Dura Ace chain life

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ParisCarbon
Posts: 1918
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:39 am
Location: Winnipeg Canada

by ParisCarbon

Is about 2500-3000km normal life for a DA chain? Using an 11-23 block (Im a flat land prairie chicken) Noticed last few rides doesn't want to drop from the 18 to 17 cog which are common gears I ride... also hangs on 12-11 down shift... measured chain lastnite and its a good 1/8 stretch... hoping cassette is OK... Ive noticed compared to my old Campy Rec 11 chain , these DA chains get about 1/3 the lifespan if Im lucky!

by Weenie


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MoreRideTime
Posts: 128
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:09 pm
Location: Canada

by MoreRideTime

I think I get about 4000-4500km from Dura Ace chains. However, my driveline is kept very clean. My riding buddies call me OCD about it. haha

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

Chain life span is rider dependent. Also saying you get X miles from a chain is meaningless as what condition is the cassette in. I have never had a cassette that has survived 5000km on one chain.

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TonyM
Posts: 3376
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:11 pm

by TonyM

It really depends on so many factors like weather, gearing, watts, cleaning etc.....from 1000 to 5000km I would guess

ParisCarbon
Posts: 1918
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:39 am
Location: Winnipeg Canada

by ParisCarbon

Chain isn't stretched.. did some RD Hangar tweaking.. seems to be better... I dunno how many times Ive had that RDH tweaked.. seems to never stay put...

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Calnago
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by Calnago

Get a new one. With each bend they get weaker.
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alcatraz
Posts: 4064
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:19 am

by alcatraz

If it's noisy in general just replace it. I've had very noisy chains that don't make the wear indicators go off, and the right choice was to replace it.

I do the paraffin wax treatments. If I do them relatively often I can get chains that last 5-6000km without stretching much. They do get noisy though. It's nice to know though that I'm not screwing up my expensive cassettes and chainrings with chains often on their stretch limit.

fromtrektocolnago
Posts: 1145
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2013 10:15 pm

by fromtrektocolnago

i think it all depends on usage patters, how a person shifts and the pedaling style, grinder, masher, spinner etc. i tend to climb a fair bit and i'll get from 2-5k depending if i'm trying to save my rear cassette from being replaced sooner. one thing although i rid dura ace, i us ultegra casettes and chains to save money, reduce wear and possibly improve performance.
Colnago C-59 (Dura Ace)
Firefly(Ultegra)
Colnago C-64 disc(ultegra) with Bora 35 wheels

by Weenie


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NickJHP
Posts: 462
Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:22 am
Location: Canberra, Australia

by NickJHP

My wife, who's a lightweight not particularly powerful cyclist, gets over 15000km out of the Shimano chains she uses. I replace the chains when 24 links measure 12-1/16" (i.e. 0.5% elongation), which happens at intervals of a bit over a year, and she rides about 15000km/year, nearly all on one bike. I notice that on my bikes with mudguards, I get about the same sort of chain life as she does; on bikes without mudguards I have to replace the chains at about half that distance. This accords with what I notice when I clean and relubricate the chains, which is usually weekly - mudguards, particularly those with mudflaps, keep the chains a lot cleaner.

I normally buy XT/Ultegra level chains - on the chain test done by Tour magazine a few years ago, the Dura-Ace/XTR chains lasted no better than the cheaper Shimano chains.

Nick

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