Alex Rodriguez wrote:
In article .com,
says...
Alex Rodriguez wrote:
In article om,
says...
If the chain is worn, then it is more costly to keep riding on it than
to replace. I do not have 10sp (no need), but on my bikes riding hard
in hilly terrain 1000-1500 mi is about where the chain *needs* to be
replaced; very rarely I can get up to 2000 mi. I measure regularly,
replace when needed. And due to that my chainrings and cassette cogs
last a very long time.
If you clean your chain properly and then oil it, you can get a very long
life out of it. Same thing for the rest of your drivetrain. I had a 7spd
dura-ace chain that laster over 15k miles with no measureable wear.
I clean my chain, very well, off the bike in a solvent bath
w/agitation, quite frequently. I lube it well. I ride hard, do lots
of hills, etc. etc. Again, I replace when indicated by measuring
elongation. I run good, quality chains - mid-range Shimano, mid-range
SRAM, mid-range Wippermann (BTW, most of the difference between mid and
high end is in finish and/or properties to make the chains lighter, so
mid range should last at least as long as high end). As I said, rarely
will a chain last over 2000mi, I think the longest I have had one run
without needing replacement is 2500mi. Your assumptions that I am not
cleaning/lubing are inferences you seem to pull out of mid air. If
you clean your chain lube regularly and ride the flats to the market
perhaps you can get longer life; if you ride hard like we do around
here, then you get the life span I cited ... which is quite typical for
most the riders in this area.

Maybe your roads are dirtier?

Perhaps. Sometimes I ride unpaved sections, but that does not seem to
affect chain life that much. My commute bike, which goes over some
unpaved sections daily, gets the same life (in miles) as my fast bike,
which almost never sees unpaved sections.

Do you only oil a clean chain?

Yes, but I clean/lube every 300 or so miles.

- rick