Time for a new chain?

Dave Stallard said:

My chain is in a Dura-Ace triple setup, reasonably well-maintained, with
3200 miles, mostly on dry roads. Is it time for a new chain?

It will depend on wear. Check the following link for measuring
instructions....

http://www.execulink.com/~dtierney/wmc/SRAM/chains2.htm#Chain%20wear

or http://snipurl.com/fhbw

Dave Stallard said:

My chain is in a Dura-Ace triple setup, reasonably well-maintained, with
3200 miles, mostly on dry roads. Is it time for a new chain?

Dave

Only one way to actually know. measire the length of it either with a
ruler or a chain length checker, Rohloff and park make nice ones.

Ruler-if 12 links are 12 1/16 inches long or more, time for a new chain.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

My chain is in a Dura-Ace triple setup, reasonably well-maintained, with
3200 miles, mostly on dry roads. Is it time for a new chain?

Measure it and you will know for sure. Go to
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html for instructions on how to do this.
--------------
Alex

Qui si parla Campagnolo said:

Ruler-if 12 links are 12 1/16 inches long or more, time for a new chain.

And if any more than this, time for a new cassette as well :-(

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

My chain is in a Dura-Ace triple setup, reasonably well-maintained, with
3200 miles, mostly on dry roads. Is it time for a new chain?

Measure it and you will know for sure. Go to
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html for instructions on how to do
this.
--------------
Alex
----8<------------------

My Park Tool (CC-2) instructions indicate that at a +1,0% reading, it
is time to replace the chain. The same instructions also note that a
new chain will give a +0,25% to 0,50% reading.

Following the reasoning in this thread, that 12 1/16 (12,0625) inches
measured warrants a new chain, I note that this is equivalent to an
0,5% reading. In which case the chain is hardly used before it has to
be replaced? This is beginning to get confusing.

My question - for those of you who have actually *used* the above Park
Tool:
Up to what reading can one reasonably expect to replace a chain without
having to replace the cassette?

(e.g. if one replaces the chain just before the Park Tool-recommended
1,0%, is there a decent chance that the cassette does not have to be
replaced? Or should one replace, at, say, 0,75%, to avoid replacing the
cassette?)

/Robert

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

My chain is in a Dura-Ace triple setup, reasonably well-maintained, with
3200 miles, mostly on dry roads. Is it time for a new chain?

Measure it and you will know for sure. Go to
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html for instructions on how to do
this.
--------------
Alex

----8<------------------

My Park Tool (CC-2) instructions indicate that at a +1,0% reading, it
is time to replace the chain. The same instructions also note that a
new chain will give a +0,25% to 0,50% reading.

Following the reasoning in this thread, that 12 1/16 (12,0625) inches
measured warrants a new chain, I note that this is equivalent to an
0,5% reading. In which case the chain is hardly used before it has to
be replaced? This is beginning to get confusing.

My question - for those of you who have actually *used* the above Park
Tool:
Up to what reading can one reasonably expect to replace a chain without
having to replace the cassette?
----8<--cut the rest ---
Hi again, I went and experimented with some chains and have following
info for those of you using Parktool CC2 chain gauge (so pls ignore my
previous silly question above):

My old chain indicates ca. 0,7% wear (whatever that really means)
according to the Parktool gauge.

New Campag Record-9 chain that I installed just now - gauge does not
quite fit on chain, even with gauge at minimum setting. Guess that
setting would be approx minus 0.2%?)

This new chain does not skip, not even under heavy load, in any gear.
This is the third chain that I've used on my Veloce-9 cassette (13-23).

Conclusion is that if one lets a chain wear to approx 0,7% (according
to this particular tool), then replace it with a new one, then you can
get away with not replacing the cassette. YMMV for other makes and
measuring tools. Makes me wonder why I didn't buy a chain gauge
earlier, I could've saved some money on cassettes/freewheels.

Any ideas on what the record is for mileage on one single cassette,
when replacing chains at favourable intervals and keeping the
drivetrain reasonably clean . . .

/Robert

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Following the reasoning in this thread, that 12 1/16 (12,0625) inches
measured warrants a new chain, I note that this is equivalent to an
0,5% reading. In which case the chain is hardly used before it has to
be replaced? This is beginning to get confusing.
My question - for those of you who have actually *used* the above Park
Tool:
Up to what reading can one reasonably expect to replace a chain without
having to replace the cassette?
(e.g. if one replaces the chain just before the Park Tool-recommended
1,0%, is there a decent chance that the cassette does not have to be
replaced? Or should one replace, at, say, 0,75%, to avoid replacing the
cassette?)

Chuck the park tool and just measeure with a ruler. Then you won't be
confused.
--------------
Alex

Alex Rodriguez said:

Quoted message said:

Following the reasoning in this thread, that 12 1/16 (12,0625)
inches measured warrants a new chain, I note that this is
equivalent to an 0,5% reading. In which case the chain is hardly
used before it has to be replaced? This is beginning to get
confusing. My question - for those of you who have actually *used*
the above Park Tool:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Up to what reading can one reasonably expect to replace a chain
without having to replace the cassette? (e.g. if one replaces the
chain just before the Park Tool-recommended 1,0%, is there a decent
chance that the cassette does not have to be replaced? Or should
one replace, at, say, 0,75%, to avoid replacing the cassette?)

Quoted message said:

Chuck the park tool and just measure with a ruler. Then you won't
be confused.

I agree and besides, don't try to use the method shown on some web
sites (finding the edge of a pin). Align an inch mark of a yardstick
with the center of a chain pin and glance at the inch mark 12 inches
away. The accuracy of this is easy to assess by glancing back and
forth between the reference pin and the one downstream to see if the
yard stick has moved. Eyeball centering is good enough for this
qualitative assessment. We aren't interested in how many 0.001" too
long the chain is, but rather whether it is out of reasonable limits.
Don't take the 1/16" number as absolute. It is a reasonable number.

What may be less apparent is that chain elongation affects only every
second roller and therefore the effect is greater (2x) than the
percentage measured. Every pair of rollers in an inner link remains
at exactly 1/2" while the pins and sleeves wear to cause interlink
elongation.

[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I agree and besides, don't try to use the method shown on some web
sites (finding the edge of a pin). Align an inch mark of a yardstick
with the center of a chain pin and glance at the inch mark 12 inches
away. The accuracy of this is easy to assess by glancing back and
forth between the reference pin and the one downstream to see if the
yard stick has moved. Eyeball centering is good enough for this
qualitative assessment. We aren't interested in how many 0.001" too
long the chain is, but rather whether it is out of reasonable limits.
Don't take the 1/16" number as absolute. It is a reasonable number.

What may be less apparent is that chain elongation affects only every
second roller and therefore the effect is greater (2x) than the
percentage measured. Every pair of rollers in an inner link remains
at exactly 1/2" while the pins and sleeves wear to cause interlink
elongation.

It took me a while to figure out what you meant by "elongation affects
only every second roller" and I'm still not sure if you're right. I
think you're ascribing all the wear to the pin/plate junctions. Are you
sure there's not significant wear going on at the roller to inner plate
swage junction? On Sheldon's chain page
(http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html) the chain wear picture
(http://sheldonbrown.com/images/chain_wornbush.gif) shows the swaged
part has worn on the inside, which would effectively increase that 1/2"
pitch.

Pat

Jobst said:

Quoted message said:

What may be less apparent is that chain elongation affects only every
second roller and therefore the effect is greater (2x) than the
percentage measured. Every pair of rollers in an inner link remains
at exactly 1/2" while the pins and sleeves wear to cause interlink
elongation.

Pat Lamb said:

It took me a while to figure out what you meant by "elongation affects
only every second roller" and I'm still not sure if you're right.

He's right, but could have expressed himself more clearly. Elongation
doesn't affect the rollers, it affects _pairs_ of rollers.
Specifically, it's the roller pairs connected by outer plates.

Quoted message said:

I think you're ascribing all the wear to the pin/plate junctions.

That's the only part of the wear that affects the pitch of the chain.

Quoted message said:

Are you
sure there's not significant wear going on at the roller to inner plate
swage junction? On Sheldon's chain page
(http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html) the chain wear picture
(http://sheldonbrown.com/images/chain_wornbush.gif) shows the swaged
part has worn on the inside, which would effectively increase that 1/2"
pitch.

No, that wear happens to each roller, so it doesn't affect the distance
between them, i.e., the pitch.

Sheldon "Pitch Pictures" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| There is no conclusive evidence of life after death. |
| But there is no evidence of any sort against it. |
| Soon enough you will know, so why fret about it? |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Quoted message said:

What may be less apparent is that chain elongation affects only every
second roller and therefore the effect is greater (2x) than the
percentage measured. Every pair of rollers in an inner link remains
at exactly 1/2" while the pins and sleeves wear to cause interlink
elongation.

Won't the interface roller/sleeve wear as well, so allowing the roller to
move about in all directions?

Jasper

Alex Rodriguez said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Following the reasoning in this thread, that 12 1/16 (12,0625) inches
measured warrants a new chain...

Quoted message said:

Chuck the park tool and just measeure with a ruler. Then you won't be
confused.

I missed this the first time around.

Nail a yardstick vertically to the wall of your workshop. Now it's
always ready for a quick check of the chain when the chain is being
cleaned. Vertical orientation is important so that the weight of the
chain pulls the links taut during the measurement.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Jasper Janssen said:

Quoted message said:

What may be less apparent is that chain elongation affects only
every second roller and therefore the effect is greater (2x) than
the percentage measured. Every pair of rollers in an inner link
remains at exactly 1/2" while the pins and sleeves wear to cause
interlink elongation.

Quoted message said:

Won't the interface roller/sleeve wear as well, so allowing the
roller to move about in all directions?

This is a logic problem. Give it some thought. The distance between
centers of rotation of a roller pair do not change. They are on the
same (chain) side plate and their wear is the same.

[email hidden]