Frustrating drivetrain refresh - expected lifespan?

[shouldbworking]

Well, a drivetrain refresh on my commuter has proved to be a pain in the backside. This is on a bike that's seen 2 years of probably 4 days a week, 11 miles a day all season commuting but with regular cleaning + maintenance.

Was replacing the bb, cranks, cassette, chain, cables, jockey wheels. This was tiagra level gear.

It wouldn't run smoothly with the new jockey wheels, inspecting the mech revealed quite a bit of play in the pivots. Swapped back in the old jockey wheels with their loads of play which enabled it to run smoothly but then highlighted that the mech just didn't have enough tension to downshift cleanly.

Towel thrown in, replacement derailleur ordered.

This was a £1000 bike 2 years ago - feels frustrating to have replaced the wheels and so much of the drivetrain already. My mountain bikes see much harder use and their drivetrains last a lot longer!

Am I expecting too much?

[BobSaunders]

4136 miles of cycling over two years? Low to medium level of maintenance? You are probably on the limits-ish.

[numtumfutunch]

Current commuter is about to have its 4th birthday
Its also used 4 days per week as well as winter and foul weather road ride duties and so will have done more miles than yours

It runs 105 and is on its second cassette and 4th chain
I run x2 chains per cassette and have been lucky enough to change before the point of no return

Im on original BB and derrailleurs although it chews through cables which my club mates also complain about with Shimano 11 speed kit

My bike has full mudguards and flaps - maybe thats why my components last longer than yours?

Cheers

[lufbramatt]

Doesn't sound too surprising to be honest, winter commuting is pretty brutal on the bike, with all the salt, grit, silt etc on the roads, bit of water in there and it's a pretty effective abrasive paste. I think you've done ok to make it last that long.

I end up cleaning and lubing my MTB pretty much every ride, whereas a commuter probably gets looked at once a week.

Tiagra is ok kit but better groupsets get better materials and cartridge bearings/bushings instead of plain bearings so tend to last that bit longer (to a point, the real high end stuff sacrifices some longevity for lightness, supposedly)

[BeirutTaxi]

Have you replaced the outer gear cable housing? Should be done annually and it's not expensive. You will find the shifting is hugely improved also.

[bakerstreet]

Sounds about right to me. My Brompton is used every working day year round. Its coming up to three years old in July and its just ticked over 8000 miles. In that time its had:

three chains
three sets of brake pads
One BB (Brompton warranty replacement)
One chain ring
lower hinge
front frame hinge
one front wheel
one rear wheel

Was expecting the wheels to last longer, but the bike only really gets regular oiling and I should really be cleaning the rims on a more regular basis.

[yellowjack]

Looking at my records (I'm a sad lad when it comes to keeping account of my spending on bike maintenance)...

1. Trek Emonda road bike gets through chains/cassettes in 2,500 to 3,000 miles. No guards or wet weather kit, 11,000 miles in just under 4 years, and it plays a large part in my attempt at the Rapha Festive 500 most years. Dry lube (Squirt brand) all year round.

2. Cannondale Backroads "gravel" bike has been with me only 15 months, but has gotten through a chain and cassette (cheap 9-speed SRAM stuff) in only 1,500 miles. But then that has no guards either, is also lubed with Squirt wax, and spends a lot of it's time away from sealed surfaces, on sandy heaths, gravel bridleways and byways, and also a couple of shots at an event called Battle On The Beach.

3. Giant Anthem MTB is the daddy when it comes to grinding its way through chains though. The last lot lasted just 546 miles between March 2018 and February 2019, and most of those were winter miles because I was out of commission with a busted leg between May and November 2018. That has mudguards after a fashion, but more to keep mud out of my mouth and my arse dry than to protect the bike, and its the only bike I resort to traditional wet lube on.

Not sure how that really helps you judge your wear rate, OP, because terrain and suchlike can make a big difference to chain wear, but I'd be happy if my drivetrain was lasting 4,500 miles to be honest. I've run chains and cassettes longer, but long term using a worn chain can seriously accelerate wear on chainrings, etc, and it then gets really expensive to fix it all in one hit.

My Trek and Cannondale are both locked up at my brother-in-law's house right now, while i'm supposed to be sorting out my new house after moving, but I have a box full of parts awaiting fitting in the new garage to refresh both bikes ready for summer, bits I've picked up here and there on offers and deals. You know you'll use 'em, so it makes sense to buy 'em while they're cheap because you can't rely on there being a deal on when you come to need them...

[shouldbworking]

OK I now feel less bad 😊 probably too used to running factory drivetrains into the ground and then upgrading, which just feels more positive than like for like replacements

[bigdom]

Echo the above.

I tend to see a chain last 2000 miles (I use squirt wax lube), which imho helps in the really stty weather. Just about to do the same, although I need a new outer chainring & new discs/pads/oil, although they've seen around 10,000 commuting miles. It has a BSA BB, I've found a 3 monthly grease aids longevity.

I have a mixture on 11 speed, 105 levers/crank/derailleur. Ultegra Cassette (less prone to rust), and Dura Ace front mech (so much better than the cheaper ones). I use Jagwire stainless inners, seem pretty bombproof, and don't seem to stretch much.

[flight147z]

Mine rarely goes out in the wet and I clean it whenever it is dirty or every 150 miles or so

After 4800 miles it's recently on chain #3 - everything else is original though other than the rear derailleur which lost tension after around 2000 miles

I only ever use dry lube and I degrease frequently using my off

Most of the cables are original, the housing is all original

[flight147z]

I would also suggest buying a chain wear tool and checking your chain every 250 miles or so as replacing a worn chain on time will help avoid replacing a lot of other parts as noted elsewhere in this thread.

[PomBstard]

I'd say you've done well to get that amount of use out of the kit. The 105-level stuff on my gravel bike is still original, except cassette and chain. The front and rear mechs looks like they'll go on for a bit longer, though chainrings and BB are probably borderline - that's about 7000km over a little under three years, in all weathers, on all surfaces. I think I've had good value. Same with the XT-level stuff for off road. Sand is the killer around here - all kit is subject to a fine grained grinding paste.

[Parsnip]

I've realised I do a lot less maintenance than most on here...

My (now retired to a life of commuting) Scott Addict is on about 5,500km since its last "proper" refresh - with the only maintenance being new pads (only because the pad carriers don't stop you so well), new rubber (the rear was square) and a bit of lube and grease where needed.

It could do with a new BB, cables and a whole new drivetrain, but the Campag Record is still gong strong and doesn't skip a beat - now that its commuting, its a case of ride it till it gives up. Makes a few interesting noises, but nothing a liberal application of headphones doesn't fix.

My current road bike is on 700km and has had some lube (and new rubber, cause tubeless is crap). I also reprogrammed the Di2 and made an absolute hash of it.

Maybe don't use me as an example...

[shouldbworking]

And finally fitted the new rear mech, running nicely now!

Poster above, I had great success running campag to death for massive lengths of time, eventually just ended up upgrading bikes after the rims wore out

[shalmaneser]

I reckon 150 odd quid for 4k miles is pretty great value! Glad to hear everything is back working as it should!

[GOATever]

Check you haven’t put the new jockey wheels in arse about face. The one marked ‘guide’ goes nearest the cassette, the one marked ‘T-pulley’ goes at the bottom. They are different for a reason. The guide pulley on Tiagra kit is the same size, but has more ‘play’ built in to allow it to track across the cassette smoothly.