Cheap chain wear indicators - accurate?

[fogman]

Yes it is.


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[HaakonJohansen]

I do have a vernier caliper. How do I use it to measure chain wear? How many links do I measure, and what is the length of this number of links, before any stretch (in mm)? I can easily calculate the relative stretch of course. Just wondering what my reference length should be;)

[Nefarious86]

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

[HaakonJohansen]

Thanks. I found another guide though, as my calliper isn't nearly long enough for those measurements. According to my measurements, my chain is still good as new, like I expected, as I haven't really ridden it too far. I'm gonna try out an oval Garbaruk ring though, and I'm wondering if using my current chain will be fine? As it almost hasn't stretched at all, according to the guide in the link. Or should I change it anyway?

PS. I'm riding XC btw, and the original RF ring isn't ridden more than the chain. In case this should affect the answer in any way.

[Nefarious86]

Just use the existing chain

[HaakonJohansen]

Just use the existing chain

Thanks! Just what I was hoping to hear;)

[MikeDee]

The chain wear indicators that push the rollers in opposite directions are crap, as there is no standard for roller clearance as there is for pin to pin distance.

[TwiggyTN]

But wait, aren't the rollers what is actually contacting the cogs? They're width is part of the stretch equation too no?

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[RyanH]

The Shimano one is pretty much the only one that measures it accurately and takes into account the rollers. Buy once, cry once and have a tool that will last until the standard is changed or you die.

Shimano TL-CN41

http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-004/000.html


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[MikeDee]

The Shimano one is pretty much the only one that measures it accurately and takes into account the rollers. Buy once, cry once and have a tool that will last until the standard is changed or you die.

Shimano TL-CN41

http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-004/000.html


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I have the Speedtech CW-1089. Pardo is wrong about it not being accurate because you line up two holes at opposite ends of the tool with the chain pins.

[MikeDee]

But wait, aren't the rollers what is actually contacting the cogs? They're width is part of the stretch equation too no?

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No because the rollers wear at the same rate and thus the chain pitch doesn't change.

[Calnago]

Interesting. As primarily a Campy user I've always used the guidelines provided by Campy and that is, when using a good digital Vernier caliper, the distance reaches 132.60mm, it is a good idea to replace the chain. I can generally notice a degradation of performance at that point, but it is certainly still useable for a while longer. Using a couple other chain measurement tools for quick and dirty measurements (park tool CC-3.2 for example) this corresponds to probably slightly less than the 0.5 wear indicator. So, in other words, if using the Park Tool CC-3.2 as a gauge, and it indicates the 0.5 wear mark, then it is already at or past Campy's guidelines for replacement.
For me personally, I find that one cassette will last for two chains. I am a bigger guy and try to keep up with the little guys on hills. I can't, but my stuff wears out faster because of it. And I like it to be performing optimally. Now that I have so many different wheels and cassettes floating around, it's almost impossible for me to tell which cassette has been used for how long with which chain. So, at some point I know I'll be putting on a worn out cassette somewhere inadvertently and if it skips, I will toss it. I need to learn to toss cassettes out immediately when I've replaced them because they're worn, instead of cleaning and saving the cogs for some artsy project that I've yet to ever get around to doing. A mechanic friend made a cool looking little "Christmas Tree" out of old cogs and chain rings, so I guess I've always wanted to try that at some point.
Individuals wear chains differently. Different riders use certain cogs more than others, and especially if they use the small cogs a lot, these wear faster and a new chain will most certainly skip on these smaller cogs quite easily if it's worn. Unfortunately, despite my efforts in trying to teach myself to diagnose a worn cassette by sight, I just can't say I can do that. I have totally cleaned a worn cassette and laid out every cog next to brand new cogs and still couldn't say for certain which ones are totally worn out and which are not, except for obvious wear marks from the chain rubbing on teeth, which just means it's used, not worn out.
So, if you want to just ride a chain and cogset to the ground, and never ever replace it until it basically falls off, then it's surprising how long you can ride a system like that, when everything is wearing together. But if you have different wheels, different cassettes, and different cranks that you tend to mix and match depending on the day or terrain, then it's best to keep everything maintained properly. Nothing worse than throwing a wheel on a bike with a relatively new chain only to find out that it's skipping so bad you can't even use it, especially if you were in a rush and already out on your favorite group ride or whatever.

[TwiggyTN]

Interesting article, that's for the information. Good stuff. [emoji106]

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[RyanH]

@cal, how many miles are you replacing your chains at? For a SRAM drivetrain, I'm replacing chains around 1500-2K miles. I'd estimate that I get upwards of 10K miles on a Red cassette.

[Calnago]

Sheesh, that's a good question but I quit trying to go by mileage long ago. Since so many other things other than miles are at play. But I'd guess around 1000-1200 miles maybe per chain. And the cassette issue is really a crapshoot for me because now I have so many wheels and even loose cassettes floating around that I don't know which ones are worn out and which are almost new. But I did keep track for a while and figure that one cassette can be pretty much relied upon for two chains worth of use. After that it's subpar performance and maybe even skipping. Chainrings last a long time for me, perhaps because I don't let things get so worn.
I've been looking forward to this "garage" feature in the new campy app (if they ever release it) since it supposedly has a feature where you can keep track of this stuff. Whether I'll do it or not remains to be seen.