Bike Chain Wear

[supton]

I find it kinda shocking to see those pie plates on bikes now, those really big gears on cassettes.

I was actually finding myself tempted by going new today... I was giving my bike the rare shakedown before riding today, the headset is loose again (might not have gotten it right last time), but now the bottom bracket is loose. Just a bit, not bad, but it's been 15 springs of riding on who knows how much salt. Will that come out properly? Meanwhile, I've not been good at this plan to 30 pounds -- only 40 more to go -- so a bike with yet wider tires than I can fit might be nice. I had to stop riding a particular route as I was getting a flat per ride (potholes and pinch flats, I simply can't see all the road problems).

 

[MRC01]

... I was actually finding myself tempted by going new today... I was giving my bike the rare shakedown before riding today, the headset is loose again (might not have gotten it right last time), but now the bottom bracket is loose. ...

Those are easy to service or replace, if you can find a part that fits. Vintage threaded headsets are still readily available though finding the right bottom bracket can be a crapshoot depending on the frame. Some of the older ones can be overhauled and put back into service if the balls & races are still smooth - of course you don't find that out until it's in pieces on your workbench.

As for flats, a couple of years ago I put Conti Gatorskin tires on my vintage bike from the 1980s and it hasn't gotten a flat since (of course now that I've said that...).

 

[supton]

I'm more concerned about the bottom bracket being frozen in the frame. Rust and all. It's a pretty new bike so I'm 99.9% sure it's a sealed cartridge, not an old cup and cone setup (if was, I'd have taken it apart by now, those are easy to work on--certainly not as bad as my bike that has cotter pins!). Heatset I just have to dig into, I doubt that the frame is damaged. Just needs to be replaced I bet.

Do Gatorskins prevent pinch flats? 99% of my flats are after hitting a pothole or a rock. I think only once have I gotten a flat from picking up a steel wire or road debris. I run my rear 28mm tire (which measures 25mm due to the rim, unfortunately) at 100psi and will still flat. Front is at 80psi and I've only had two front flats: one time from riding too fast over a rocky section of a trail (got a rear flat too for my foolishness) and the other time from hitting a pothole at speed (again, both tires went flat--but this one was hard enough to bend both rims).

 

[MRC01]

I'm more concerned about the bottom bracket being frozen in the frame. Rust and all. It's a pretty new bike so I'm 99.9% sure it's a sealed cartridge, not an old cup and cone setup (if was, I'd have taken it apart by now, those are easy to work on--certainly not as bad as my bike that has cotter pins!).

Sealed cartridges can sometimes still be serviced - depends on the model.

Do Gatorskins prevent pinch flats? 99% of my flats are after hitting a pothole or a rock. I think only once have I gotten a flat from picking up a steel wire or road debris.

A tougher tire won't help with pinch flats (snake-eyes).

I run my rear 28mm tire (which measures 25mm due to the rim, unfortunately) at 100psi and will still [pinch] flat.

Pinch flats on a 28 at 100 PSI? That takes a serious impact - those are big potholes, or you are a big guy, the tires or tubes are fragile, or some combination of these. For comparison, our tandem tires are 700x28 and I run them at 100 PSI. That's 300 # of us together plus a 40 # bike, with water & stuff call it 350 #.

 

[rijndael]

at 100psi and will still flat.

I wonder whether your gauge is accurate.

 

[supton]

Pinch flats on a 28 at 100 PSI? That takes a serious impact - those are big potholes, or you are a big guy, the tires or tubes are fragile, or some combination of these. For comparison, our tandem tires are 700x28 and I run them at 100 PSI. That's 300 # of us together plus a 40 # bike, with water & stuff call it 350 #.

Bike is pushing 30lb I think (fenders, rack) and I'm pushing 210 unfortunately. Was using Conti 4000's but now on 5000's. Conti "race" tubes, they sure feel thin and they sure are a pain to put patches onto.

I wonder whether your gauge is accurate.

Very possible, I have never thought to double check it--until now, of course. Whatever the readout is on my JoeBlow tire pump is. Guess I should find a gauge to check, although the small Topeak Morph road pump that I carry with me cannot get up past 90psi indicated, and I can tell that it's not as good, and usually take it easy on the road home.

I seem very good at finding where the pavement has sharp edges.

 

[MRC01]

... Conti "race" tubes, they sure feel thin and they sure are a pain to put patches onto.

That right there sounds like the problem. Try standard butyl tubes or latex (even better). Light butyl tubes are a recipe for disaster.

 

[supton]

That right there sounds like the problem. Try standard butyl tubes or latex (even better). Light butyl tubes are a recipe for disaster.

I'll take a look, but I somehow wound up on them. Cost or something.

I still think I need wider tires. I can tell when it's a solid hit.

 

[JimmyChainsaw]

Getting back to chain lubrication,do yourselves a favour and checkout Zero Friction Cycling.He is an Aussie who has done lots of research on wax chain lubes.He can talk the leg off an iron pot,but if you persevere,you will learn a lot.Another wax proponent is the Silca company.All my bikes are now wax lubed,MTB and Road.

 

[Number_35]

If you catch the chain wear before it gets too bad, you can reuse the cassette cluster for more than one chain. Wait too long, and you will need both a chain and cluster, increasing cost.

https://atbicycle.blogspot.com/2014/06/measuring-chain-wear-using-12-inch-ruler.html

View attachment 296866View attachment 296867

A friend who's more dedicated to bike maintenance than I am uses three chains - as soon as one gets to about 0.5% stretch, he installs a 2nd (new) chain until it also hits 0.5%. Then he installs a 3rd (new) chain, and goes back to the first one when the 3rd one hits 0.5%.

At some point, when the chains hit about 1%, the cassette is also worn out.

This sounds like a lot of work, but does let him get a lot more miles out of the cassette.

If the wear on the chain and the cassette is roughly equal, the chain is less prone to skipping.

I have put a new chain on a bike where the cassette looked perfect, and experienced skipping right away. When a chain is badly worn, the cassette usually is too.

 

[willbur]

Those are easy to service or replace, if you can find a part that fits. Vintage threaded headsets are still readily available though finding the right bottom bracket can be a crapshoot depending on the frame. Some of the older ones can be overhauled and put back into service if the balls & races are still smooth - of course you don't find that out until it's in pieces on your workbench.

As for flats, a couple of years ago I put Conti Gatorskin tires on my vintage bike from the 1980s and it hasn't gotten a flat since (of course now that I've said that...).

Those gatorskins are fantastic- no flats. But, really hard to uninstall/reinstall to put on new ones. Very tight clearances

 

[MRC01]

... I have put a new chain on a bike where the cassette looked perfect, and experienced skipping right away. When a chain is badly worn, the cassette usually is too.

Usually, if the chain skips due to chainring tooth wear, that wear is enough to be evident in visual inspection. Skipping can also be caused by low chain tension, common with old derailleurs whose springs have gotten tired.

 

[Number_35]

Usually, if the chain skips due to chainring tooth wear, that wear is enough to be evident in visual inspection. Skipping can also be caused by low chain tension, common with old derailleurs whose springs have gotten tired.

I should check that - both of our primary 3-season bikes are quite old, and likely still have the original rear derailleurs.

 

[MRC01]

A friend who's more dedicated to bike maintenance than I am uses three chains - as soon as one gets to about 0.5% stretch, he installs a 2nd (new) chain until it also hits 0.5%. Then he installs a 3rd (new) chain, and goes back to the first one when the 3rd one hits 0.5%.
At some point, when the chains hit about 1%, the cassette is also worn out.
This sounds like a lot of work, but does let him get a lot more miles out of the cassette.

Interesting notion to make the cassette & chain wear together. I've never tried that; I always replace the chain with new when it stretches to 0.5% (1/16" over 12 inches). I never reuse old chains. Over the years, my cassettes & chainrings last much longer than 4 chains.

Except...

Rear chainrings are usually steel because they are small. Front chainrings are usually aluminum because they are bigger, and thus spread the force over more teeth which means less wear. Yet over the past 10 years things have changed - we see huge rear cassettes having 40 or even 50+ tooth counts. And often made of aluminum because they are so big, while the smaller ones on the same cassette are steel. The worse case for wear is small chainrings made of aluminum, like the front chainring on my MTB which is a 30T. It only lasts for about 3 chains before it's toast.

 

[Rat407]

I use the Park chain tool. Change when it states it is worn. I put 5k a year on my bike and usually go 2k on a chain before it needs to be changed. Change cassette every other chain. For lube, I'm lazy and just use AMSOIL's chain lubricant. Seems to work for me. There is a lot of sand around here on the coast. Amazing how much crap is on my shins when I get done riding. Mine is an 11sp on a BMC road bike. Gatorskin's for the win for tires. Tried other brands and they seem to flat easier.

According to Strava, I have 30k on the bike and finally had to replace my brake rotors. I changed the pads once but after a while they started to make noise while braking and new pads and rotors fixed that. Being flat here, brakes don't get used hard. Also flushed the brake fluid, it was nasty black. I'm a slacker on maintenance when it comes to the bike. I should do better.