Replace the chain

[AndreZA]

Thanks guys for the info. Ill be heading to the LBS to buy a new chain first...

 

Then stop at CNA and buy a steel inch ruler for R30. Less then half the price of a chain checker toolamajig and 500% more accurate.

[iRob]

dremmel? burs?

 

Not sure of the spelling but you get the idea... A dremmel tool is a small hand held power tool, well, you get a battery operated one, which you can use for delicate grinding, such as burrs (burs?) on casette rings...

[Johan Bornman]

Johan I know your the expert but a worn chain cuases the rear cassette to misform and that does affect gears as the chain will start jumping on the cogs when any form of stress is applied.

 

Or am i missing something.

 

I think it is a matter of semantics.

 

With jumping gears, we mean jump between gears - essentially mis-shifting. This happens when the cable tension is not properly adjusted or limit screws are out, or shifter and derailer is incompatible, i.e. SRAM with Shimano or the cable sticks somewhere in the housing.

 

With skating gears, we mean the chain is perfectly shifted to the sprocket, but it doesn't slip down to the cog's (a cog is one tooth)valley, because the chain and sprocket are out of pitch. This causes the chain to ride over the sprocket without falling down into the cog valleys. This will happen with a new chain on an old sprocket, as described above, and only in a few of the rider's favourite (read: most worn) gears.

 

Semantics, but this all helps to a) describe the condition and to B) diagnose the problem.

[Johan Bornman]

There will always be those who disagree with the manufacturers specifications.

 

 

 

Angry at who? The manufacturers don't publish specifications other than produce chains with a 1/2 inch pitch according to a very old standard. The wear limit is an insider's secret and not well understood even by bicycle experts.

 

 

 

If you want your drivetrain to outlast chains, one method is to run 2-3 chains on a rotational basis (3 chains way cheaper than a new drivetrain)

Run chain 1 for couple 100k's remove, clean, oil and stash. Fit new and do the same, etc, until you are back to chain 1.

 

 

This method is bandied about here quite often. However, it is self-foolery. It is like saying, if I eat one hot dog, it lasts me one minute. However, if I lay three hot dogs in front of me and I nibble at each one respectively, they'll last 3 minutes. Therefore 3 hot dogs are better than one.

 

 

 

Replace any or all at .75 wear.

Keep your chain well clean. Run dry lube for dry conditions and wet lube for wet conditions.

Your drivetrain will last for a long time, maybe even as long as Mampara.

 

That figure of .75 or .1 or whatever, is a meaningless figure that has no roots back to engineering of any sorts. It was invented by chain measurement tool companies who have produced a flawed product and flogged it to innocent consumers for a long time. We have discussed its flaws here often. Go back into the archives and see. It comes up regularly every four months, so if you are new, don't bother going back more than four months in the records, it is repeated ad nauseum.

 

 

 

If you want to see how long some setups last, read Around Africa on My Bicycle, by Riaan Manser. And that was all OEM ***.

 

I have no idea what OEM *** is. Tell us.

[Johan Bornman]

Not sure of the spelling but you get the idea... A dremmel tool is a small hand held power tool, well, you get a battery operated one, which you can use for delicate grinding, such as burrs (burs?) on casette rings...

 

Something big is wrong with your bike if your cassette develops burrs. Cassettes simply dont wear that way. If you inspect the trailing edges (working side) of your cassette cogs you'll notice that they wear perfectly perpendicular to the plane of the sprocket. The edges are dead square with no burrs at all. I don't understand what there is to grind there at all.

[Guest Big H]

Drongo..... The reason Mampara worx in inches is because quess what?????....... A chain link is exactly half a inch long.You will easily see it is so much easier to measure in inches that measuring in millimetres and converting to inches.

[The_Break]

Here is an interesting link that deals with chain length and chain wear. As already said it does work in inches.

 

http://www.epicidiot.com/sports/chain_length_calculator.htm

[chris_w_65]

Although it is not as acurate as the ruler method it is probably close enough (and quicker) to use a Park Tool chain wear gauge. I bought mine for R100.00 from Cyclelab. As soon as it measures .75 wear I will replace my chain.

 

I believe the only accurate gauge (apart from a steel ruler) is the Shimano gauge but they wanted R500.00 at Cyclelab and that is crazy money for a piece of flat steel

Edited December 20, 2010 by chris_w_65