How many miles can a chain & cassette do?

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Watt-O

Watt-o posing in Athens
Location
Beckenham
I've been commuting all year on the trusty old Focus Izalco equipped with SRAM Red and Focus Racing 1’s. Hoewever, my rather smug feeling gained by daily scalping the slow coaches on their lumps of iron on A21 was somewhat tainted last night, when I popped into see Winston in SE20 Cycles in Penge. Initally, I asked him to tighten up a few bolts on the head set with his torque wrench, and to test the chain for wear. Winston duly obliged and told me that my chain and the 10 speed cassette were indeed knackered, as I suspected as it has just started jumping. So, I order a new chain and block, 60 quid and 150 or so quid apiece. I then ask him what their life expectancy is, and he replies around 1,000 miles depending on conditions (winter/summer). Well, I do 80-100 miles a week, so by that rate I will have to shell out 250 quid every 10-15 weeks! That makes consumables pretty damn expensive on top of Schwalbe Utremos, inner-tubes, lube etc. etc.

Can anyone recommend a more durable (even if it is a few grams heavier) chain/block combo that will fit my machine?


Thanks folks.
 

upsidedown

Waiting for the great leap forward
Location
The middle bit
Don't know about yours specifically, but i've done 9000 miles on my SRAM chain, not showing any problems yet, but it's set to friction change not index so i guess it's a bit more tolerant.
 
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Watt-O

Watt-O

Watt-o posing in Athens
Location
Beckenham
upsidedown said:
Don't know about yours specifically, but i've done 9000 miles on my SRAM chain, not showing any problems yet, but it's set to friction change not index so i guess it's a bit more tolerant.

What's a friction change? I thought there was only index?
 

upsidedown

Waiting for the great leap forward
Location
The middle bit
Watt-O said:
What's a friction change? I thought there was only index?

I've got Dura Ace bar end shifters, you can turn indexing off and just feel for the right gear just like you used to on downtube shifters. Means you never get sloppy changing.
 
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Watt-O

Watt-O

Watt-o posing in Athens
Location
Beckenham
Ah, now I remember the old Campag and Shiminao stuff I used as a youngster: the levers on the down tube. Yes, I used to like those shifters.
 

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
I changed my chain, rear derailleur and rear cluster last year some time (forget exactly when), but I've done well over 7,000km on them and no sign of slippage or jumping yet. My understanding (from reading posts on the Bicycle Victoria forum) is that a chain should last at least 5,000km (and I think that was a conservative estimate). Naturally its lifespan also depends on how often you brush, degrease & oil it.
 

nmcgann

Veteran
Location
Cambridge UK
The Sram force/rival chain+cassettes should almost certainly fit and are much cheaper than red.

Most people seem to change the cassette every three chains or so provided chains are replaced at the point that they have stretched no more than 1/16in (measured over a 12in length).
 
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Watt-O

Watt-O

Watt-o posing in Athens
Location
Beckenham
Thanks for the advice, my fellow pedalers :-)
 
Location
EDINBURGH
On recumbents it is about 3k to 5k, upwrongs about 1k to 3k, depends on things like your terrain and if it is commuting or touring, how well you look after your chain etc...
 
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Watt-O

Watt-O

Watt-o posing in Athens
Location
Beckenham
I get the toothbrush and lube out once a week or so too, said the actress to the bishop. :sad:
BentMikey said:
I got almost 10,000km out of my chain last year. 9spd though, that might last slightly longer than 10spd. I'm nice to my chain though.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Before I saw the light and went FIXED, I'd go through two chains and 1 cassette a year. Anyway, serves you right for commuting on a high SCR (silly commuter racing) bike..... RED for the commute....sheesh....:sad:
 

dodgy

Guest
You should be able to get at least 3 chains to 1 cassette, on my winter bike I'm now up to about the 5th chain and about 6000 miles on the cassette.

Change your chain before it's so worn that it starts to wear other components prematurely.
 
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Watt-O

Watt-O

Watt-o posing in Athens
Location
Beckenham
fossyant said:
Before I saw the light and went FIXED, I'd go through two chains and 1 cassette a year. Anyway, serves you right for commuting on a high SCR (silly commuter racing) bike..... RED for the commute....sheesh....:sad:

Envy isn't a very attractive characteristic :sad:
 
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