 speed stuff does, that's had most of its life machined away on the altar of easy shifting.
Then, when the teeth did look too worn, you could just turn the sprocket or chainring round and wear out the other side of the teeth, since there were no shifting ramps, pins etc to worry about.

Since the gears had never shifted very well anyway (by modern standards), you never really noticed any deterioration, even with very worn components.

From what I remember, the chain change point was when you could lift the chain at the front of the big/only chainring far enough to clear the teeth.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Back then, cassettes (or freewheel sprockets) weren't that expensive relative to other transmission components, and they were a proper thickness with proper full-size teeth, and didn't wear down like 10 or 11 speed stuff does, that's had most of its life machined away on the altar of easy shifting.
Then, when the teeth did look too worn, you could just turn the sprocket or chainring round and wear out the other side of the teeth, since there were no shifting ramps, pins etc to worry about.
Since the gears had never shifted very well anyway (by modern standards), you never really noticed any deterioration, even with very worn components.

I should consider myself lucky then, having grown up riding on 5-speed freewheels, because I regard being able to use a chain and freewheel for years on end as the norm - and there's no way I'm ever going to tolerate owning any set up that requires half the transmission to be replaced on a frequent basis because it has been designed in such a way that it rapidly wears out. I mostly run 6-speed stuff now, which to me is all the gears you need at the back, especially if you run a triple up front. Don't agree about the old stuff not shifting well. It's smooth enough for me so long as I don't make clumsy changes - and when I do it's operator error (usually caused by a combination of DT shifters and cold hands) rather than any inherent fault with the gears. I don't try to make shifts under full power though, I ease off and take the load off the parts. A racer won't want to do this because it's slower, but I'm not racing and I value mechanical longevity over quick shifting.

 

[classic33]

I just find it very odd how people have adopted this mentality of arbitrarily discarding things on no rational basis and when the items still have lots of useful life left in them. It seems to be a fairly recent thing too. No-one I rode bikes with as a youngster would change a chain for any other reason that it had snapped or got mangled between a sprocket and frame after coming off. The idea of binning one on the say-so of a 0.5 or 0.75% measuring tool would be laughed at, as would replacing a tyre before it either had the canvas showing or was suffering frequent punctures. I've read previous comments on here about brand new road tyres being binned after only one or two rides, simply because the rider didn't like the "feel" of them!
I'm no tree-hugger, and couldn't care less about global warming, but there is no logic to being wasteful either on financial or sustainability grounds. Despite all the anti-motorist rhetoric and the environmental virtue-signalling displayed by many, cyclists themselves often actually set a pretty poor example of sustainable living; buying carbon bikes that will end up in landfill, flying abroad just so they can ride their non-recyclable carbon bike up a continental mountain pass, fitting toxic batteries into bikes, binning perfectly serviceable parts whose manufacture consumed resources, using CO2 cylinders instead of pumps, then dumping the empties at the roadside, along with the discarded energy gel wrappers.

Not quite true.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I regard being able to use a chain and freewheel for years on end as the norm - and there's no way I'm ever going to tolerate owning any set up that requires half the transmission to be replaced on a frequent basis because it has been designed in such a way that it rapidly wears out.

But you're not doing much distance on any (single one) of your bikes, are you, John? So it's perfectly reasonable for you to expect that your chain/sprockets will see you fine "for years on end". And what do you mean by 'frequent' and 'rapidly'? If I leave my chain and cassette to age together, I'll expect 7000km+ (9 speed) so will need to replace every 8 months or so. At £20 for a cassette and £10 for a chain that's half what I expect to pay for two tyres (same sort of longevity - averaged front and rear, GP4S or 4000s). These are all 'consumable' parts.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

But you're not doing much distance on any (single one) of your bikes, are you, John? So it's perfectly reasonable for you to expect that your chain/sprockets will see you fine "for years on end".

You're absolutely right, my mileage is spread across several bikes, although a cobbled-together-from-parts Pioneer and an old Apollo MTB account for more of those miles than any others because they are "sacrificial" in the sense I can leave them anywhere without worrying about them going missing.
However, the other side of the coin is only one of my bikes has been owned by me from new, and that has a 3-speed SA hub, so all the rest have varying amounts of pre-existing wear and tear from previous use, as do the donor parts from scrappers I also use. How much mileage those bikes have on them is unknown, but I would say varies from a few tens of miles to a few hundred miles on the best condition ones, up to multiple thousands on the well-used machines. I would not regard the replacement of a chain and cassette at around 4,000 miles as particularly impressive durability. My 1980's vintage 3-speed will have covered many more miles than that during the years I used it to go to work on, and the only thing I ever replaced on that bike was tyres and brake blocks. All the drivetrain is still original now.

 

[Ajax Bay]

I would not regard the replacement of a chain and cassette at around 4,000 miles as particularly impressive durability.

I did not seek to suggest that 7000km was 'impressive' just to provide a quantitative mark (which could be compared with tyre longevity for example) - NB for a derailleur geared bike. Care to share what distance you would deem particularly impressive durability for a chain and cassette combo for a derailleur geared bike (with a bit more clarity than "multiple thousands")? And have you documented this for yourself - ie you can say this is based on experience (my '7000k' is based on averaging several experiences - but again, a 'mark', not a benchmark). I wonder if chain and sprocket wear is much less on a single chainring / single sprocket set up such as a Sturmey 3-speed.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I'm probably erring on the side of caution, but.....

I bought my CGR, in March 2017 (the first model, in 'hi-viz yellow)
I fitted the 5th chain last week
It's still on the original cassette (although I do have a new boxed 12-28 for it)

Sadly it had an new inner ring in August '18, but that was entirely my fault

 

[Ajax Bay]

I bought my CGR, in March 2017 . . . fitted the 5th chain last week It's still on the original cassette

How many miles, if you don't mind me asking, and how have you been deciding when to change the chain?

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

How many miles, if you don't mind me asking, and how have you been deciding when to change the chain?

Miles?
No idea (no mileometer, computer, GPS, Strava……. nothing.....)
I used to run to work, alternate days, but due to injury I've not really run for about 15 months, so it's been in constant use
Also on days-off too

Basis For Decision?
Nothing technical, a mixture of time, inspecting the wear of the jockey-wheels, & whether I can lift the chain from the inner-ring, more than a perceived distance
Quite literally, the chain is the weakest link, & as I linked above in the 'my fault' comment, I've already replaced an inner-ring, & the chain is the cheapest part

(it was cheaper to buy a complete chainset, than separate Shimano rings!)

 

[Deeps]

I really need to do something about my chain and maybe the whole drivetrain which I've neglected. I've ridden at least 6000 miles, that's being cautious, and not changed a single thing other than the tyres which wore out. I only give the area a wipe down with hot soapy water when it gets really gunky and then re-lube more than I need. My saving grace is probably the fact that <1% of those miles have been in the wet or on muddy roads.

I do have a question though regarding the chain and cassette. I've seen lots of videos from the likes of GCN and similar shows and every time you see a bike the chain is silver, the cassette is shiny, you could eat your dinner off it! How clean does the whole area actually need to be? I know mine is bad, but how bad is bad and what does good actually look like?

 

[johnnyb47]

When you look at the likes of GCN you must remember there showing how everything should be in the "perfect world".
If you want to and have the time to keep your drive chain spotlessly clean it will no doubt be more beneficial, but in the reality of filthy weather and juggling day to day life its never going to be possible. Every weekend if the my bike is dirty i will give it a wash down and wipe the chain down with an old rag. It then gets lubed again wiping off any excess oil. Keeping on top of it seems to help it looking clean and tidy. I think when you get that black greasy paste forming over it, its time to get it throughly cleaned, as it just attracts grit and grud which slowly wears everything out.