Rotating Chains

[John the Monkey]

Saw this in the comic the other week;

To maximise cassette and chain life, buy three new chains when fitting a new cassette. After 500 miles replace the first chain with the second. After a further 500 miles replace the second with the third and continue to rotate the chains every 500 miles.



If you've got an aluminium cassette instead, reduce the distance between rotations to 250 miles.

(Full article)



I'd never heard of this method before - anyone used it? What did you think?

 

[Baggy]

I'm about to try it with two chains - it would seem to make sense and hopefully will get twice as much life from one cassette.

 

[Over The Hill]

I am guessing the point being the longer chain will wear the cogs as it will not fit into each gap so well.

So you could just have a casette for worn chains and one for new chains

 

[barq]

I've done it. I was switching chains more frequently than they suggest, but then it was on a MTB so more grime, wear, etc... The other advantage of this method is that you always have a nice clean chain available if you suddenly decide to go for a ride. It is quite a lot of hassle though and you need to be methodical enough not to get chains mixed up (especially if you start doing it on multiple bikes!).

 

[Globalti]

You'd be better off investing in a chain wear gauge and changing the chain when it's borderline.

 

[Baggy]

The reason I'm trying this is that I've just changed a chain that was borderline, and the new one skips...so am happy to give it a bash and see what gets the most life from a drivetrain.

 

[Mr Pig]

I've said this before but are you not better just leaving the old chain on?

Take Baggins for instance. She now needs to fit a new cassette, and probably new rings, to get her new chain to work properly. So as the gears are now worn anyway what does she have to loose from leaving the old chain on?

As the chain and gears are all worn into each other they'll still work fine and maybe will continue to work fine for years! Sure, she'll have to replace the gears and chain eventually, but why do it now if the old kit is still working?

The chain and gears on my old bike are maybe four years old and 'very' worn, but still work fine and do not skip.

 

[John the Monkey]

I've said this before but are you not better just leaving the old chain on?

Depends on your kit I guess. If you're replacing drivetrains that cost, say £15 for cassettes, maybe £30 for chainrings, the cost of changing chains regularly probably looks a bit much. If you're replacing stuff at the Ultegra level, I reckon that cost/benefit could start to move in favour of changing chains more regularly...?

 

[punkypossum]

So after how many miles should you change chains as a rule of thumb? I have never measured mine for wear , but it must have done about 2000 miles now. Looked after it fairly well, but do I have to assume when it does need changing I will need a new cassette?

 

[Baggy]

On my best bike, I thought my old chain was fine until I changed it, and then realised how sloppily it had been changing before.

Also as Mr Monkey says, my cassettes on one bike cost £45 and the chainset £120+...

I wouldn't expect to change a chainset (or even a chainring) after 3 years, but had to when previously I didn't change the chain for 3 years...

A few chains would have cost much less overall.

 

[Baggy]

So after how many miles should you change chains as a rule of thumb? I have never measured mine for wear , but it must have done about 2000 miles now. Looked after it fairly well, but do I have to assume when it does need changing I will need a new cassette?

Rule of thumb i sdifficult, it depends if you ride in wet, gritty conditions etc.

If you change the chain before it's really stretched the cassette should be ok, as a vague rule of thumb mine seem to go beyond the point of return at about 3000 miles...

 

[John the Monkey]

So after how many miles should you change chains as a rule of thumb? I have never measured mine for wear , but it must have done about 2000 miles now. Looked after it fairly well, but do I have to assume when it does need changing I will need a new cassette?

sheldon has the answer punky -

"Measuring Chain Wear

The standard way to measure chain wear is with a ruler or steel tape measure. This can be done without removing the chain from the bicycle. The normal technique is to measure a one-foot length, placing an inch mark of the ruler exactly in the middle of one rivet, then looking at the corresponding rivet 12 complete links away. On a new, unworn chain, this rivet will also line up exactly with an inch mark. With a worn chain, the rivet will be past the inch mark.

This gives a direct measurement of the wear to the chain, and an indirect measurement of the wear to the sprockets:

* If the rivet is less than 1/16" past the mark, all is well.

* If the rivet is 1/16" past the mark, you should replace the chain, but the sprockets are probably undamaged.

* If the rivet is 1/8" past the mark, you have left it too long, and the sprockets (at least the favorite ones) will be too badly worn. If you replace a chain at the 1/8" point, without replacing the sprockets, it may run OK and not skip, but the worn sprockets will cause the new chain to wear much faster than it should, until it catches up with the wear state of the sprockets.

* If the rivet is past the 1/8" mark, a new chain will almost certainly skip on the worn sprockets, especially the smaller ones."

It's from this page here;
http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Which also has some visual checks you can do by hanging the new chain off a frequently used sprocket.

It's hard to give a definitive answer because chain wear will vary depending on how and when you ride the bike, how often (and how) you clean and lube the chain, etc,etc

 

[John the Monkey]

A few chains would have cost much less overall.

That's my thinking.

I'm using £10 KMC X9 93 chains, so assuming I go for £30 cassettes (Ultegra, at current CRC prices), the rotation method only has to make the cassette last twice as long to have paid for itself (excluding the possibility of chain ring replacement, which I would guesstimate at £36ish (Tiagra level triple) to £55 (Ultegra level).

 

[llllllll]

As the chain and gears are all worn into each other they'll still work fine and maybe will continue to work fine for years! Sure, she'll have to replace the gears and chain eventually, but why do it now if the old kit is still working?

The chain and gears on my old bike are maybe four years old and 'very' worn, but still work fine and do not skip.

That's my theory, use everything until it's falling apart, then replace the lot. I'm only on cheap stuff, but the good chains are expensive, not to mention the hassle of changing them.

 

[02GF74]

The reason I'm trying this is that I've just changed a chain that was borderline, and the new one skips...so am happy to give it a bash and see what gets the most life from a drivetrain.

well you've gone past borderline.

1 % increase in length is what I use = 127.6 mm for 10 links.

I have gone through at least 3 chains for the same cassette.