Chain Wear

[Jim77]

Hi all,

Does everyone here replace their 11 speed chains once it hits 0.5% wear?

I know this is apparently the recommendation while 10 speed chains is 0.75%.

I can only assume this is because the cassette sprockets are narrower and more susceptible to wear?

Cheers in advance.

Jim

[NickJP]

I've always replaced chains when 24 links under tension measure 12-1/16" - ie 0.5% elongation. This is what I've done all the way back to 5-speed chains and freewheels.

[Jim77]

How many chains per cassette do you normally get using this method? Three?

[Brucey]

not all chains and sprockets wear in the same way. I have seen chains worn to 1% by some riders, but the sprockets were less worn than other people might see with 0. 5% chain wear. So I think a lot depends on how hard you push on the pedals and maybe how you look after your chain.FWIW I think most 10s sprockets are the same thickness as 11s, and if I ever let any chain go to 0.75% I would expect much jumping if I then fitted a new chain.

[torrens]

I have 10, 11 & 12 speed bikes, one of each.
I always change at, or just before, 0.5% (breakages excepted!).
But, as Brucey alludes to above, the results are far from consistent.
Generally, but not always, I find that a cassette will take a second chain, and sometimes a third, without skip under high load.
So, I always have a spare cassette to hand and make sure that I do a test ride even if it’s only the second chain on the cassette.
HTH.

[Jim77]

Thanks all - how many miles do you tend to get per chain?

I know there are many variables that affect chain wear e.g. riding style (whether grinding big gears etc), riding conditions (whether or not in summer or winter etc), how well you clean your chain etc and how well lubricated the chain is.

But just was interested anecdotally.

Jim

[531colin]

not all chains and sprockets wear in the same way. I have seen chains worn to 1% by some riders, but the sprockets were less worn than other people might see with 0. 5% chain wear.......

The exact nature of the wear is important. Wear (and corrosion) has removed a LOT of metal from this sprocket, but it took a new chain without skipping.....because the "loaded face" of the teeth are the "right" shape, because it never saw a worn-out chain.

IMG_5126 by 531colin, on Flickr

viewtopic.php?t=116834&hilit=reverse+we ... e&start=30

[Cugel]

not all chains and sprockets wear in the same way. I have seen chains worn to 1% by some riders, but the sprockets were less worn than other people might see with 0. 5% chain wear.......

The exact nature of the wear is important. Wear (and corrosion) has removed a LOT of metal from this sprocket, but it took a new chain without skipping.....because the "loaded face" of the teeth are the "right" shape, because it never saw a worn-out chain.

IMG_5126 by 531colin, on Flickr

viewtopic.php?t=116834&hilit=reverse+we ... e&start=30

Its not easy to judge sprocket wear by looking at them, these days. Once they were all the same shape and very even around their circumference but these days the tooth and valley profiles are all over the shop with different shapes, from new. I presume this is to do with (along with all those wee ramps) shaping to improve the shift of the chain from one sprocket to the next, both up and down.

I do have a sprocket wear checker made by Rohloff but its difficult to use and not clear if its meant for the strange tooth & valley shapes of sprockets on the likes of current Shimano cassettes, but rather for standard single cogs on a hub gear.

[531colin]

Thats an 8 speed sprocket fitted 2011 at the latest, bought goodness knows when, compared to a new sprocket same size bought same time.

[torrens]

Thanks all - how many miles do you tend to get per chain?

I know there are many variables that affect chain wear e.g. riding style (whether grinding big gears etc), riding conditions (whether or not in summer or winter etc), how well you clean your chain etc and how well lubricated the chain is.

But just was interested anecdotally.

Jim

10,600 from my 12 speed chain which suffered an inner plate fracture at this mileage. It was 0.2% elongated. I put this (the mileage achieved!) down to exclusively using a wax emulsion lube on it.
I generally get many thousands of miles less than this and, as you say, there are so many variables at play that this info. alone really doesn’t help us much.
I only gave the above example as I was amazed by the mileage it lasted and by how little it had elongated at failure.

[Brucey]

not all chains and sprockets wear in the same way. I have seen chains worn to 1% by some riders, but the sprockets were less worn than other people might see with 0. 5% chain wear.......

The exact nature of the wear is important. Wear (and corrosion) has removed a LOT of metal from this sprocket, but it took a new chain without skipping.....because the "loaded face" of the teeth are the "right" shape, because it never saw a worn-out chain......

my contention would be twofold;
first that someone who pedals less hard than you would have worn the sprocket less. The corollary of this is that they could also use the chain to a longer 'stretch' without creating worse wear.

Second, that someone who pushes harder on the pedals than you do might still make that sprocket skip.

My belief is that the HG tooth shape not only gives better shifting, but better tolerance to certain types of wear, too. In addition, I believe all derailleur sprockets must be fractionally undersize. else it might not be possible to run with a spring-loaded tensioner.

[NickJP]

How many chains per cassette do you normally get using this method? Three?

Yes, about that. I have lots of bikes and sometimes forget how many chains I've had across a cassette on a particular bike, but I try to make it three chains and then replace both chain and cassette.

[Delidroid]

Hello
My chain wear indicator is a Halfords one marked 0.75% and 1.00%
Oh dear. Brucey and NickJP agree 0.5% wear is the limit. i'm going to have to find my old 18 Inch ruler.

as an aside. Do chains fitted to new bikes wear faster than aftermarket ones?

[Cugel]

Hello
My chain wear indicator is a Halfords one marked 0.75% and 1.00%
Oh dear. Brucey and NickJP agree 0.5% wear is the limit. i'm going to have to find my old 18 Inch ruler.

as an aside. Do chains fitted to new bikes wear faster than aftermarket ones?

The chain wear swap point is slightly confused by the different objectives of changing it. One (0.75 - 1%) concentrates on something like: does it still work without skipping? The other (0.5%) concentrates on: is it now wearing the other parts it interfaces with?

Once upon a time, the mantra was to change all the transmission parts once the chain started to skip. Then it became a matter of doing so just before the skipping started. Now its more about making cassettes and chainrings last as long as possible, as those are very expensive whilst chains are relatively cheap.

If you change a chain at 0.5% "stretch" then you'll probably get at least three chains worth of mileage out of a cassette. In practice, I find that changing the chain sooner rather than later makes cassettes last indefinitely - as long as the lubrication regime keeps things very clean (i.e. grinding-grit free).

************
The first chain (or another new chain) on a bike will be impregnated with factory grease. This is usually not a lubricant but an anti-rust stuff to stop chains in the warehouse going rusty. It's also, that grease, a perfect medium for making a grinding paste when road dust and bike chain transmission wear-particles are added to it. The first thing with a new chain, whether it comes with a bike or you're changing it yourself, is to get every bit of that factory grease off it, replacing it with a good lubricant.

Many bicycle chain lubricants are not "good". See Zero Friction Cycling (ZFC) website for details of which are good and which are far from good.

https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/

The ZFC bloke has also done a test of chain wear measuring gubbins. Many are not too accurate; but some are. See this vid for details:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=317XHx65quM

The ZFC bloke does go on & on & on - worse than moi, even! Look at the menu for the vid to see the section about results of the testing.

[mig]

i'm sure that most have their own anecdotal story about which brand chains wear the quickest - mine was an 8spd Wippermann that was advertised as long lasting/durable the whole thing but was nadged after about 300 miles.

do any chainrings resist the worst of the wear from worn out chains?