A bit earlier, I decided I would swap over to my FatNotFat wheels ready for the coming week’s riding, to give my new 700×38 Marathon Cross tyres a trial.

To make wheelset swapping a little quicker, I decided to buy a new 11-30 cassette, which I fitted to the FatNotFat rear wheel earlier this week. But until I sort out another set of 6-bolts, I have to transfer the rear set between the wheelsets, so still a little faff.

So I put it all together and go for a short 5mins or so ride around the block, to see how it feels. Initially, the pedalling was not smooth, a tiny amount of grinding which quickly settled down after ~30secs.

After coming back in and cleaning up, the slight initial grinding played on my mind, so I decided to go back down to the garage to measure with a tape…

~12 1/8″ after 300-350 miles (way down on my expected use)! 😯

Bit worried now that this technically worn KMC chain is going to do the brand new cassette no favours at all, killing it prematurely. 👿

Should I go back to the old cassette (and fat wheelset) until I get chance to install a new KMC 8 .99 chain later this week?

Due to time getting on, my energy levels dropping fast and needing the bike before daybreak tomorrow, decided to play it safe and revert back to fat wheels with original cassette and existing chain.

It was only a measuring tape, not a fancy chain wear tool, but I still can’t quite believe the chain is ~12 1/8″ after such short mileage. A vast majority of those ~350 miles maximum have been on the road and one of the chain cleans was the day after a really mucky ride in Telegraph Woods back in spring.

It’s had frequent Prolink Progold lubes when used and at least a couple of cleans with the Muc Off chain cleaner fluid and chain cleaning gadget. Ordinarily, I use the 24T chainring with the largest five sprockets (17-34T) and the 38T chainring for the smallest six sprockets (11-23T).

Shouldn’t a chain be lasting at least ~1000 miles, even the one supplied with the bike new, if maintained decently?

Just put the old cassete on the new wheels and stop being so anal 😉

Well I did do that earlier in the summer, it was the first time I’ve ever messed about with a chain whip and lockring remover in my life, the effort to remove and worrying about had I tightened it enough on the transfer was a bit of an eye-opener! 😆

I’m still very on the fence about whether I prefer the fat or the skinny wheels for commuting, the skinny wheels are a bit quicker and lighten the Wazoo by ~4Kg (wheels, tubes, tyres), but so far I’ve struggled to find a 29/700 tyre where I don’t miss the lovely cushioning of the Jumbo Jims on Southampton’s **** roads.

I just fancied the convenience of having a cassette on each wheelset and sometime soon, disc rotors on both sets, to make switching that little bit less time consuming… Instead of feeling like I’m preparing for an expedition to the Arctic! 😆