On Wed, 2010-06-09 at 07:34 -0700, MichaelH wrote: > I clean the chain every couple of hundred miles, or sooner if I've > gone through wet & mud. I ride 10 miles of dirt roads almost every > day, so even with fenders, my chains get dirty. I use the Park tool > on my chains and find that I got about 1500 miles out of Shimano > chains, so I consider 2500 - 3000 miles pretty good. Most mechanics, > and all mfg. recommend chains be replaced at about 1500 miles. I don't > often ride with a bike computer and don't keep any mileage log, but I > know that I do about 3500 miles commuting each season, and have never > pushed a chain longer than that. A worn chain will wear out the cogs > much faster, and I find that if I push a chain too far, it will damage > the 12 tooth cog enough to cause skipping. I also use two sets of > wheels, so am using multiple cassettes and that might make a > difference too.
I think the dirt roads are the key here. I'm amazed that you wear out a 12T sprocket. I find 12s to be nearly useless except on tandems and if you have a 44T big ring -- and even there, you're in the top gear so infrequently a 12 tooth sprocket could be transferred from cassette to cassette a half dozen times or more without showing significant wear. For me, it's the ones in the middle of the block that get the wear. Recommending a chain replacement at 1500 miles irrespective of wear might be fine if you are in the business of selling chains, but unless that chain is actually worn it's just wasteful. If it is worn, of course replacement is in order. Chains are much less expensive than cassettes. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
