.... should I really get more than 300 miles out of a SRAM 10spd chain, cleaned & lubed after every ride (though clearly not checked enough)
Normal riding conditions are woods type stuff with a smattering of Lee Quarry and the Malverns (twice).
It's more than likely the shortest length of time / distance a chain has ever lasted me, just hope the cassette & rings are ok with a new one, they look ok to be fair.
What tell you it's knackered and how old is the cassette? 300 miles sounds almost impossible.
would expect another zero then again I think all the stuff they say about wear is guff
I say this from using chains to death and the rings still take a new chain [ i checked out of curiosity] and it all ran fine with a new cassette as well- only swapping over the rear for turbo duties
Its worn if you check the chain but no skipping or anything i can tell in use
How are you cleaning and lubing the chain? There are ways to wreck a chain just by cleaning it by stripping the good factory lube out from the inside and not getting enough of the third party inferior lube back inside the rollers and then riding.
And indeed, what's your indication that it's worn?
Chain checker drops straight through when fitted between the links.
Only ever cleaned with plain water and sometimes a bit of chain cleaner when it's got proper gritty and lubed back up with muc-off lube.
A general wipe off and/or wash with water and re-lube should be fine. Though I subscribe to not cleaning every ride unless it really needs it. Less full on cleaning the longer things last I find (wipe down and lube is fine).
The chain checker... is that the latest Park Tools one? I've noticed they've change the wear indicator. Used to be .75% for replace chain and 1% for chain & cassette but now it's .5% and .75%
I'm convinced they've got some deal with the chain & cassette manufacturers going 😉
Another verification on the wear is to get the chain on big & big rings, and try to pull the chain away from the side of the front chainring where it's tightest. It should have a slight give but not pull away with a gap.
One thing I've found though, if I've decided to replace the chain, I replace the cassette no matter what as a new chain just slips on an old cassette even if it doesn't seem that worn. But my chains last for 1000s of miles.
I wore a SRAM PC1 chain from brand new to way beyond .75% wear in 70km on the Black Mountains once. That's about 10p per km.
As I ride either single speed or Rohloff, I would usually allow the chain, chainring and sprocket to wear until it was all scrap, then replace everything in one go.
I'm sure that if I had been replacing chains at .75% wear, a lot of them would have lasted less than 300 miles, which is why I have now gone for belt drive.
Just ride mine until the whole lot is completly shagged, sprockets like death stars, chain rings like shark fins & rollers falling out of chain, then its time to replace the lot.
It's possible to wear it out in 300km, there are a lot of variables. e.g. type of mud, rider weight/power. You could just run the whole lot til it dies / stops working smoothly?
I don't find mine last any longer if I believe the chain checkers.
Current wear story on my main bike with XT kit is:
chain changed at 600 ish miles for a KMC.
no at around 1,500 and planning to replace chain, cassette and rings shortly ie before I start getting too many slipping / breaking / sucking issues. Personally I don't think that is too bad.
i used to run SRAM chains, dont know how many miles they were lasting but I'd get through a few per year replacing at .75 wear. Now running KMC's and I'm surprised how long they are lasting, not had to change them since I switched to them. I do a full degrease with a park tools chain cleaner and fenwicks degreaser every 2-3 rides depending on how dirty the chain gets, then relube with finish line wet or dry as appropriate.
Anyone else found KMC's to last longer then SRAM?
1x10 by any chance? I've got 3000km out of my first 10 speed chain which has astounded me. Triple up front though which I think does make a difference.
cleaned & lubed after every ride
Thats wear youre going wrong (see what I did there). I don't bother cleaning my chains, granted 9spd, and only lube them with Finish Line Wet when they look/sound like they need it. I use that lube year round as to me it just seems perfect.
The drivetrain has been on my Enduro for 2 years now and I am waiting for it to wear out so I can go 1x10. I always use the cheapest Sram chains, do Sram 10spd chains work with Shimano 10spd cassettes or are they designed differently?
Aye, don't bother with chain checkers and run it all until its shafted.
The last time I replaced a chain I measured the old one against the new one for the same number of links. The old one was half an inch longer...
I think my record was 50 miles at the Gorrick Enduro a few years back, and that started with a new chain and cassette, and the chain was 'lubed' with putoline wax!
Not 0.75%, actualy skipping!
Now I take a bottle of wet lube in my camelpack to top it up mid ride on anything over a few hours in anything other than dry weather. Local rides are all done on the SS to preserve the nice bike! That must do about 1500-2000miles to a sprocket, with 2 or three chains, not checked, just replaced when they snap. Swapping to a stainless chainring, thick sprocket and KMC z610 chain which by all accounts should last longer than some of the cheep crap I've used.
I found Sram 9spd chains don't last 2 minutes, nor do their cheap cassettes.
Now I'm on 10 speed with SLX cassettes and XT/Ultegra chains on all bikes and I think I've got nearly 5000 miles on one chain on the race bike. Had to replace the chainring once in that time and the chain still takes a new ring nicely- 1x10.
There are arguments over dry/wet lube choices too.
Slightest bit of damp and loads of people slap on the thick gloopy stuff. When it's riding through a river kind of stuff, then it's great for keeping the water off the chain and the lube in, but otherwise it's sucking all the grit into your chain and grinding away. I've converted to dry lube in almost all conditions now and it's working great, plus keeping my chain a lot cleaner.
Oh and +1 for KMC. Last longer and on 10 speed their Missing Links are reusable, unlike SRAM's 10 speed Power Links.
Uh oh. The old chain debate is coming out! Could it be that your cassette or rings are excesssively worn which is excellerating wear of the chain which is trying to match? I have always measured chains with a good old fasioned ruler and rarely buy cassettes. 12" measures rivit to rivit on a new chain. When it gets over a 16th" I change although you are meant to be able to get up to an 8th" before you start killing the sprokets. I cant understand people running things to death. That would grate on me knowing i was damaging the sprockets needlessly. Why not take a hammer to the sprockets and be done with it?
I found SRAM chains to wear quickly and that probaly wasn`t helped by the use of Finish line wet lube that attracted lots of grit.Now using Squirt dry lube and apply much more frequently and converted to KMC,both of which help.
I still change chains at 0.75 rather than wear our rings and cassettes,though.KMC chain costs me about £14 so pretty cheap so I think of it as a disposable commodity.
I wore a SRAM PC1 chain from brand new to way beyond .75% wear in 70km on the Black Mountains once. That's about 10p per km.
Done that on a SRAM PC1 too on an Alfine hub. PC1's are totally useless! The 8spd KMC Z chain I replaced it with was hundreds of times better and much more resilient.
Generally find that Shimano and KMC chains last longer than SRAM these days too.
I found SRAM chains to wear quickly and that probaly wasn`t helped by the use of Finish line wet lube that attracted lots of grit
Funny, I find the opposite.
Just for reference all components were brand new. XT drive train with the afore mentioned SRAM chain on a 2x10 set up.
I'm not exactly heavy at 80kgs, but do put out amazing power levels at all times (yeah right)
Blimy at some of those wear rates.
Changed my chains with way more distance on them, and the one time I did measure it, the wear didn't even register. Changed them more as a precaution.
Snapped a SRAM 971 but used 991's exclusively since. Never clean them in one of those bath things - just wipe the clag off every 2-3 rides with an oral-b toothbrush while turning the cranks, and wedge a screwdriver agaist the jockey wheels to scrape the clag off them. Then use Finish Line red or Finish Line green top.