Time for new chain?

[Thornyone]

I have just bought a Park chain checker which indicates more than 0.5 but less than 0.75 “stretch”. I use 2 alternating chains (swapping over roughly every 250 miles), SRAM PC971, and am wondering whether I should buy and start using 2 new chains in the hope of keeping the existing cassette (Shimano XT; 4,600 miles “on the clock” with the 2 chains). The chief reason I’d like to swap the chains is that the power links are now very easy to disconnect/re-connect and I’m worried they may fail (they were formerly much more “positive” in snapping into place than they are now). The cassette seems good, with no hint of problems when putting a load on the (very little used) 11T sprocket with the somewhat worn chains. But am I being a bit wasteful not waiting ‘til definitely reaching the 0.75 wear point?

[keyboardmonkey]

...But am I being a bit wasteful not waiting ‘til definitely reaching the 0.75 wear point?

No. Do it.

[531colin]

I throw away a lot of chains.
I have some chainrings in use which are just about old enough to vote.
I can't be bothered to "do the maths." but my drivetrain is always "as new".

[thelawnet]

9-speed cassettes are pretty cheap. Not sure there's any real advantage in XT (well, 75 grams weight over a basic Altus on an 11-32t).

[531colin]

I use 8 speed chains on my 9 speed bike (with friction front shift, if it matters)
8 speed chains are almost free, compared to the price of chainrings and cassettes.

[Brucey]

I'd fit new chains sooner rather than later.

BTW you might want to rotate chains in threes rather than twos.

cheers

[[XAP]Bob]

And if the concern is the quick links... then replace those...

[Thornyone]

I'd fit new chains sooner rather than later.

BTW you might want to rotate chains in threes rather than twos.

cheers

Thanks, I have ordered new chains today.

[Mick F]

I throw away a lot of chains.
I have some chainrings in use which are just about old enough to vote.
I can't be bothered to "do the maths." but my drivetrain is always "as new".

+1

[Thornyone]

And if the concern is the quick links... then replace those...

Next time I place an order for something I’ll top it up with a couple of these. I’ve never actually had one fail sooner than the rest of the chain wears out and just assumed that if one did, I’d remove it and use my chain tool (always carry one on the bike) to reconnect the chain conventionally, but I can see that it would be easier to simply replace if one were to fail on a still-good chain.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

I throw away a lot of chains.
I have some chainrings in use which are just about old enough to vote.
I can't be bothered to "do the maths." but my drivetrain is always "as new".

+1

I can find this statement rather in the mind, where you want perfection but its not quite like that, easy to say but in reality not always or even never so.
We all obsess, but I do find that some statements over longevity of ones chain a bit hard to swallow.
Because our use is always individually selective, practically we are all worlds apart.
Although it all comes down to some measuring and some...............fit a new one even when you don't need to / I got it right.......so it must be so.............

We will never know.

[Mick F]

We will never know, but I do know.

I keep my drive train clean. Always have done, but it's in comparatively recent years, that I've learnt how to do it properly. Clean chain, is a happy chain and that makes the whole drive train a happy drive train.

Things wear, and the fastest thing is the chain. Use two or three chains, and have one on, one in the wash, and one ready. Keeping chains clean tends to stop the rest of the drive train from building up gunge, and that lends itself to longer lasting sprockets and chainrings.

I perhaps clean/change the chain two or three times before removing the cassette and cleaning that. The chainset sometimes gets pulled apart for a deep clean, but not as regularly, so the rings get wiped with a rag and WD40 when I do the cassette.

[Brucey]

dirty chains wear a lot faster than clean ones; I have personally made chains last x4 longer (on MTBs) simply by cleaning them. However one of the things that makes a big difference is loading and another is lubrication.

When clean, under low loads, with a highly viscous lubricant in place, there could be no metal to metal contact within the chain's bushings, and therefore little or no wear, too. Skip/change any one of these three things and things will be different.

Put it this way; I have seen a chain that was cleaned and badly lubricated that wore out in about 200 miles. It is unlikely that many people will achieve this result, but most folk will be on a spectrum somewhere, and for various reasons won't achieve such high mileages as other folk do.

cheers

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

We will never know, but I do know.

By your own admission you don't use your prime bike in bad weather.
Some of us use all year round in all conditions.

We all know that any oil is better than no oil, but at a point over obsessing on the chain becomes time consuming and thus pricey.

On a good day you can do 200+ miles without relubing chain, on a bad day 10 miles and it bare metal.
How many are doing maintenance on route.

like Brucey says chains are cheap, time is certainly not for commuters etc.
I don't think that chain manufactures ever envisaged customers deep cleaning chains?

[Sweep]

I use 8 speed chains on my 9 speed bike (with friction front shift, if it matters)
8 speed chains are almost free, compared to the price of chainrings and cassettes.

Can you remind me colin of the difference in dimensions?

I take it there is one but you find it irrelevant?