My drive train (3×9) is starting to get a bit ropey, ghost shifting on climbs and general shifting performance has deteriorated. Nothing overly worn on inspection so I am going to start with a new chain and cables.

What is the go to chain for an easy life, durable but good shifting. XTR can be had for £23 or medium / high end XMC or shimano stuff around the £15 mark, not fused on price but the tinternet would suggest sticking to the middle ground for better durability.

+ what is the best way to buy cables, get a pack or buy some bits, shimano or generic stuff?

(Sorry to bore you but I have tried the search with no joy)

Running xtr chain an generic shimano cables is working well for me. Changing the cables overt 6 to 8 months and not putting a dirty wet bike away also helps. Keep it all clean, lubed and regularly used works well.

Before you go any further, have you checked that the derailleur and hanger are straight and screwed on tightly? That can cause ghost/crap shifting

I always use the base Sram chain. They thin over time IMO.

Anyway- make sure your chainline is good and rear mech hanger and rear mech aren’t bend too.

All contribute to premature wear.

I would measure your old chain as a way of checking that your cassette and chainrings are alright. It’s hard to visually check unless there is a lot of wear. Over 12″ will measure rivit centre to rivit centre on a new chain. If the chain has extended 1/8″ or more over 12″ then your cassette and chainrings will need changing. Personally I change chains when they get to 1/16th” I used to use Shimano HG81 9 speed chains with a SRAM powerlink when i used 9 speed. Your not meant to use the sram link on shimano chains but I never had any issues.

Checked the alignment of the hanger and looks ok, also the jockey wheels are fine and the cassette seems fine. Its had 3 years of solid use now but its been well maintained, wear to chain and cables is about due.

Another thing is the jockey wheels, when they are knackered it ghosts..

I generally get the cheapest plated chain I can.

I will have a £5 bet to charity the cassette won’t accept a new chain.

edit, I have Fibrax full length cables cheap, nice looking if you like white braided look & do the job with no fuss.

Give everything a really good clean and check the cable runs before spending any money. I realised I’d very slightly fluffed a cable routing on the rear mech and it caused shifting problems.

But if you do buy some new stuff I’ve gone from 3×9 to 2×9 (36+22) using an SLX 36t, XT chain and SLX cassette and it’s shifting really nicely. Only dropped the top two gears (ish) in terms of range so really happy overall.

they thin ? expand ?

I will have a £5 bet to charity the cassette won’t accept a new chain

yup I was thinking that.

I’m aware the cassette might be gone to but given it looks in good nick I thought I’d try a new chain for starters. New Sram Cassette to go with new shimano chain?

Dunno, there is a thread on cassettes at the min, its focussed on weights but might sway you one way or the other.

I have had different Shimano’s and 1 Sram, they all worked.

KMC X9 chains seem to have been the least trouble for me. Usually a good price if you buy qty 3 from CRC.

Run two or three in rotation (fit the shortest chain every few weeks/months) and just run the whole drivetrain plus all chains into the ground.
That’s probably the “easiest life” solution TBH.

SRAM 951 – cheap enough to change whenever required which seems to be a long time, you get a SRAM powerlink to join it. Never felt any need to spend more, especially as it’s likely to spend most of its time caked in mud anyway.

OP – if you try a new chain and your cassette is worn you will wreck your new chain. The chain will wear rapidly to match the cassette. It really is as simple as taking a normal DIY steel retractable tape measure to your chjain as I’ve described above. Takes 2 minutes. make sure the chain is taught and clean.

I just put a new KMC chain on my road bike as the old one was stretched. Been riding it all week and no problems so far so I think I got it before the cassette/chainrings wore too much. I’m not convinced you have to change cassette etc every time you change chain, so long as you’re sensible and change the chain before it stretched too much.

Its had 3 years of solid use now but its been well maintained, wear to chain and cables is about due.

I’m aware the cassette might be gone to but given it looks in good nick I thought I’d try a new chain for starters.

Assuming you’ve actually ridden in those 3 years then I really can’t see a new chain working, cassette wear isn’t particularly evident when just looking.

Further to the above, please pick holes in my assessment below:

I have replaced my chain this morning where I lined up the old one next to the new one to get the right number of links (110). The old chain was just over half a link longer than the new one so calling it 0.6 out of 110 means my chain was elongated by 0.545% and that is about right for a change (up to 0.5% being fine and 1%+ being where major problems arise). Based on the above my rear cassette should be ok for a while.

Having commuted in it was all running fine but I was only getting shifting / slipping issues intermittently when munching big ascents in low gears so not fully tested yet.

When you say slipping, do you mean stem to nut kinda slipping?

If the cassette is just on the edge of OK for a new chain it would exhibit itself like that, maybe slipping only on a small number of the cogs, when the torque is right up i.e if your in granny up a steep hill.

The cassette is righ on the edge of borked, you are now going to make your chain wear prematurely until it matches it.

It was “slipping only on a small number of the cogs, when the torque is right up i.e. if your in granny up a steep hill”. I’m hoping it won’t next time I mash up a big hill.

So based on it behaving like the above and the stretch that I measured I’m guessing I’m ok to run the old cassette for a while longer.

It will continue slipping, hoping it wont probably will not stop it.

It might, if your really lucky wear your new chain into the worn cassette.

If you just looking for a cheap fix put your old chain on, knackered chains dont often effect the shifting.

Sounds like you still have shifting issues & now slipping as well.