New cassette/Old chain

[crasher]

I finished my new wheels complete with new cassette.

 

Is it normal for the chain / drivetrain to feel rough / notchy at first with original chain

 

It has already got better with 30 mins of riding around the block so feels like chain has to bed into new cluster?

 

If I slip in old rear wheel drive train is super smooth but with new wheel it feels like bike does when chain needs lubing.

 

Will this bed in with a decent ride?

 

Its first time I have ever run a new cassette on original chain.

 

Hubs bearings etc are all super smooth on the new wheelset gearchange is perfect so I can only think its cassette on chain.

 

The chain is still good less than 3 months old and was fine when measured about 4 weeks ago.

 

Any thoughts I have a couple brand new chains but dont want to replace chain if this is normal?

[Shebeen]

I think as a rule of thumb you replace the chain with a new cassette, no matter how old.

[eggsovereasywithteandtoast]

cbrunsdon will help you answer this one.

[Ovenboi]

It's a myth to replace the cassette every time you replace the chain.

 

If the chain was replaced in time you can easily use 5 chains with 1 cassette on a road bike.

[Starvin' Marvin]

Change the chain.

[jannosmit]

It's a myth to replace the cassette every time you replace the chain.

 

If the chain was replaced in time you can easily use 5 chains with 1 cassette on a road bike.

 

 

i'm trying that one now, replacing the chain at about 0.8% wear, just before the chain damage the cassette and rings. Chain alone is much cheaper than replacing everything at once

[vanniri]

If you intend to use your new wheels for racing and old one´s for training I would buy a new chain and use this with the new wheels and the old chain and wheels as a set.

 

This way your racing set will stay smoothly much longer and you have limited need to service bike before race.

 

If you continue as is: your new cassette will worn more quickly with the used chain than using a new one - since the cassette is more expensive the choice is obvious

[Mongoose!]

I have a brand new crank? (53/39).

Can I just put it on my bike with old chain and cassette?

 

Or Should the new crank also have a new chain and cassette?

[Shebeen]

It's a myth to replace the cassette every time you replace the chain.

 

i've never heard that myth..makes business sense, the guys at cyclelab sell it to you?

[crasher]

I fitted new chain lovely and smooth now although I did inherit a new problem of chain jumping gears at certain times.

 

This was due to the chain link being stiff where the link pin joins dont know why pushed it in perfect ?

 

fitted another link pin and all nice now.

 

What a pain in the arse been stuffing around with this bike since I got home the idea was get home deflate tyres chuck in some stans reinflate fit to bike and ride.

 

wasted a hour with the old chain

 

then fitted the new one

 

then had the skipping shift at times which I traced to the stiff link

 

fitted new link

 

re set gears after messing them up whilst trying to stop the skip shift

 

ended up fitting my lights to test the bike in the pitch black

 

seems pretty good though will give it a good test tom morning

 

Bikes p#ss me off sometimes

 

Happy that the wheels drop straight in without disc's rubbing etc so looks like I will be to swop wheels without any fiddling around.

[iRob]

New cassette = new chain.

 

Replace the chain when it is worn, and the cassette will happily last 4-5 chains.

 

Do not, and suffer my fate of having the worn chain wreck the casette with only 800km.

[patham]

On a similar note, I replaced my chainrings, and kept the old chain (within acceptable wear) and cassette - I could not get a smooth gear change. A new chain sorted that out double quick. So I think the rule of thumb is, if you change the power delivery system (chainrings or cassette), change the chain as well.

[mountain_lion]

As already said, New cassette = New chain,

but if changed in time, New chain does not have to mean new cassette.

 

Regarding the stiff link, did you open the link up slightly after inserting the pin?

When inserting a link pin, it is always a good idea to do that. Prevents stiff links.

However these days I always use a quick link to join my chains; makes it easy to take off and the chain clean too.

[the pooks]

So what's the rule of thumb - how much allowable chain stretch/wear in order to get away with chain replacement only (ie no new casette or chainrings)?

 

OK - to answer my own question - Sheldon Brown says 1/16" over 1ft - replace chain only, 1/8"per ft replace chain + gears

Edited November 22, 2010 by the pooks

[jiggs]

I send my mtb(5 months old and all the gears was working well and smooth) in for a miner service to the LBS. R 2000 later after replacing the chain, casette and two chainrings I could not tell if the new parts are better than the old parts.If L must replace all of that isn't it better to ride the bike till the gears or what ever does not work anymore than spend R2000 for incase something happend.

[the pooks]

That's exactly what happened to me jiggs. I actually took it in because the shifting was tight and sluggish - previous experience pointed me to believe that replacing the cable and sleeve does the trick. Then I said while you are at it replace the chain and when next I saw it was R1600 later: Chain, cluster + 2 chainrings. I'm going to monitor the chain more closely using the measurement in my post above and replace the chain sooner and hopefully avoid all the other costs. One can buy quite a few chains for R1600.