How many miles should a chain last?

[zebedee]

Being a decent quality (£20-£30) chain and being well maintained (degreased, through a chain cleaning tool, dried and re-lubed with quality lube) on a mountain bike in mixed conditions, dry, wet, dust, mud everything you can throw at it. Medium weight, mechanically sympathetic rider, cross country style riding.

Is 1000 miles about right or should it be more?

[mat205125]

Near enough forever would have been the answer I would have guessed at.

[zebedee]

No, that is certainly not the case. Even a well looked after chain will stretch with use and when it stretches it will not fit perfectly on the chainrings, cassette and jockey wheel and will start to wear them out, until you end up with 'shark fin' shaped teeth. Then you have to replace the whole drivetrain.

Without cleaning the chain, the whole process is speeded up because of all the grit and metal particles on the chain that act like an abrasive.

So how often until a chain will stretch so you should replace it before you knacker the rest of your expensive drivetrain?

[Fixedwheelnut]

When I used to ride gears I used to get approx 3000 miles from a chain and I used to clean and oil it regularly. With off road conditions you could probably reduce that by atleast a third.

My last fixed chain was changed last month at 10,000 miles.

[snotrag]

I'd say 1000 miles is damm good for proper XC use (I.e. getting muddy, fair bit if stamping on the pedals.)

Each link is exaclty one inch. If the chain has grown by more than 1/12th of an inch over 12 links, its buggered. You can buy a very simply cheap tool to measure this, but its easy to tell anyway, a stretched chain will not give you crisp shifting.

I use Sram PC69's ( or whatever there new equivalent is) and get through on every couple of months on my Xc bike. Thats nowhere near 1000miles most times, but lots of mud, occasional snapping, crunching off rocks etc.

Also I ride in the peak district a lot. Which does it no favours!

[ysnnim]

If you can pull the chain clear off the rear cassette, at the very back of the cassette (if you know what I mean,) or you can pull if off the chainset at the very front, then it is worth replacing. It will wear out the cassette, or the two smaller chain rings - and then more money has to be spent. I reakon I get through two or three chains a year. It helps to keep it cleaned and lubed, however in muddy gritty or dusty conditions (ie anything off road) what collects on the chain acts as grinding paste...

[pdV6]

Entirely depends on the kind of riding you do and the kind of conditions local to you (as well as how religiously you maintain the chain).

I've never had one last as long as 1000 miles but then they do spend most of their lives dipped in gritty mud.

[zebedee]

pdV6 said:

Entirely depends on the kind of riding you do and the kind of conditions local to you (as well as how religiously you maintain the chain).

I've never had one last as long as 1000 miles but then they do spend most of their lives dipped in gritty mud.

hence me giving all that information in my original post...

[pdV6]

zebedee said:

pdV6 said:

Entirely depends on the kind of riding you do and the kind of conditions local to you (as well as how religiously you maintain the chain).

I've never had one last as long as 1000 miles but then they do spend most of their lives dipped in gritty mud.

hence me giving all that information in my original post...

I reckon 1000 miles is pushing it.

If you're doing long XC rides in muddy conditions, to an extent it won't matter how well you clean the chain afterwards, it'll have been wearing away during the ride...

[saddle bum]

For 10-speed road bikes;

Shimano, about 1500max. Campag, 2000 miles.

[g_stacey]

As the guys say depends on riding/weather conditions. All you can do is lube it after every ride.



PS I have gone through a brand new set of brake pads in one day of grotty Welsh weather. Dry riding and they last for months.

G

[R1 GTR]

g_stacey said:

As the guys say depends on riding/weather conditions. All you can do is lube it after every ride.



PS I have gone through a brand new set of brake pads in one day of grotty Welsh weather. Dry riding and they last for months.

G

Funny you should say that. As i said in my "just getting into mountain biking" thread, I had new pads fitted on friday, tried them on saturday, perfect. Went to Glentress for the day on Monday and after about 4/5km they're like soap!