Cassette wear
09-16-11, 04:45 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Cassette wear
My bike is 3 years old with 5000 miles. Everything has been working well lately but the chain just started to show .75% of wear. I bought another, expecting that this would prevent wear on my gears.
However, the LBS eyeballed my cassette and said "you have some wear in your middle cogs" (honestly, I can't see it) and they put the Rohloff checker on it, which is like a chain whip but with a shorter length of chain. You put the chain segment on the cogs and put tension on it, and see if the last link of the chain easily flips up and down. On the largest and smallest cogs, it does. But in the middle gears, it sticks a little. I guess it's "a little", I don't have any frame of reference.
So even though my cassette is wearing, I will put on the new chain to prevent wear on my front rings. But I guess the cassette will continue to wear down, wearing out the new chain faster than the old one?
I have seen folks write here that they typically replace a cassette with every other chain replacement. For anyone who does that - how worn is your cassette at the first chain replacement? Enough to see? Do you even care? By the time that the second chain wears out, is the cassette visibly worn down? Does the second chain last noticeably less long than the first?
Thanks for any tips.
However, the LBS eyeballed my cassette and said "you have some wear in your middle cogs" (honestly, I can't see it) and they put the Rohloff checker on it, which is like a chain whip but with a shorter length of chain. You put the chain segment on the cogs and put tension on it, and see if the last link of the chain easily flips up and down. On the largest and smallest cogs, it does. But in the middle gears, it sticks a little. I guess it's "a little", I don't have any frame of reference.
So even though my cassette is wearing, I will put on the new chain to prevent wear on my front rings. But I guess the cassette will continue to wear down, wearing out the new chain faster than the old one?
I have seen folks write here that they typically replace a cassette with every other chain replacement. For anyone who does that - how worn is your cassette at the first chain replacement? Enough to see? Do you even care? By the time that the second chain wears out, is the cassette visibly worn down? Does the second chain last noticeably less long than the first?
Thanks for any tips.
09-16-11, 05:11 PM
#2
Senior Member
The best way to check the chain is still with a ruler. 1/16" in 12" of chain is the replacement mark. Replace the cassette or the most used cogs if possible when the new chain skips on the cog or cogs.
09-16-11, 07:52 PM
#3
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Roswell, GA
Posts: 8,319
Bikes: '93 Trek 750, '92 Schwinn Crisscross, '93 Mongoose Alta
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IMHO cassettes only need to be replaced on condition. It is difficult to judge them by eye unless they are really trashed. if they do not skip with your new chain you are good to go.
09-16-11, 08:52 PM
#4
Senior Member
If the new chain does not skip with heavy pedaling pressure, then there is no reason to change it. Worn cogs do not accelerate the wear on a new chain. Worn chains accelerate the wear on the cogs. You can't tell much just by looking. A new chain is the surest test.
A cassette with only one worn cog can be given some extra life just by using it with a chain that has some wear on it. While a new chain will skip on that worn cog, a chain with even a few hundred miles of use will not.
A cassette with only one worn cog can be given some extra life just by using it with a chain that has some wear on it. While a new chain will skip on that worn cog, a chain with even a few hundred miles of use will not.
