ZManT

I've been watching the chain wear on my chain pretty closely for the last month or so. It's been close to 1/32" longer at 12" until a nice long ride I did last weekend.

So, I bought a new chain after confirming just past 1/32" 'stretch' at the 12 full link point. Installed that baby and went for a ride.

My two favorites (#4 and #5 ) are skippity skippity now. I thought I had avoided the point of needing a new cogset by replacing the chain a little sooner.

There are two good things:

1. the other 7 cogs work pretty well with this new chain
2. the old chain was running just fine before I took it off

My question to the more experienced is:

Should I just put the old chain back on there and run it with the old cogset until both need replaced, or....

look for replacement cogs in the #4 and #5 position, or....

get a whole new cogset right now and be good with it?


leaning toward the first option, but would love some advice.

thanks in advance!

FBinNY 

You have 2 choices here.

First you have to understand that the stretch guidelines are just general rules of thumb, and not cut in stone. This is especially true if you use one or two sprockets much more than average.

So, if the skipping is only occasional and the sprockets are rideable (though not at high torque) they will "heal" as the new chain wears the contact areas. You can speed up the process if you own a Dremel, by carefully grinding the back corners of the teeth a bit.

Or you can admit the problem, and mount the old chain and ride until it skips all over the place.

anthonybkny

put the chain back on and ride until an issue arises

Andrew R Stewart 

Only problem with this is that the other sprockets, the chain ring(s), will get even more worn at a faster rate. And they tend to cost more then a cassette and chain. Andy.

ZManT

Thanks for the info everyone.

FB - seems like I get solid advice from you regularly - thanks again. I get that my chain has worn and I'm fully guilty of favoring 2-3 of those cogs and jumping back and forth between the 3 rings up front (this is my MTB we are talking about here). Don't I have the option of replacing the worn cogs like my OP noted?

I am am intrigued by this concept of grinding a bit of the teeth off - it is a bit counterintuitive tho. I will poke around on the interwebz to see what I can find.

You mention 2 options - one of which is to just suck it up and deal with the mismatched micro pitch of my chain/sprocket interface until it wears itself into equilibrium or to 'admit the problem' and put the old chain back on until it skips. The 2nd option confuses me - are you saying ride the old chain until it's time to replace both the chain and cassette? (I'm going with this one btw - that chain is in good shape and actually ran like a dream - I didn't have a damn problem until I got upgraditis).

Retro Grouch 

It's mid May, just getting into the prime riding season. Why wouldn't you want to tune your bike so you can get maximum enjoyment from it all summer?

Depending on your cassette, some replacement cogs are available, but there's combinations that are fuxsed together so available is hit or miss. Once you find the replacement cogs that you need, you're likely to find that the cost comes uncomfortably close to a whole new cassette. If it was my bike and I'd just installed a fresh chain, I'd replace the cassette and plan on enjoying the rest of the year.

loneviking61

I faced that same choice yesterday. I had the shop replace both the chain and the cassette, for a grand total of $51 dollars. No more skipping chain for a couple of years and the bike runs great.