Shuffleman

DrIsotope

I got just shy of 18,000 miles out of a Praxis Works big ring (which was a 48T, I dunno if that makes any difference.) At that point, it had a handful of chipped/bent teeth, so shifting was either fine, or not fine. Probably could have extended it's life with some filing-- the teeth weren't getting that "shark-tooth" shape and it wasn't aggressively wearing out chains, but I just took it as an opportunity to replace it.

I only have about 8,500 miles on my RaceFace narrow-wide, and 3,000 on the Praxis Works compact on the other bike-- so replacement for those is quite a long way off.

woodcraft

I've replaced one chainring, but someone else put most of the wear on it.

So, over 50 yrs, almost never.

fastfour

1250 miles out of a Praxis Alba set up. Several broken teeth and shark toothed the big ring. Replaced with Shimano 105 and life is good.

dabac

Since I re-trained to more of a spinner than masher, I can get a lot of wear out of each drivetrain. Of course steel rings help too. The ratio I'm getting is something like 3 cassettes/chains for each crankset. It'd probably be more if I replaced chains more often.

datlas 

If you keep your drivetrain reasonably clean, a decent chainring will last many many years. I would say several years and in terms of mileage, 30,000+ miles. Maybe even twice that.

FYI, I get about 3000 miles from a chain, 10,000 from a cassette, to give you context.

mcours2006

I've probably got about over 25,000 km on my 5700, and perhaps twice that total from a previous owner. Still looks decent.

DaveSSS 

Unless the teeth are damaged, there no need to change one unless it's so worn that it causes chain suck. I've never kept a bike that long.

FlashBazbo

I start inspecting chainrings for wear at about the 12,000 mile mark. I had one Ultegra chainring last over 20,000 miles. It never went "sharktooth" or lost any teeth. It just wore more deeply -- beyond the round ridge that, originally, was at the base of the teeth. The effective diameter of the ring was worn smaller.

Psychocycles

I have over 7,000 miles in higher mile bike with a Praxis big ring (46 cross bike) and it shows no signs of wear yet. Probably one of the cheapest per mile replacement item on the bike I'd imagine. I have changed the chain on that bike just once and the cassette is still going strong as well. The "general" rule of thumb I've heard is every 3 chains replace the cassette, every 2-3 cassettes replace the rings, assuming you clean & lube the chain regularly. Unless shifting is poor, obviously, then replace immediately.

popeye

40-50K before DA rings skip on a new chain in my experence.

TrojanHorse

Same here... front shifting was horrible (even for SRAM!) and new chainrings fixed it right up.

Pirkaus

Lazyass

Virtually never. Replaced a couple with broken teeth.

Carbonfiberboy 

I usually get about 3 cassettes worth of mileage out of the middle ring on my triple. The other rings last much longer, being less used. And about 3 chains per cassette, so about 9 chains per ring. To reduce ring wear, ride more in your bigger ring. More teeth = less ring wear and less chain wear because of reduced chain tension. I wear the big ring more on our tandem because it has a bigger cassette and thus I tend to ride in the big ring and larger cogs which equals less front shifting. On my road single, the cassette is much smaller and I mostly ride in the middle ring, a 39T.

Jon T

In 50 years of riding I've replaced my chain rings exactly once and that was to change from bio-pace to round.
Jon

Carbonfiberboy 

California riders will get very different results from those in the PNW who ride year 'round. If the OP is looking for information, good to check location.

Jon T

I am in "sunny" so cal and do ride year 'round.
Jon

kcblair

Never, got bikes from early 80's. Always replaced chain before wear, and before I knew how to measure, new chains on an annual basis . Over the pass few years, I've upgraded chainrings and chain sets, to alter my gearing, but original rings are still good. KB

JohnDThompson 

+1 this. Over 40 years, I've changed rings because the gearing was wrong, but not for wear.

Dan333SP

I replaced my big ring at about 20k miles, more out of a feeling that it was "time" than any obvious need, since it seemed to be working fine and looked just a little worn. Still haven't replaced my inner ring, looks fine after 30k miles. Crank is SRAM Apex 50/34, fwiw.

Carbonfiberboy 

I replace a ring when it goes THUNK THUNK THUNK when I hit it out of the saddle. Or I get sick of filing off burrs which cause chain suck.

Garfield Cat

It's more about how you ride, where, and its resulting stress you put on it. Just like your knees.

bikeme

I run a 1x and change out the chainring every 8 months to a year--remember, it's one ring doing all the work. My gauge is when I start to drop chains. I've used Race Face and Wolf Tooth and the WT def outlasts the RF.

SHBR

Soft aluminum granny rings wear out fairly quickly, luckily nobody uses them anymore.

That is the only example I can think of, other than extreme drivetrain mismanagement or neglect.

Chainrings tend to last longer than any other wear item.