How long do your Shimano 12 speed chains last?

Been running Shimano 12s for over a year now and I usually get 550-600 miles out of each SLX chain – the one time I ran a deore it only did 450 miles. Some friends at my LBS get around the same and have a similar riding style.

I’m a fairly powerful rider and do a lot of climbing (iirc i did around 450k ft last year) so I guess its to be expected but theyre quite expensive, I keep them clean but no too clean and well lubricated. I swap them when they stop meshing with the 51t properly which seems to be 0.75 on my chain wear checker or closer to 0.5 when measured with a ruler -I got around 2500 miles out of my cassette before I had to buy a new 10t cog. Interested to see what everyone elses experience is!

I keep them clean but no too clean and well lubricated.

There is a huge difference in wear rates between different lubricants and even more if you include immersive wax coatings.

If you want them to last longer, move to wax.

NB The absolute worst lubes for chain wear and MucOff lubes, highest wear rates of any lubes tested.

Lubricant Testing

When I bought my bike it had an M7100 chain with an M7100 cassette and I pretty much straight away started waxing it. First with a home made concoction using ptfe powder and candlewax and then fairly quickly, after asking on here I started using Putoline.

My bike is an ebike with a Bosch motor btw. My first M7100 chain wore out after about 400 miles and I replaced it with another M7100  which did about the same. Subsequently I bought an M9100 chain and a spare set of wheels which I equipped with the same M7100 cassette and I bought another M9100 chain so I could have one ready, waxed, to go on when the other needed re waxing.

These chains have done over 1200 miles each and are currently still just below .50 wear. The 2 cassettes have done around 2000 miles each so far.

I get 6 or 700 miles until I get to .75 on a SLX chain but I tend to wait until it is closer to 1 before changing it.

Last cassette lasted me 4 chains. I don’t actually notice any problem with gear changing as it stretches so the last chain on a cassette gets left on another few hundred miles.

Chainrings normally need swapping every 2 or 3 chains.

I get 6 or 700 miles until I get to .75 on a SLX chain but I tend to wait until it is closer to 1 before changing it.

Quite late, I normally swap out at 0.5 to save the cassette (road not MTB). One winter I didn’t keep tabs on it and used Muc Off lubes (big mistake), chain went to 1 and the chain rings were shagged.

Quite late, I normally swap out at 0.5 to save the cassette (road not MTB).

It is and I thought I would wear cassettes faster but using the above approach seems to get me a similar mileage to a riding mate who is a bit more diligent than me.

It is and I thought I would wear cassettes faster but using the above approach seems to get me a similar mileage to a riding mate who is a bit more diligent than me.

I’d quite like a cassette wear tool as right now I just assume 0.5 is the theshold – although chains are relatively cheap and using wax I get 1000s of km out of them….

I’m at about 1800km on my Orbea Rise. Was still at 0,5. Not sure what level shimano chain it is. Using smoove wax lube.

I’m getting up to around 800 miles on my current XT 12 speed chain and it’s hitting 0.75, use muc-off wet on it as it’s always wet and miserable, but i do remove it every couple of weeks to give it an ultrasonic clean with IPA and then a coating spray and soak, same with the cassette.

What kills a cassette fast is debris that gets between the chain and the running gear, it’s like a grinding paste with the stuff you get around here.

I’m on an ebike though, so it’ll be time to swap out soon, last couple of chains i’ve worn out tended to explode a bit on failure, still able to shorten and get me home, but can be sore depending when it happens!

Shimano and Park recommend to change 12spd chains at 0.5%.
I know that’s coming from the manufacturer so they will want you to swap earlier. But seems to be worth doing to keep the cassette fresh, especially given there are so few available atm.

SRAM say to change the chain at 0.8%. But they also say to change the cassette at the same time. £££$$$

I hated my Shimano 12 speed chain (can’t remember if slx or xt level). It was just horrible when wet and mucky – noisy and sounded like it was skipping about a bit. I was expecting a dream of a shift with all the stuff online about how good Shimano 12 speed is.

Since then I tried a Sram XX1 chain (rainbow) and rode it for ages to the point the coating was coming off the chain. Got a gold XX1 chain and it went straight on with no dramas. So I’m on my 3rd chain on an XT cassette – I’m wondering if this is the last new chain that’ll play nicely with it – I think I’m just going to ride it into the ground now and assume I’ll need a new cassette / chain / chainring when it starts slipping.

I think expensive chains are worth paying for on 12 speed. I was less bothered on 11 speed as I don’t think those drivetrains are so fussy – X1 always did the job for me on those.

I got about 2500 miles out of the SLX 12 speed chain on my Rail.

Cassette is on 2150 miles, first chain came off at 600 miles (less than 0.5 wear), second at 1300miles (just on 0.5).

Mix of summer and winter miles using juice lubes extreme, the last chain I’m running on squirt. Will then chuck the old chains back on and run them all out to 0.7, then to 1.0.

Strava says 1732 miles as of last night, and the shifting is still fine on it after almost 2 years. Not sure how much climbing I’ve done on that bike specifically but I do about 60,000 ft per year, over 3 bikes, and this chain is on my HT which gets used all through the winter slop and not cleaned too carefully.