Chain Wear

[Jim]

I borrowed a Park Tool chain wear gauge at work and tested my chain. It's
the original chain and it's done 2700miles. Anyway the gauge slipped in
between the links on the "1" side very easily, infact there was still some
play visible so I'm guessing my chain has stretched 1.25 - 1.5%, bummer!
My colleague reckons that with that degree of wear I'll almost certainly
need a new cassette if not chainrings as well.
So my dilemma is.
Do I fit a new chain potentially just to find out that it won't work with
the worn cogs, subsequently replaciong them too.
or
Carry on using the old chain on the assumption that the cogs are goosed
already anyway then replace the whole shebang once I've squeeze another 1000
miles of winter riding out of them.
Any thoughts?

Cheers
Jim J

[Tony Raven[_2_]]

In article >,
says...
> I borrowed a Park Tool chain wear gauge at work and tested my chain. It's
> the original chain and it's done 2700miles. Anyway the gauge slipped in
> between the links on the "1" side very easily, infact there was still some
> play visible so I'm guessing my chain has stretched 1.25 - 1.5%, bummer!
> My colleague reckons that with that degree of wear I'll almost certainly
> need a new cassette if not chainrings as well.
> So my dilemma is.
> Do I fit a new chain potentially just to find out that it won't work with
> the worn cogs, subsequently replaciong them too.
> or
> Carry on using the old chain on the assumption that the cogs are goosed
> already anyway then replace the whole shebang once I've squeeze another 1000
> miles of winter riding out of them.
> Any thoughts?
>

Try a new chain and if it skips, put the old one back on and run it
until its dead, preferably with an old set of chainrings on the front to
save it getting too expensive when you do change.

--
Tony

" I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
Bertrand Russell

[Ben C]

On 2007-09-18, Jim > wrote:
> I borrowed a Park Tool chain wear gauge at work and tested my chain. It's
> the original chain and it's done 2700miles. Anyway the gauge slipped in
> between the links on the "1" side very easily, infact there was still some
> play visible so I'm guessing my chain has stretched 1.25 - 1.5%, bummer!
> My colleague reckons that with that degree of wear I'll almost certainly
> need a new cassette if not chainrings as well.
> So my dilemma is.
> Do I fit a new chain potentially just to find out that it won't work with
> the worn cogs, subsequently replaciong them too.
> or
> Carry on using the old chain on the assumption that the cogs are goosed
> already anyway then replace the whole shebang once I've squeeze another 1000
> miles of winter riding out of them.
> Any thoughts?

I think with that amount of wear your chainrings are probably OK, so it
might be worth replacing chain and cassette now to save the rings.

Have a look at the teeth on the chainring. If they look OK and not
hooked or sawtooth-looking they probably are.

OTOH if you're using fairly cheap components it might work out the same
or cheaper just to do nothing until it actually starts skipping and then
replace the lot.

Although replacing chainsets can be a bit annoying because you have to
worry about whether you have the right BB axle length.

[Jim]

"Ben C" > wrote in message
...
> I think with that amount of wear your chainrings are probably OK, so it
> might be worth replacing chain and cassette now to save the rings.
>
> Have a look at the teeth on the chainring. If they look OK and not
> hooked or sawtooth-looking they probably are.
>
> OTOH if you're using fairly cheap components it might work out the same
> or cheaper just to do nothing until it actually starts skipping and then
> replace the lot.
>
> Although replacing chainsets can be a bit annoying because you have to
> worry about whether you have the right BB axle length.

My chainrings are nothing special (it's a Dawes Horizon) so I wouldn't be
aversed to replacing them in the future.
Perhaps the best bet is to try (Tony's idea) a new chain and if it's okay
then fine but if not put the old one back.
I suppose what I need for partially worn cogs is a chain that is a bit less
worn than the cogs, so it'll still work but not exacerbate the existing
wear.
That got me thinking about cascading chains down from good bikes to duffers.
Constant chain replacement on multiple bikes is expensive so I thought it
might be economical to keep a fairly new chain on my best bike, to preserve
the cogs, transferring the chain to my lower spec'ed bike where parts a
cheaper to replace. That would mean that my "good" bike would always have a
chain at between say 0 - 0.75% wear and the "duff" bike would be running
chains at between 0.75%-1.5% wear. Of course the money saving plan falls
flat on it's face as I don't know which of my two bikes is the "good" one
deserving of the newest chain.
Cheers
Jim J

[Don Whybrow]

Jim wrote:
> Of course the money saving plan falls
> flat on it's face as I don't know which of my two bikes is the "good" one
> deserving of the newest chain.

That's the easy bit, get a new "good" bike! Go on! You know you want to.


--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

Question _your own_ authority.

[Duncan Smith]

On Sep 18, 9:48 pm, "Jim" > wrote:
> I borrowed a Park Tool chain wear gauge at work and tested my chain.

That reminds m of a question I've been meaning to ask. Can you get a
chain wear guide for 1/8 chains anywhere?

Many thanks,

Duncan

[_[_2_]]

On Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:59:15 -0000, Duncan Smith wrote:

> On Sep 18, 9:48 pm, "Jim" > wrote:
>> I borrowed a Park Tool chain wear gauge at work and tested my chain.
>
> That reminds m of a question I've been meaning to ask. Can you get a
> chain wear guide for 1/8 chains anywhere?
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Duncan

Use a rule.

[Pete Biggs]

Jim wrote:
> "Ben C" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I think with that amount of wear your chainrings are probably OK, so
>> it might be worth replacing chain and cassette now to save the rings.
>>
>> Have a look at the teeth on the chainring. If they look OK and not
>> hooked or sawtooth-looking they probably are.
>>
>> OTOH if you're using fairly cheap components it might work out the
>> same or cheaper just to do nothing until it actually starts skipping
>> and then replace the lot.
>>
>> Although replacing chainsets can be a bit annoying because you have
>> to worry about whether you have the right BB axle length.
>
> My chainrings are nothing special (it's a Dawes Horizon) so I
> wouldn't be aversed to replacing them in the future.

Have you got a particular reason to replace them? Do you want to try
different sizes; do you want lighter or shinier ones? If not, you may save
money in the long run by changing the chain (and cassette if necessary) now.

> Perhaps the best bet is to try (Tony's idea) a new chain and if it's
> okay then fine but if not put the old one back.
> I suppose what I need for partially worn cogs is a chain that is a
> bit less worn than the cogs, so it'll still work but not exacerbate
> the existing wear.
> That got me thinking about cascading chains down from good bikes to
> duffers. Constant chain replacement on multiple bikes is expensive so I
> thought it might be economical to keep a fairly new chain on my
> best bike, to preserve the cogs, transferring the chain to my lower
> spec'ed bike where parts a cheaper to replace. That would mean that
> my "good" bike would always have a chain at between say 0 - 0.75%
> wear and the "duff" bike would be running chains at between
> 0.75%-1.5% wear. Of course the money saving plan falls flat on it's
> face as I don't know which of my two bikes is the "good" one
> deserving of the newest chain. Cheers

Even if it could save money (?), it would be tricky to get the plan working
as chain and cog wear has to be matched quite closely.

Reminds me of when I used to buy second-hand bikes and canibalise them. A
chain from one bike rarely worked with sprockets from another bike, even
though both bikes looked like they had about the same amount of use.

~PB

[Jim]

"Don Whybrow" > wrote in message
...
> Jim wrote:
>> Of course the money saving plan falls flat on it's face as I don't know
>> which of my two bikes is the "good" one deserving of the newest chain.
>
> That's the easy bit, get a new "good" bike! Go on! You know you want to.
>
Actually if I get a minute tomorrow I'm going to nip in to the LBS and order
a 2008 Giant SCR 1.5. and the best bit is that my employer will be picking
up the tab (at least in the short term).
Cheers
Jim J

[Jim]

"Pete Biggs" > wrote in
message ...
> Have you got a particular reason to replace them? Do you want to try
> different sizes; do you want lighter or shinier ones? If not, you may
> save money in the long run by changing the chain (and cassette if
> necessary) now.
>
I like lighter shiner ones the Horizon's look like something off a tractor.

> Even if it could save money (?), it would be tricky to get the plan
> working as chain and cog wear has to be matched quite closely.
> ~PB
Yeah, the chainrings will wear less quickly and even the different rear cogs
won't all wear at the same rate, my smallest one must be in mint condition!
Oh Well
Jim J