Originally Posted by Racing Dan

2500 miles on a cheap 8 speed chain? Imo, get a new one and stop worrying about making it last forever.

Originally Posted by Alzerbster

I believe I wore out a chain, and cassette from cleaning to often. After I retired I started riding, which consisted 95% riding on crushed limestone trails. I bought my bike at the end of last May, and put 700 miles on it through the summer. I was cleaning and lubing my chain sometimes after every ride. At least every other ride. the limestone dust would coat my chain after every ride. I cleaned the chain with the Park chain cleaning tool, and de greaser, then with dawn dish soap and water, then rinse. Then I would apply a wet lube after the chain would dry. . At the end of last fall I decided to check my chain for any wear not expecting to find any. What I found was a worn out chain, which I replaced with a new one, which ended up slipping on the cassette. I then replaced the worn cassette. So a worn out chain and cassette in 700 miles. I believe with the wet lube, and limestone dust sticking to the chain, it created a grinding paste. Since I have gone to using paraffin wax which collects very little dirt. I ride with others that use a wet lube, but their chains don't wear out like mine did. So the constant cleaning must have had something to do with the chain wear. Maybe i didn't get the chain dry enough either after cleaning. Don't know, but I do know I'll never go back to a wet lube for the kind of riding I do.

Originally Posted by Racing Dan

Even if its not elongated to 0.5% the rollers might still be worn. Some chain gauges includes the roller wear, some not. That may be the reason the shop recommends replacing the chain, even if you ruler says no. Imo its debatable if roller wear should be included, but from my experience a chain that is not yet elongated to 0.5%, but has a lot of miles on it, tend to ride notably less smooth than a new one.

Originally Posted by Altair 4

My main ride is the Novara. While preparing to clean and lube the chain, I measured it using the Park gauge (I now realize that many here don't think it's very accurate). While measuring, I found that the 0.50 indicator dropped in completely at some links, but completely stayed out at other points on the chain. At no point did the 0.75 gauge fit in. I'm at about 2,500 miles on this chain.

Is it common for chains to measure inconsistently like this? Should I replacement it now, or put a couple more hundred miles on it? Cleaning has been every 100 to 200 miles with a Park Cyclone, citrus cleaner, rinsed several times, and then dried thoroughly. The chain, a SRAM PC 850, has no surface rust. Most rides have been on blacktop, with occasional limestone trail rides.

Originally Posted by DaveSSS

Chain wear is a complex issue. Some chains wear by elongation that can be measured with a precision rule and others like Campy chains do not. Some chain wear gauges add roller wear to elongation and give exaggerated results. Campy recommends measuring between the outer plates to a length of 132.6mm before changing chains. That measurement is a mixed bag of elongation and roller wear.

Originally Posted by DaveSSS

Chain wear is a complex issue. Some chains wear by elongation that can be measured with a precision rule and others like Campy chains do not. Some chain wear gauges add roller wear to elongation and give exaggerated results. Campy recommends measuring between the outer plates to a length of 132.6mm before changing chains. That measurement is a mixed bag of elongation and roller wear.