changing chain to prolong cassette life ?

I have always run my chain and cassette together and then replaced both once worn out. I was wondering however about this whole 2 chain one cassette thing though – if I change a chain when it’s part worn (like on the 0.75% stretch on a chain indicator), will a new one run as well on that partly worn cassette and will I get longer out of the components ? It obviously means changing the chain more regularly but presumably the cassette less so. thoughts ? thanks

Yes, change at 0.75% worn and the new chain will work fine. I reckon on 3 chains to 1 cassette.

I run three chains in strict rotation – does this mean I will get 9 chains worth from my cassette?!!
😯

Well, does that not depend on one being more likely to wear than the other. If so you need the chain to wear faster, not the other way round. It would be an interesting experiment.

….my plan was more to bin the chain at 0.75 worn. 2 XT chains for £34 at Merlin – thinking I might try this option 😀

3 chains to one cassette? I change mine every two months without fail and I’m easily onto my 7th or 8th chain on the same cassette, no performance issues at all.

I change mine every two months without fail and I’m easily onto my 7th or 8th chain on the same cassette, no performance issues at all.

I’m not entirely sure that’s the most economical option

sounds like you’re retiring them early, in which case being on your 7th or 8th is entirely believable.

I change mine every two months without fail

sounds wasteful to me! I run 3 chains and swap them over every 3 weeks or so, on the theory that the cassette will wear slower with a matching chain – having observed that new and old components won’t work together, but an old cassette will work with an old chain

FYI I found worn chains which skipped badly on a derailleur would still give another 6 months life with my Rohloff – so I suppose the same applies to a singlespeed ?

I change mine every two months without fail

Why? How much does a new cassette cost?

A couple of top numpty theories on here!

I ride up to 5 times a week, well over 150k a week, so thats 1200k in 2 months, It may be slightly premature, but a new cassette is what 60 / 70 quid these days, chain is 14, so I know what I’d prefer to buy

What cassette costs £60-£70 quid?

XT is £35-£45 – 3 chains worth.

I don’t change as often as two months, but I bin chains before .75. I run the cheapest 8 speed chains I can get (currently SRAM at £5 a pop), and I have an XTR cassette from 1999 still going strong.

150k a week

That’s a lot to spend on chains…

😉

elliptic, you should see what i spend on tyres…

Ah well yes, tyres…

[quietly shuts shed door to hide contents]

[whistles nonchalantly]

All this changing chains to save money on cassettes is a paradox. Wasting money on chains to prolong the life of cassette that I pay £20 quid for seems daft! I pay just over 30 quid for a Deore cassette and a KMC chain. I Maybe stick another chain on the cassette and then lob the lot in the bin. buying chains and chucking them in the bin when you can get maybe 1000 mile out of it, paying out 20-25 quid for one each time. That is not economically viable.

What SE666 said. While running 3 chains on one cassette appears to make sense, you are never going to magically get more wear out of a component for nothing.

I pay £20 odd for an 8s chain and cassette, I just run them into the ground and use the time I’ve saved by not changing anything to meet girls.

All this changing chains to save money on cassettes is a paradox. Wasting money on chains to prolong the life of cassette that I pay £20 quid for seems daft! I pay just over 30 quid for a Deore cassette and a KMC chain. I Maybe stick another chain on the cassette and then lob the lot in the bin. buying chains and chucking them in the bin when you can get maybe 1000 mile out of it, paying out 20-25 quid for one each time. That is not economically viable

you do have a point, but in my case I run an XT cassette (as i can’t run Deore on Pro 2 hub, yes, I know, my choice) which now cost about £50 to replace. I can buy xt chains for £17 so if I can get longer out of my cassette by replacing the chain a few times then surely a no brainer ? My Op was to check that my plan would work (compatibility wise)… 🙂

Thats the problem with XTR you have to justify getting the most out of the cassette and end up paying as mush in new chains!

Yup, I buy cheap cassette and cheapish SRAM chain. Run them till they both die – usually 10 months, bit less in the winter, more in the summer. Cheap enough to be disposable like Bic razors.

What SE666 said. While running 3 chains on one cassette appears to make sense, you are never going to magically get more wear out of a component for nothing.

Yeah you are. Because chain wear is not linear – a longer chain wears the cassette much quicker than a correct length chain. So 3 chains used for a short period of time each will wear less than 1 chain used for 3 times the length. Otherwise we’d just use chains until they snapped and not worry about buying a new chain with a new cassette.

Joe

A couple of top numpty theories on here!

well, it’s a guess that both chain and cassette will wear slower if they’re run with a correspondingly worn partner, and an observable fact that worn parts will still work together when replacing either will skip.

[/quote]FYI I found worn chains which skipped badly on a derailleur would still give another 6 months life with my Rohloff – so I suppose the same applies to a singlespeed ?

My chain on the Rohloff is 3 years old and still going.

Oh so I paste the quote in the brackets.

SFB – That’s not the theory I was lambasting.

joemarshall – Member

Because chain wear is not linear – a longer chain wears the cassette much quicker than a correct length chain. So 3 chains used for a short period of time each will wear less than 1 chain used for 3 times the length. Otherwise we’d just use chains until they snapped and not worry about buying a new chain with a new cassette.

OK maybe you get something for nothing but not 3 x the life of the cassette. The cassette wears too and as you use chains that are more worn than it is, it wears them more quickly. It just seems too much hassle to me but then I CBA spending the money on light/expensive cassettes, it’s cheaper to save weight elsewhere.

Ok I will go for the heresy option here and admit that I just don’t give a flying **** for this theory.
I have mixed and match differently worn cassettes (when I swap wheels over ) have used old chains with new cranks /cassettes ….hell even a 7 speed on a 9 speed crank and that chain is way past 0.75 wear and now done over 1000 miles like this. I have also run 7 speed cassettes with 8 speed shifters and a brand new 9 speed one on road 8 speed sti shifters without skipping or indexing issues. Essentially IO just mix and match without giving it any thought
Is it not possible that this is just a load of marketing to get us all to spend more money on things we don’t need?
I swap offending bits at the point of chain suck and then only the offending cog (again without any issues)
I might try my hideously stretched chain on one of my other bikes to see if it does have any effect.

Feel free to flame me I am off for Lunch.

I just replace chains at somewhere around the .75 mark, if it doesn’t skip on the cassette then woo-hoo, if not then I slap on a new cassette. Conversely, my missus’ bike has roughly 12 yr old acera, deore stuff on it that’s NEVER been changed. The cables get swapped every now and again, but everything just keeps going.

i just run them till they die. usually a couple of years.

all this measuring a changing seems like a false economy to me.

Junkyard i put a new chain on my bike and the middle ring really wouldn’t work at all – skipped badly as soon as you put any power down. A new ring fixed it straight away.

I definitely reckon if you run cheapish chains on a good block and replace at .75 then you are onto a winner. Just ordered two kmc silver x9 chains, anybody got any thoughts on these?

Same chain and cassette on my bike for 4 years now….. no issues!!!
Before you ask I do put in quite a few miles on it…

X9 chains are good. Cheap and strong. I found them to work really good on Sram cassettes and not quite as smooth on the Shimano blocks.

Junkyard i put a new chain on my bike and the middle ring really wouldn’t work at all – skipped badly as soon as you put any power down.

So I have weak legs then eh 😉
I agree it can happen and I would change the ring but if it did not skip I would not change it because you are meant to.

No I agree entirely. I think some people are bit OCD about chains etc tbh.

Keep chain and cassette clean?

the missing bit that most if not all folks haven’t mentioned is the front chainrings. If you run your cassette and chain to extinction, you’ll probably have to do your chainrings at the same time. Changing the chain more often gets much more life out of the chainrings.

theotherjonv:

the missing bit that most if not all folks haven’t mentioned is the front chainrings.

I agree with this. I do the “three chains in rotation” thing and then replace all three chains, cassette and chainrings in one go.

I think a lot of this depends on where and how much you ride.

I think some people are bit OCD about chains etc tbh.

Depends on where you ride really