The tool every rider needs to have in their home tool kit..

jdog

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
http://www.parktool.com/product/chain-wear-indicator-CC-3-2

This chain checker (or others like it) is truly a must have item. This time of year we start to see bikes coming in with worn chains. Today I saw an angry email from a customer who said we tried to sell him a chain and his bike wasn't even skipping.

He claimed we were up selling him into something he didn't need. :hmmm:


The idea here is that if you replace chains before they are completely worn (or stretched) you can maintain the integrity of the other drivetrain components.

Today's drive trains are more expensive than ever and by simply checking your chain wear and replacing chains at the suggested wear indication, you will get significantly more life out of the other components.
 
jdog said:
http://www.parktool.com/product/chain-wear-indicator-CC-3-2

This chain checker (or others like it) is truly a must have item. This time of year we start to see bikes coming in with worn chains. Today I saw an angry email from a customer who said we tried to sell him a chain and his bike wasn't even skipping.

He claimed we were up selling him into something he didn't need. :hmmm:


The idea here is that if you replace chains before they are completely worn (or stretched) you can maintain the integrity of the other drivetrain components.

Today's drive trains are more expensive than ever and by simply checking your chain wear and replacing chains at the suggested wear indication, you will get significantly more life out of the other components.
Click to expand...

cheers for this. dont actually have one as of yet. now my mates are all hitting me up to do their bikes for them ready for season, this will come in handy.
 
Good stuff J. Lots of bikes this time of year with badly worn drivetrains and the price can be a hard pill to swallow even with 105 level parts.
 
The chain is fine, need a new chainring tho - just change that.

chainring_lo.jpg
 
fidodie said:
The chain is fine, need a new chainring tho - just change that.

chainring_lo.jpg
Click to expand...

This looks like a ninja star. I love that it's that worn and says "downhill" on it.

My father-in-law is a nut about keeping his bike in pristine condition. He uses this tool after every ride. Probably a bit of overkill, but his bikes always run like Swiss watches. He's like that with the entire bike and it pays off. His shifts are always silent and you'd swear every ride he does is his first ride on a new rig with how shiny he keeps it.
 
743power said:
Good stuff J. Lots of bikes this time of year with badly worn drivetrains and the price can be a hard pill to swallow even with 105 level parts.
Click to expand...


It is clear that many people have been screwed over in their lives based on the unbelievable suspicion when we say that they need a new chain. New Chains are the least expensive way to extend drivetrain wear. Replace them often as they are a wear item.
 
thanks for the post jdog. this is the reason I posted the other question about how often people change their drivetrain components.

I got my drivetrain just about 2 years ago now. the front chainring looks like the one above, as do the 2 little sprocket-thingys in the rear derailler and some of the sprockets of the cassette. yet despite this and using the same chain for 2 years (and a few thousand miles) there is no skip what-so-ever (if there is some reduction in response its been gradual and imperceptible)

so, I wasnt sure if people have a regular replacement schedule or if they go by the "if it aint broke dont fix it" mentality (which I am prone to favor). despite that, I finally decided that 2 years and several thousand mile was enough (that I got enough for my money) and am replacing the worns parts and chain all at once.

my rambling aside - a question about your original post jdog....

I thought I have heard it said that you need to change your drivetrain components together (i.e., if you just put a new chain on an existing drivetrain that you INCREASE the chance of skipping).

or, perhaps it is okay to just change the chain, but if you change the OTHER parts (chainring/ cassette) you also must change the chain?

please educate me 😉
 
Last edited:
I've heard the same thing, but never actually put that into practice. I always kinda assumed that was "best practice." I could be way off though.


wonderturtle said:
thanks for the post jdog. this is the reason I posted the other question about how often people change their drivetrain components.

I got my drivetrain just about 2 years ago now. the front chainring looks like the one above, as do the 2 little sprocket-thingys in the rear derailler and some of the sprockets of the cassette. yet despite this and using the same chain for 2 years (and a few thousand miles) there is no skip what-so-ever (if there is some reduction in response its been gradual and imperceptible)

so, I wasnt sure if people have a regular replacement schedule or if they go by the "if it aint broke dont fix it" mentality (which I am prone to favor). despite that, I finally decided that 2 years and several thousand mile was enough (that I got enough for my money) and am replacing the worns parts and chain all at once.

my rambling aside - a question about your original post jdog....

I thought I have heard it said that you need to change your drivetrain components together (i.e., if you just put a new chain on an existing drivetrain that you INCREASE the chance of skipping).

or, perhaps it is okay to just change the chain, but if you change the OTHER parts (chainring/ cassette) you also must change the chain?

please educate me 😉
Click to expand...
 
A Friend of mine broke his chain while we were out and I happened to have an extra chain still in the box at my house. We put it on his bike right before our next ride together and everything seemed fine until we started pedaling up hill. His middle chain ring was worn pretty well and it skipped like crazy every time a lot of force was put on it. A new chain ring fixed the problem for him.
 
wonderturtle said:
or, perhaps it is okay to just change the chain, but if you change the OTHER parts (chainring/ cassette) you also must change the chain?

please educate me 😉
Click to expand...

You specifically asked Jdog, but I will chime in. The reason a cassette or cog will skip when replacing a chain is because it has been worn to the size of the rollers in the chain as they wear. As much as people would like to think they are stretching chains with their massive watts, you are simply wearing the rollers down, hence why the chain tools measure the distance between the rollers. When you put a new chain on a worn cassette, the new roller doesn't fit in the smaller size groove in the tooth, hence the skipping.

However, if you replace your chain before this wear happens to the cassette, you will not have a skipping issue, hence the use for these tools. In theory, you cassette should last for a really long time.

Coincidentally, the price of admission for the crap weather I rode in this winter was a trashed chain (expected) and few trashed cogs on my cassette, which could have been avoid if I changed the chain mid-winter. In the end, the cost was probably a wash as I would have had to replace that chain again in the spring.
 
stb222 said:
However, if you replace your chain before this wear happens to the cassette, you will not have a skipping issue, hence the use for these tools. In theory, you cassette should last for a really long time.
Click to expand...

thx for the explanation!!!!

so what I take away from this is that there are two general options...

* either replace your chain regularly (prior to wear) and the rest of the drivetrain will last longer

or

* let the drivetrain wear down together and replace all at the same time (which is what I did).

in my mind, to some degree it comes down to $. if you have an expensive cassette/ chain ring that you want to last long it would make sense to change the chain regularly.

but if your cassette, etc. is not high end you might as well just let it all age together (i.e., no sense spending $20+ bucks on a new chain every few months to prolong the life of a $35 cassette)

so without really knowing it my miserly ways paid off for me. I feel vindicated (to myself)
 
As some of the high-end cassettes are pushing $200 or more, replacing the chain more often is a good idea.

Mental note: I need a new 10 spd chain... 🙄
 
So this topic is always one of frustration for folks in the bike industry.

My experience has been that by replacing chains before they are worn out allows longer complete drivetrain life.

Typically I find that if you wait too long to replace a chain, the rest of the system will reject the new chain. Basically a new chain will skip on the worn teeth.

There is a fine line here if you are tying to save money I guess. But consider that if you wait too long and wear out the other parts of the system, you can't run a new chain on those teeth even if you want to.


The typical situation that really sucks is this:

The chain checker says that a chain is wasted. We replace the chain and then the new one skips on worn teeth. The customer is mad, since before we installed the new chain, the old chain didn't skip.


The other side of this is that if you catch it early and often, the bike shifts better and the whole drivetrain feels tighter. You may run 6 or more chains and still keep the same cass going. This is particularly important when we see cass prices often over $300.

We have quite a few customers that ride over 15,000 miles a year. One guy goes through a case of chains a year easily. He has seen the light on this topic and is the poster child for the chain checker.
 
Last edited:
Jdog and other shops should have a big sign that reads, Did You change your chain today? Ask me why You should have? In big bold print that yells at you. Couldn't agree more about this subject $20 chain is a lot cheaper then a complete drive train.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom