Think my chain was beyond needing replacing
Discussion
I've had my Brompton just under a year - and have done about 2,000 miles in London during that time. The fact that the chain is so near the ground, plus the grime it picks up from London streets has obviously taken its toll.
For the most part the drivetrain has been OK, but last week it suddenly started jumping whenever I put any power down and ended up coming off about three times in two and a half miles.
So I decided it was probably time to replace the chain.
In all the time I've owned bikes, I've never owned a chain wear indicator. So I ordered one at the same time.
Put it on the chain before removing and it was so 'stretched' that it wouldn't even drop in to the links.
Think I was lucky it didn't actually snap. Once removed, I could physically feel the links pulling apart in places.
Funnily enough, after replacing the chain, rear sprockets and chainring, it feels like new...
Must remember not to leave it so long next time.
For the most part the drivetrain has been OK, but last week it suddenly started jumping whenever I put any power down and ended up coming off about three times in two and a half miles.
So I decided it was probably time to replace the chain.
In all the time I've owned bikes, I've never owned a chain wear indicator. So I ordered one at the same time.
Put it on the chain before removing and it was so 'stretched' that it wouldn't even drop in to the links.
Think I was lucky it didn't actually snap. Once removed, I could physically feel the links pulling apart in places.
Funnily enough, after replacing the chain, rear sprockets and chainring, it feels like new...
Must remember not to leave it so long next time.
Edited by Kell on Wednesday 13th July 14:05
And I thought mine was bad - in 9 months and 4000 miles - but not as bad as that.
New chain - jumping - with cassette - jumping - damn - the chainring as well.
Put all the old stuff back on to ride it to oblivion. New £90 large ring about to be ordered for when needed.
I'll be checking more often in future. At least it was ''only'' Ultegra and not DuraAce.
PS - Just realised you were on the Brompton - read more carefully - 2k around London - impressed, well done.
Similar reasons suspected - Ti road bike used all through winter with nice sticky ceramic MucOff lube.
New chain - jumping - with cassette - jumping - damn - the chainring as well.
Put all the old stuff back on to ride it to oblivion. New £90 large ring about to be ordered for when needed.
I'll be checking more often in future. At least it was ''only'' Ultegra and not DuraAce.
PS - Just realised you were on the Brompton - read more carefully - 2k around London - impressed, well done.
Similar reasons suspected - Ti road bike used all through winter with nice sticky ceramic MucOff lube.
Edited by ClassicMercs on Wednesday 13th July 22:45
richardxjr said:
Shirley if it won't drop in it's not worn?
Most profitable LBS tool that
I've often wondered about Chain 'stretch' being a problem, reasoning that if everything wears at the same rate then it shouldn't matter.Most profitable LBS tool that
But as mentioned above, the bike was unrideable last week. I couldn't stand up on the pedals to put any power down as the chain would jump off. And even just accelerating for gaps meant it jumped off and left me without drive, in the middle of two lanes of traffic. Not great with short-tempered London drivers.
In the end, I replaced the lot (chain, sprockets and chainring) for £45 So it's not a bad price to pay for a year's commuting compared to the additional £2,400 (on top of my £3,840 train ticket) would cost me for car parking and tube fares.
Theoretically, I could throw away the bike and buy a new one and still save half the cash.
Kell said:
richardxjr said:
Shirley if it won't drop in it's not worn?
Most profitable LBS tool that
I've often wondered about Chain 'stretch' being a problem, reasoning that if everything wears at the same rate then it shouldn't matter.Most profitable LBS tool that
But as mentioned above, the bike was unrideable last week. I couldn't stand up on the pedals to put any power down as the chain would jump off. And even just accelerating for gaps meant it jumped off and left me without drive, in the middle of two lanes of traffic. Not great with short-tempered London drivers.
In the end, I replaced the lot (chain, sprockets and chainring) for £45 So it's not a bad price to pay for a year's commuting compared to the additional £2,400 (on top of my £3,840 train ticket) would cost me for car parking and tube fares.
Theoretically, I could throw away the bike and buy a new one and still save half the cash.
E65Ross said:
But everything doesn't wear at the same rate. If you replace your chain before it gets like that you'll get many more miles out of your cassette and front rings.
Where I was going to with it was that I'd read (or heard) that if you replace your chain every 6 months, then you don't need to replace the cassette.However, in all the years I've been cycling and tried this, I've always had to replace the rear cassette too. Though normally not the front chainring. As the shifting never seemed to be affected by doing this on a normal bike (i.e. my old commuters), my reasoning was why spend £35 every six months, when you could spend it every 12 months?
I'm new to Bromptons however, and they have their archaic systems, so I had no idea how much it would cost to replace. The chainring cost as much as the chain and rear sprockets together but TBH, for the money, it really wasn't worth trying to save cash by only replacing the chain and rear sprockets and then find out that it all needed doing. It costs me an extra tenner a day if I don't cycle, so even waiting for a new chainring for two days would cost me almost as much as I saved - and then I'd still have to buy one.
I guess the point of my original posts was I've never used a chain wear indicator before and was shocked at just how much a chain does actually 'stretch'. Almost a full link in such a short space is quite surprising.
I actually run 2 chains with wippermann connex links..... When I clean the chain up, I remove it, put the other chain on and run that. I get quite a few thousand miles out of my chains and the cassette will last 4 chains doing it this way. Being able to remove the chain means you can get it lovely and clean too!
E65Ross said:
I actually run 2 chains with wippermann connex links..... When I clean the chain up, I remove it, put the other chain on and run that. I get quite a few thousand miles out of my chains and the cassette will last 4 chains doing it this way. Being able to remove the chain means you can get it lovely and clean too!
What do you use to clean it?Kell said:
E65Ross said:
I actually run 2 chains with wippermann connex links..... When I clean the chain up, I remove it, put the other chain on and run that. I get quite a few thousand miles out of my chains and the cassette will last 4 chains doing it this way. Being able to remove the chain means you can get it lovely and clean too!
What do you use to clean it?Vanguard21 said:
I had no idea that replacing your chain regularly increases the longevity of the cassette and chain ring. Good to know.
In my experience it does. I use a steel rule, measure 12 links. New chain - 12" exactly. 12 +1/16: worn out, replace soonish or the cassette is likely to be buggered. 12+1/8: Completely worn out, cassette probably done for. You'll know if you fit a new chain and it skips on the heavily used gears in the middle of the range. Kell said:
E65Ross said:
I actually run 2 chains with wippermann connex links..... When I clean the chain up, I remove it, put the other chain on and run that. I get quite a few thousand miles out of my chains and the cassette will last 4 chains doing it this way. Being able to remove the chain means you can get it lovely and clean too!
What do you use to clean it?Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff