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Can you use a conventional chain checker tool on a 11 speed setup?
My 4 month old chain says it's knackered on the park tool checker.
Of course.
As far as I know the distance between links is standard. It's just the width of the chain that differs between speeds to allow for narrower cogs.
p.s. it's not knackered. It's just if you were to change the chain for a new one it may not mesh with the old cassette or might just about if you're between the lower and upper limit on the tool. Still perfectly good and I bet it will run for ages yet. So long as you don't wreck the chain enough to need a new one 😉
If the checker says it's stretched, you want to change it as soon as possible otherwise you risk damaging your cassette. Better to keep on replacing relatively cheap chains rather than an expensive cassette. If it's already too late the new chain will skip on the old cassette.
Hour much riding and which chain?
Cassette will wear whether "stretched" or not.
yes it will, but a worn chain will do it ten timesfaster as there is less chain surface meshing with each tooth, more pressure per square millimetre, faster wear increasing I n fact as it gets more worn
says it's knackered on the park tool checker.
If that's this one:
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Then ignore it. Every chain is knackered on one of those!
All I know is I did a test. I'd be doing the chain checker, replace perfectly good chains to "save" the cassette but the cassette needed changing every 6 months anyway. Got fed up with chucking away what looked like perfectly good cassettes and chains, just kept them running. Same chain, same cassette, running for year and a half. More worn or not, it still worked fine and no skipping. Only reason I changed it all eventually was the narrow/wide chainring was starting to drop the chain and getting a new one it seemed best to refresh the lot.
My conspiracy theory is PT have a backhander with chain/cassette manufacturers 😉 . Interesting they changed their tools to make it even earlier you have to change the chain. Madness to me as they are perfectly good chains.
Though I can understand concern about saving a cassette when you spend £100s on an 11 speed 😉
A lot of chain checkers push two rollers in opposite directions which gives you a measure of "stretch" plus the tollerance on the rollers.
I use a chain checker. Once that says it's stretched, I move over to a long steel rule and look for 0.5% stretch over as many half inch links as possible. I'll typically end up running 4 or 5 chains to the life of a cassette this way and know that if I snap a chain, I can run a new one without worrying which means I'll take a spare chain in holiday but not a cassette.
Same as Onzadog, get 4 or 5 chain sout of a cassette using PT checker. Keep the chain clean and well lubed and change it when its @0.9 - 1 you will have slick changing.
The time measure is flawed 'running for year and a half' what you do in a year and half isnt the same as others QED.
Why not try both ways then make you own mind up. I know my experience over several years now and which I prefer
Had the solid parktool checker and was having shifting issues and noise from the drivetrain so checked and it was still miles off being 'worn'. Ignored the checker and changed chain anyway. No more issues and was back to being buttery smooth
The time measure is flawed 'running for year and a half' what you do in a year and half isnt the same as others QED.
Never said it was.
Why not try both ways then make you own mind up. I know my experience over several years now and which I prefer
If you read what I said, I did both ways 😉 . 6 months with couple of chains per cassette using the checker. 1.5 years, 1 cassette, 1 chain by ignoring the checker. That's on two bikes, both same results. My mind is very much made up that I was wasting money chucking away perfectly good chains and cassettes before.
To be honest the cassette and chain off those bikes could still have gone further if it wasn't for the chain dropping off the chainring eventually. New chainring would have had issues with the worn chain however so the lot had to go.
Noting this is heavy off-road use, mud, crud, hills, all year round.
And shifting issues - It's easy to just jump to needing a new chain much like any brake issue is "bleed the brakes!" (when usually it isn't the issue) and I've jumped to that conclusion myself in the past, but I've found it's always been indexing off for me. Quick fettle and it's fine.