8 speed chain durability

I personally use a Shimano HG-70 chain on my training bike. Got ~6000km through winter (in AUS.) before it got to 0.75% wear (using a park chain checker).

catlike said:

Is there durable 8sp chain? I rode HG50, KMC X8.93 then HG50 again. I managed to do ~1500km on hg50 and about 1800 on KMC chain before 1% wear, which does not seems long enough to me. I do lube chain regulary (every 200-300 km or so, and every time after wet ride). Unlikely, but maybe that lubricant is complete sh** (finish line Road pro). If i should change 3 chains per season, then maybe it is worth not to bother about that 1% wear, and continue to ride it until cassette is worn (i use cheap hg50 cassette)? Even those chains are cheap (5-10GBP), chainging chain every 1500-2000 km is wasting of material (and energy used to produce it) therefore not enviromental friendly, which i care for more than cost of chain and cassette (but those are my problems).
So, is there any 8 sp chain that will last more than 2000 km- mybe SRAM? If no, how long will cassette last if i will continue ride it with worn (more than 1%) chain?

You don't say how often you change cassettes. If you put a new chain on a worn cassette, it won't last as long as one installed with a new cassette. If the cassette has worn with a chain to 1% or beyond, you might want to replace it too.

IME, HG chains last a lot longer than 2000 km on road bikes. But, a lot depends on where you ride: severe sand, dust, rain or winter weather can degrade the chain in a hurry.

dhk2 said:

You don't say how often you change cassettes. If you put a new chain on a worn cassette, it won't last as long as one installed with a new cassette. If the cassette has worn with a chain to 1% or beyond, you might want to replace it too.

IME, HG chains last a lot longer than 2000 km on road bikes. But, a lot depends on where you ride: severe sand, dust, rain or winter weather can degrade the chain in a hurry.

The cassette was new. I suppose cassette should last longer than 1 chain- considering i change them before 1% wear. I have to say that i use all spockets on rear (39-12...39-25), maybe chain dont like it bents and it streches faster?

What are you doing to your chains? Many/ most people get more than 10,000 km from a 9 spd chain, and an 8 spd chain should be at least as durable.

How do you check for chain wear?

catlike said:

The cassette was new. I suppose cassette should last longer than 1 chain- considering i change them before 1% wear. I have to say that i use all spockets on rear (39-12...39-25), maybe chain dont like it bents and it streches faster?

OK, new cassette is good, but don't understand how you go through chains so quickly. unless maybe you you ride in heavy sand or dust environment.

No offense, but are you lubing the chain correctly? A drop of lube is needed from the top on each of the bushings vs just squirting at the sideplates. The lube should "flush out" gunk from the sideplates which you can wipe off with a rag. Maybe you just need to lube more often....."300km or so" could be too long. I use Prolink at ~ 200 km.

artemidorus said:

What are you doing to your chains? Many/ most people get more than 10,000 km from a 9 spd chain, and an 8 spd chain should be at least as durable.
How do you check for chain wear?

What am i doing?- I am just riding bike🙂.
I am checking chain with park tool cc3, (thoght maybe its flaw- checked with caliper as well and chain is worn by more than 1%) 🙁. Actually i dont belive that most of people do get more than 10000 km out of chain before 1% wear, still i agree that less than 2000km is not close to normal either (considerig i do lube chain regulary)- that is why i started treed.
Guess i will try HG70- maybe it will be more durable, considering wiperrmann connex 8sx or 808 as well (although expensive). Those hg50 chains i used are sora/tiagra level- could that be reason of limited life? Is there any diference in durability of HG53 vs HG73 in 9 speed chain range?

catlike said:

What am i doing?- I am just riding bike🙂.
I am checking chain with park tool cc3, (thoght maybe its flaw- checked with caliper as well and chain is worn by more than 1%) 🙁. Actually i dont belive that most of people do get more than 10000 km out of chain before 1% wear, still i agree that less than 2000km is not close to normal either (considerig i do lube chain regulary)- that is why i started treed.
Guess i will try HG70- maybe it will be more durable, considering wiperrmann connex 8sx or 808 as well (although expensive). Those hg50 chains i used are sora/tiagra level- could that be reason of limited life? Is there any diference in durability of HG53 vs HG73 in 9 speed chain range?

My current 9 spd road bike is on its second chain and has done more than 25,000 km. There is not supposed to be much durability difference between various chains, but my "105" chain lasted only around 11,000 and my DuraAce chain is going strong having done quite a few more than that. I am still on my original chainrings and cassette. I am pretty slack at maintenance, also - I'll oil the chain when it starts to get noisy. This bike doesn't get used in the wet, unless I get caught out.
What cadence range do you prefer?

catlike said:

What am i doing?- I am just riding bike🙂.
I am checking chain with park tool cc3, (thoght maybe its flaw- checked with caliper as well and chain is worn by more than 1%) 🙁. Actually i dont belive that most of people do get more than 10000 km out of chain before 1% wear, still i agree that less than 2000km is not close to normal either (considerig i do lube chain regulary)- that is why i started treed.
Guess i will try HG70- maybe it will be more durable, considering wiperrmann connex 8sx or 808 as well (although expensive). Those hg50 chains i used are sora/tiagra level- could that be reason of limited life? Is there any diference in durability of HG53 vs HG73 in 9 speed chain range?

What the others said, plus one. The chain checker is worthless: distance between rollers is not a reliable measure of chain wear at all. If you're using calipers, you should be measuring pin to pin (to the same point on each pin) over several links. If you measure over N links, the measurement error is (1/N)*instrument resolution, so measuring over 10-12 links is a good thing.

I suspect there is more room between rollers and sideplates on cheap chains.

If that is so there would be more room for grit to get in.

dhk2 said:

OK, new cassette is good, but don't understand how you go through chains so quickly. unless maybe you you ride in heavy sand or dust environment.

No offense, but are you lubing the chain correctly? A drop of lube is needed from the top on each of the bushings vs just squirting at the sideplates. The lube should "flush out" gunk from the sideplates which you can wipe off with a rag. Maybe you just need to lube more often....."300km or so" could be too long. I use Prolink at ~ 200 km.

I think i do lube correctly. Well, lubing chain more often than every 250-300km- dont know (its more about lubing chain than riding then). I suppose the lube i used before (finish line road pro) was not the best- it was picking dust from road extensive as chain, even fresh lubed, became covered with all black thick substance in about 20 miles. I know chain shoudnot be clean an glossy al time- but that thing didnt look fine at all. Suppose i am going to try new lube (pedros syn lube) with next chain. Prolink is hard to find there in Eastern Europe.

artemidorus said:

My current 9 spd road bike is on its second chain and has done more than 25,000 km. There is not supposed to be much durability difference between various chains, but my "105" chain lasted only around 11,000 and my DuraAce chain is going strong having done quite a few more than that. I am still on my original chainrings and cassette. I am pretty slack at maintenance, also - I'll oil the chain when it starts to get noisy. This bike doesn't get used in the wet, unless I get caught out.
What cadence range do you prefer?

That is what i was considering (after 3. worn chain)- not to change chain after 1% wear but ride the chain and casette till end.
Prefer Cadance- 90-95 rpm. I am not powerful rider at all- i weight 64kg (FTP~ 230w)

alienator said:

What the others said, plus one. The chain checker is worthless: distance between rollers is not a reliable measure of chain wear at all. If you're using calipers, you should be measuring pin to pin (to the same point on each pin) over several links. If you measure over N links, the measurement error is (1/N)*instrument resolution, so measuring over 10-12 links is a good thing.

As i said, i checked with caliper. With caliper i measure distance between 10 links (easier to calculate).

catlike said:

As i said, i checked with caliper. With caliper i measure distance between 10 links (easier to calculate).

If your chain gets black after just 20 miles, it's because the fresh lube you've just applied is flushing out dirt that's accumulated in the chain over the last lube interval. Are you riding on dirt roads or in extremely dusty or sandy conditions? If so, would think that lubing more frequently should help; perhaps every 50 miles. It only takes a few minutes.

Agree a different lube would be good to try. The wax-based lubes are supposed to be good for sand and dust environments; you might try one of them.

catlike said:

That is what i was considering (after 3. worn chain)- not to change chain after 1% wear but ride the chain and casette till end.
Prefer Cadance- 90-95 rpm. I am not powerful rider at all- i weight 64kg (FTP~ 230w)

Perhaps I gave you the wrong idea - I don't ride the chain and cassette into the ground, I swap the chain out at 0.75% wear on the CC-3 (which I have found to be useful for Shimano chains).

I'm not sure what to advise, other than to say that I have found DuraAce chains to be wear resistant. Anecdotal, I know.

If you ride through puddles a lot, then you are splashing grit into your chain.

I found a 9 speed chain worked pretty well on a 2001 Shimano Acera system. That might be a way to run a higher quality chain which may have less clearance between rollers and side plates.

The way you oil may drive grit deeper. See sheldonbrown.com.