Hi, often read but rarely post.
I’m new to x01 and am now 560km in, in that time I’ve only dropped the chain once and have not experienced a ghost shift; its great kit. My chain gauge now slots in on the 0.5 side. Is it time for a new chain or can I safely wait for 0.75 wear? Obviously I’m trying to prolong the life of the cassette due to the cost of replacement! Is the x11 chain from SRAM the best bet?

Thanks

I change them before 1000 miles; mine hasn’t made the .75 stretch at that point. I use rock n’ roll only and my xx1 chain ring lasted 2800 miles.

Nothing I’ve ever had before has lasted this long.

I would say somewhere between the two wear points which would be about 750 miles, providing everything has been cleaned and lubed.

I did have an issue with a fused on cassette and xx1 crank which took some sorting despite being greased properly. Not related to each other, separate events.

I will probably order another and keep an eye on it for now. Would like a bit more distance from a £30 chain.

I change at .75 on my superstar tool, normally change at 1 on other kit but XT cassettes are £40….
Probably in the region of 500 miles? Just changed to my 3rd chain, and new chain still shifts smoothly.
Not sure how much variance there is between tools – i.e. if my 0.75 is your 0.5.

I also changed my XX1 at 0.75, which was 1000 miles. New one is a bit noisy under power in some gears, but otherwise fine.

You can change the chain when Park Tools tell you to and buy 3 chains for a the life of a cassette.

Or… leave the chain going, and buy 1 chain for the life of the cassette.

From my experiments, the cassette lasts the same length of time. Despite arguments that changing the chain frequently extends the life of the cassette. I’m convinced now this is BS. What it does is simple allow you to run a new chain on an old cassette if you want to change the chain, without it skipping. Once you go beyond the .75 or even 1.0 wear level then a new chain will skip. But keep going with the old and it will still go and I bet you the cassette will last just as long before it all starts falling apart.

Thing is, yes, if you want to put a new chain on then yes you’ll need to change cassette also unless you change chains frequently. However those chains are perfectly fine. If you let them run, they’ll mesh with the cassette fine, both worn. Just means you can’t stick a new chain on, but if you have a decent chain (like KMC) it won’t self destruct and you have easy links to repair any that break. So stop paying money to Park Tools for their checker, who I’m sure are getting some kind of back hander from chain manufacturers 😉

Oh, and I wonder why Park Tools changed their checker from 0.75 / 1.0 to 0.5 and 0.75 ? 😉

I do agree with you that it’s a false economy, except on £300 cassettes… On my last bike I ran the transmission into the ground, it didn’t break, but the chain shed a couple of rollers, it was noisy, shifting got sloppier and it felt rough as hell. It did about 3000 miles. XX1 chains being about 10% the price of the cassette it makes far more sense to change them.

XT, where you’re potentially talking about chains being 50% the value of the cassette I see no point in changing chains.

I have the park tool chain tool and agree with the price of 10 speed cassettes these days its not worth the hassle. With the cost of 11 speed bits it does make sense to keep an eye on it. Consesus seems to be to change at 0.75 worn (or just before) so this chain will have to run until payday. Is there an alternative to the SRAM chain or is this the best option?

Some folk have successfully run 10 speed, or 11 speed road. I’m just using the SRAM ones, they’re not a bad weight, not too expensive, see no reason not to!

Is there an alternative to the SRAM chain or is this the best option?

Running an Ultegra 10s chain here. Seems to work absolutely fine.

change at 0.75 + one on second chain this year, keeping them clean and dry lube helps

As for chain, KMC have 11 speed chains. If they’re anything like their 10 speed then they’re superior to SRAM chains. SRAM 10 speed snap all the time in my experience, unlike KMC.

They’re road ones. Not exactly the same, but seemingly interchangeable.