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Chain rotation worth the effort and which chain is easiest to change yourself at home?


cathmtb

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Hi there

My bike shop recommended I rotate two chains every month so that my cassette and components last longer. Normally I would just wash the chain after every ride with clean green and I have a parktool to measure the wear, I normally get a new chain before its gets too old.  Its quite a mission to take it to and fetch from the bike shop once a month. Does anyone know if its worth the effort and if so which brand of chain will be the easiest for me to do on my own without having to go to the bike shop every time. I have a 2x11 mountain bike. Thanks in advance for any advice :) 

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How long does the bike shop claim it will add to your drive train? I don't think it's worth the effort. You can get 5000+ km on a single chain if you take care of it and easily around 8000 - 10000 on the cassette and ring without rotating the chain. 

But yes, rotating the chain will increase the life of the train but is it worth it ????

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Find another bike shop! They are milking your wallet. 

 

Yes you can rotate chains, but just changing to a new chain when its worn, is actually cheaper. Some quick link are ment for single use only, and the ones that you can reuse, will possibly wear out because of all the changing. 

Get a chain checker, and a new chain when needed. And much later on a new cassette. 

 

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Get the shop to make sure the chains are the correct length and get some quick link pliers and spare quick links.

Quick youtube video or two on how to install a chain and you can rotate the chains out easily. 

Once a month should be good. 

Keep rotating until both chains show just below 0.5 i think and then replace both. 

 

Very minor bit of maintenance to extend the life of your cassette and chainrings 

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Yes it is worth doing !!!

BUT !! not if the bike shop does it for you.

Easy enough to do yourself. You do need to get links you can use a couple of times.

Certainly does not have to be monthly.

Edited by porqui
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I use hot wax on my chains and because it's a little more complicated than using normal lube I rotate my chains. It is really easy with the right chain.

The main issue to consider is that not all quick links are re-useable and if so, it can become prohibitively expensive to rotate chains. I use Connex chains by Wipperman.

For reference, I have done more than 17 000 km’s on the 2 chains I currently rotate and both are still well within 0.5%.  

 

Edited by WIPEOUT 1000
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Im not disputing that you might see some increase in life purely from swopping to a newer chain every month but if it is worth it in the long run is debatable. Maybe if you have one of these R10k ones. But imo a lot if what people who do swop chains every month see is purely because by default, they are cleaning everything properly and more regularly lol. It’s the sandy paste in your lube that eats everything way before chain stretch becones an issue.

Most average Joe’s dont even do 2000km a year.  With that number in mind…and If you look after your stuff by cleaning and re-lubing it ever so often, you’ll most likely get 3 + years out of it quite easy. Way longer than most people’s gear envy/fomo forces them to buy new stuff lol.

PS: Where is The @Rouxenator…he’ll laugh at all this nonsense. His bike is where chains and casettes go to die. If you get less milage out of your stuff than he coerces out of his…you are being too pedantic.

 

Edited by MORNE
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34 minutes ago, MORNE said:

Im not disputing that you might see some increase in life purely from swopping to a newer chain every month but if it is worth it in the long run is debatable. Maybe if you have one of these R10k ones. But imo a lot if what people who do swop chains every month see is purely because by default, they are cleaning everything properly and more regularly lol. It’s the sandy paste in your lube that eats everything way before chain stretch becones an issue.

Most average Joe’s dont even do 2000km a year.  With that number in mind…and If you look after your stuff by cleaning and re-lubing it ever so often, you’ll most likely get 3 + years out of it quite easy. Way longer than most people’s gear envy/fomo forces them to buy new stuff lol.

PS: Where is The @Rouxenator…he’ll laugh at all this nonsense. His bike is where chains and casettes go to die. If you get less milage out of your stuff than he coerces out of his…you are being too pedantic.

 

And if it's dirty just put it in the dishwasher!!

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19 hours ago, cathmtb said:

Hi there

My bike shop recommended I rotate two chains every month so that my cassette and components last longer. Normally I would just wash the chain after every ride with clean green and I have a parktool to measure the wear, I normally get a new chain before its gets too old.  Its quite a mission to take it to and fetch from the bike shop once a month. Does anyone know if its worth the effort and if so which brand of chain will be the easiest for me to do on my own without having to go to the bike shop every time. I have a 2x11 mountain bike. Thanks in advance for any advice :) 

Cath, don't bother. Use your chain checker and replace your chain as soon as it gets to 0.5 wear and your drivetrain will likely last a long time. I've done this on a 1x12 Eagle GX. Three years and 10k km + and the cassette and chainring are still fine. I've upgraded them now anyway but for other reasons. Changing chains yourself is easy BTW. Loads of YouTube vids. You only really need a pair of chain pliers (to remove the quicklink /master link) and a chain splitter to make a new a chain the required length. But if you don't need to do it often anyway, then maybe its more convenient to let your bike shop handle it when they service the bike etc. 

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On 7/24/2021 at 6:01 PM, cathmtb said:

Hi there

My bike shop recommended I rotate two chains every month so that my cassette and components last longer. Normally I would just wash the chain after every ride with clean green and I have a parktool to measure the wear, I normally get a new chain before its gets too old.  Its quite a mission to take it to and fetch from the bike shop once a month. Does anyone know if its worth the effort and if so which brand of chain will be the easiest for me to do on my own without having to go to the bike shop every time. I have a 2x11 mountain bike. Thanks in advance for any advice :) 

IMHO its not worth it...yes I'm lazy and never change chains until they are worn, I don't cycle distances like a professional or wannabe pro so no need in my case

One thing i can can tell you though, when someone "breaks" their chain while riding, ten to one they just put it on and the quick link / join failed because they did not do it properly

 

 

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On 7/24/2021 at 7:43 PM, FrancoisdeVille said:

Find another bike shop! They are milking your wallet. 

 

Yes you can rotate chains, but just changing to a new chain when its worn, is actually cheaper. Some quick link are ment for single use only, and the ones that you can reuse, will possibly wear out because of all the changing. 

Get a chain checker, and a new chain when needed. And much later on a new cassette. 

 

This.

 

Replace your chain at or just before 0,5% wear and your cassette will last forever. I find 1x chainrings start to develop chainsuck a bit earlier than 0.5%, so I tend to replace chains a bit before the indicator drops in.

 

Rotating chains is a bit of a waste of effort unless you're doing the hot wax thing, in which case it's essential if you want to ride more than once a week.

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I got 4477km out of my SX chain. As soon as I noticed the 0.5 wear, I replaced it.  Works for me and 4477km out of a SX chain is enough.  I clean my chain regularly, depending on how dirty it is, not after every ride.

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Clean lube ride clean lube ride iv done this now for 3 years and have +-20000km GX cassette and gold XO1 chain and still good.

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