Originally Posted by
rbrides
I habitually clean my chain with Park Tools Chain scrubber using Simply Green concentrate and replace the chain when it gets to .75, as measured by Park Tools CC 3.2. In fact, the inpetus for my post is my concern about how frequently I am replacing the chain. I'm only getting 500-700 miles of mostly gravel roads until it hits .75. Since I clean it so frequently I've begun to suspect the chainrings are wearing out the chain.
Could the acelerated chain wear be caused by the chain rings?
Could the acelerated chain wear be caused by the Simple Green cleaning solution?
I think the answer to both of those questions is "no", but I'm open minded to learning otherwise.
For a time I obsessively cleaned my chains weekly by removing a first chain and placing it in an old soda bottle with simple green while mounting a second chain. After shaking up the bottle, the first chain was hung up to dry. Both chains wore out it half the mileage that I normally got from chains that I didn't clean. My theory is my cleaning facilitated grit getting into the links and wore them out faster.