jbucky1

I would agree on the ruler and measuring chain, its something I do. But the beauty of a chain checker is it makes things easy. Measuring chain with a ruler you have to be precise locating on pins and its very hard to do on bike.

Regarding rollers, as the roller, pin (some would even say plate bushing also) wear they contribute to the change in pitch.

Miles are a very general guideline, I have customers that use a low end SRAM 1031 chain and get 1600 - 1700 miles, because their chain is always contaminated and ridden in grime and the 1031 is a non hardened chain. Then there are people who use an XT / Ultegra level chain and clean their chain and often get greater than 3000 miles. So a lot of it has do do with how it is maintained.

DaveSSS 

Change in pitch - actual elongation - comes entirely from the wear between the pins and the inner plates. I've used a Campy 10 chain for 6,000 miles and accurately measured a fraction of the allowable .5% elongation, but that didn't mean that the chain wasn't worn out. At that point the roller wear was huge and the side clearances were twice that of a new chain. The chain should have been trashed long before 6,000 miles was reached. Most chain checkers combine roller wear and actual elongation so you can't tell how much of the wear is from the roller and how much is elongation. To separate the two, requires a separate measurement of roller spacing, that can be done with calipers. There are no sound rules about an appropriate combination of roller wear and elongation.

To avoid new-chain skip, try alternating the use of 3-5 chains on a cassette and you'll never encounter new-chain skip. Each chain can then be used longer, but plan on trashing the cassette after all of the chains are worn out. At that point a new chain mated with the cassette will most likely skip on one or more of the most-worn sprockets.

jbucky1

Great point. My incorrect definition of pitch previously. I agree with you. The key is a few factors like you point out, elongation. roller wear and resulting lateral stiffness or lack of. Thanks.

m3tal070

Many facts began as opinions.

burnthesheep

Oh, now Shimano 11spd road chains ship with a quick link. Just check that it is new stock and not new old stock.

greatscott

Your Bucky thing has some nonsense in it!

First they say to replace your chain every 2 thousand miles, but then later they tell you to use a chain gauge. Here's the nonsense, why buy a chain gauge if you're replacing the chain every 2 miles? But more importantly if you use a chain gauge and the chain at the 2 thousand mile mark says the chain is still good why replace it?

Look, use a chain gauge but don't replace the chain every 2 thousand miles, replace it when the gauge says it's a done chain, that could be 5,000 miles or even more. I use a chain gauge but my chains last an average of 7 to 8 thousand miles! I also don't replace the cassette except after the third chain is done.

Chain life is determined by how well you keep your chain cleaned and lube, failure to do that, AND/OR, cross chaining ( https://wickwerks.com/support/crosschaining/ ), will shorten your chain life.

I don't know how good the new Shimano chains are, they never were bad especially the Ultegra chains, but I use Connex SB chains for my main road bike and Ultegra on my others, but I would like to try the SRAM XX1; I also use either Rock N Roll Gold or Rock N Roll Extreme lube. HOWEVER, I haven't noticed much of a change in chain wear from the various lubes I've used even though they're are websites that tested such stuff and will refute what I've said, the only lube I've used that was glaringly bad was drip wax crap, using that sort of lube reduced my chain life by half and that was probably due to the fact that the chains would start making noise about 45 to 65 miles into a ride after lubing the chain before the ride, and where there is noise there is wear.

jbucky1

Im totally into that stuff also, works great and low fuss. Also low wattage consumption!

jbucky1

greatscott Not sure you read it correctly they say "a general rule of thumb they need to be replaced around every 2000 miles, this is akin to the oil in your car." - Which is probably a good rule of thumb for the 99%, probably not you because you are more detail oriented and been doing this a while.

Koyote

Perhaps true, unless you're doing a lot of off-road riding (gravel or MTB). On my gravel bike, which sees a lot of dirt and mud, I replace the chain much more frequently.


Agreed on all counts. I've never removed a chain from a bike to clean and lube it, and my bikes run quietly -- and I get normal lifespans out of my chains and cassettes. And the cult-like love for waxing chains (among some people) is not supported by any real evidence.

Honestly, if I followed some of the advice in this thread, I would spend more time maintaining my bikes than riding them. I would rather spend less time futzing with my bikes, and more time riding them, even if it means buying a new $25 chain a bit more often.

LesterOfPuppets

Shimano has had chains with quick links for a while now. Unfortunately there are still a handful of pin ones out there in shops.

Slightspeed

+1 On riding over futzing. I ran my original Legnano chain for over 55 years, and just changed it, before this last Eroica, when I also serviced the BB and head set for the first time. It was a five speed chain, built like a moto chain, not sure of brand. I replaced it with a KMC 7/8 speed chain, since I'm running six speeds now. I have Shimano, KMC, and Sram chains and use them pretty interchangeably. For ease of fitting, I do prefer KMC or Sram because of the quick links. The Shimano breakaway pins are kind of a pain. The only chain failure I've had in 60 years of cycling was when I re-used a Shimano 10 speed chain and pin on a 6 speed Raleigh, in a hurry to make a vintage ride date. 4 miles out the pin worked out, jammed in the derailleur cage, and everything stopped. I pushed the pin back in using a roadside rock with a wrench for a back stop. When I got home, my new KMC came in the mail from Amazon. Maintenance is pretty low priority, but I usually use the wipedown on bike method with citrus degreaser and maybe an old toothbrush, followed by Finishline, 90% as a lube. I never used to ever ride dirt and gravel, but now that I do a little, (<100 miles a year on dirt), maintenance may become a bigger deal.

bpcyclist

Curious how often you do a cassette change.

Slightspeed

I change them whenever they begin to skip or I need a different gear setup. With 8 bikes, doing around 4000 miles a year, total individual bike miles are not that much. As I've gotten older, and began riding more challenging hills, I've changed many of them to bigger (lower) rear gears, so most of them are relatively recent, but I don't have any regular rotation or schedule for changing them. A lot of my vintage bikes, same deal, relatively recent upgrades from 5 to 6 speed, and lower rear gears too, so none of my gearsets are high mileage. The 55 year old Legnano, my old race bike from the '60s, just kept rolling along, so I saw no need to mess with it. When I went from 5 to 6 speed, and also a new wheelset I needed a thinner chain to better clear the outside frame dropout. Old school friction shift freewheels are less fussy, besides having more robust chains than the modern indexed 10 or 11 speed stuff, which I also ride too. I don't own a chain gage, but have had the chain checked at LBS if it starts acting up. TMI ? Sorry, but since you asked.

ThermionicScott 

2000 miles is way too often for a car, too. My owner’s manual specs every 6500 miles. For a 1996 model.