How long does your chain last?

aerodiamond

aerodiamond

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I get about a year out of a chain (1500 miles).
I ride on sandy mud greensand bridleways. Seems a short life to me what does anyone else get?

Nigel
 
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I'm now on my third chain after one year's use (3000km).
I mounted the second one at 1000km and the second one after approx 2500km
 
It would be worth mentioning which chain and gear system you are using.
I have a Sram 12-speed and the chain is X0. It lasts about 4000 km.
 
Replace my Shimano XTR (CN-M9100) chains 1,000 miles, replace wife's 600 miles (also XTR chain), when wear Park Tool >0.5. I back off on gear changes, she doesn't. South Downs chalk dust/mud/flint fragments ...
 
what chain, what system, how are you determining when a chain is done?

On SRAM Eagle AXS GX , GX chain I change at 0.5% wear which is usually about 500 miles. Yet to see what GX T Type AXS with GX flat top chain delivers.
n.b measuring 0.5% wear needs to be done at several different sections of chain....they do not wear evenly.....it also needs to be done with the chain on the largest cassette cog to put most tension on the chain.
 
I use Shimano 12 speed, tried 6100 (oem) 7100 and now 8100 chain.
Replace at approx 0.5-0.6% wear as measured by Unior tool
 
Shimano 12 speed 6100 Deore chain on 85nM EP6 and Deore Cassette. Cassette creaking under high load starts at about 700km. Checked with Park Tool Gauge. 0.5 goes in. 0.75 does not. So wear is somewhere between those 2 marks.

I could get more km out of the chain. But it means the cassette will wear quicker. Chain is AUD$30. Cassette is AUD$120. It's a no brainer. Just change the chain when the 0.5 wear gauge goes in. Which is 700km. Change cassette every 4-5 chains.

BTW. I am currently building a new rear wheel to fit an 11 speed Linkglide transmission. This is mostly to get additional life out of chains and cassettes. Shimano say 3 times more life. We'll see.
 
Shimano XT 12 spd. CN8100 chain replaced at 1500 miles (about half that on road) currently on CN7100 chain its done 400 miles and haven't checked wear yet.
 
Last chain was an X01 T-Type on a new drivetrain. It was barely showing 0.5% at 1,077 miles, so I replaced it.
 
all depends on conditions, I've changed mine XT 11s chain after ~3000km (the chain and Sunrace cassette) and they're still working fine.
however i ride in dry conditions with wax.
I guess in UK winter it wouldn't survive 1k.
 
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Cheap fake shimano from aliexpress, change when wears to 0,75, that means 4-5 times a year. Less than 1.000 km average on a chain.
 
On mtbs, I used to average 550 miles on 8-speed, 9-speed and 10-speed. I used to buy the cheapest chains I could find. They never lasted any longer than the originnal equipment. Then I bought a 12-speed bike with a Sram Eagle transmission. The chain was XX1 on a XG 1295v cassette and a SRAM XSYNC ring. I sold that bike with over 1420 miles on it and it had only 0.25% measurable "stretch" on it.

I had similar results with an 11-speed emtb. The Shimano chain broke at over 1700 miles with only 0.4% "stretch". The replacement chain was a Sram PC-1130. It managed over 1370 miles at 0.5% "stretch before I sold the bike.

My current ebike has had several 12-speed snapped chains all when the XT mechs snapped. The XT chains and XT transmission all were lasting well right up to the mech breaks. Whenever I measured the chains, they were all very low wear for the miles.

The conclusion I came to was that more expensive chains are worth the money. They don't rust and last ages. Because they wear well, they don't transmit wear to the running gears.
 
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I got 600 miles from the original SLX 12sp. 1200 from an XT. Between them, they wore out the SLX cassette.

This is on an Orbea Rise ridden week in, week out regardless of weather and/ or conditions.

The XT chain saw me though winter in the UK riding in Surrey and the Peak District which are either dry and gritty or wet and gritty. I use Putoline hot wax, rarely clean the bike and sometimes forget to redo the wax. It's painful having to listen to the creaking and squeaking of a dry chain that starts 3 miles into a 40 mile ride. Still, there's always plenty of puddles and stream crossings to lube everything up with gritty water.

Ive now got an XTR chain that I fitted with a new XT cassette and I'm hoping for good things. I'm also going to make a point of redoing the wax more often. I still have no intention of cleaning the bike though.

Chain gets dunking in boiled water and jiggled about a bit. A quick scrub and rinsed under running water and then chucked into a pool of molten wax. No degreasing. No solvents. No painstakingly dripping a drop of something onto every roller and having to wipe it all down afterwards. Best thing ever!
 
Maybe try out the XT Linkglide system?
Don’t know if its better than for example XTR hyperglide.

But the ads say so.
 
HeyHey said:
Maybe try out the XT Linkglide system?
Don’t know if its better than for example XTR hyperglide.

But the ads say so.
Click to expand...
try the 10 speed as the 11 speed is 50% more expensive 👍

the m5130 10 speed derailleur works well with 11-48 casette (specs says only 43t max)
 
Shimano CN-M6100 12 speed on two ebikes - ~2000km each. Close to 0.5% stretch, still could be used but I replaced them.
 
aerodiamond said:
I get about a year out of a chain (1500 miles).
I ride on sandy mud greensand bridleways. Seems a short life to me what does anyone else get?

Nigel
Click to expand...
Give my back teeth for a chain to last that long ( they're getting taken out in a few weeks if anyone wants them) I get half I reckon.
 
Binhill1 said:
Give my back teeth for a chain to last that long ( they're getting taken out in a few weeks if anyone wants them) I get half I reckon.
Click to expand...
What chains do you buy, and how many miles in what terrain? That does seem to be excessive rate of wear. Even riding on sandy soil that is very wet in the wet season (like grinding paste) I still got an average of 550 miles.

PS: I used to buy the cheapest chains I could find that were (allegedly) by Shimano or Sram.
 
steve_sordy said:
What chains do you buy, and how many miles in what terrain? That does seem to be excessive rate of wear. Even riding on sandy soil that is very wet in the wet season (like grinding paste) I still got an average of 550 miles.

PS: I used to buy the cheapest chains I could find that were (allegedly) by Shimano or Sram.
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I would use one every 6 months so about 1000 miles a chain . Plenty mud and water it's not often I get more than 3 rides without washing even in summer. I would be buying good quality XT or Sram chains I have a mate in the trade so reasonable priced. I'm not too fussy regarding cleaning to be honest soapy water then 3 in one oil . Probably using 2 cassettes a year as well.
 
If you're getting them cheap, buy 3x XT chains and some decent lube. Swap the chain every ride for a clean, freshly lubed one. Then clean the one you've taken off.

Seems like faff but it'll make everything last a long time.

The cassettes are dying because the chain wears and kills them off.

Rotating the chains means they all wear at the same rate so won't skip like a new chain on a worn cassette.
 
theremotejuggernaut said:
If you're getting them cheap, buy 3x XT chains and some decent lube. Swap the chain every ride for a clean, freshly lubed one. Then clean the one you've taken off.

Seems like faff but it'll make everything last a long time.

The cassettes are dying because the chain wears and kills them off.

Rotating the chains means they all wear at the same rate so won't skip like a new chain on a worn cassette.
Click to expand...
Yes just laziness I certainly have the time . Give it a go . I don't really record how often I change things .
 
There's probably too many factors (conditions, shifting style, cleaning philosophy, etc.) for a concrete number, but as a rule of thumb I'd say around 1.5 to 2 tkm for eMTB.

Couple observations:
Ebikes with mid motors have more stress on the chain than a analogue bike
Chains are cheaper than cassettes, so it's worth replacing chains in time.

My last chain (standard shimano) was about 1.5 tkm if I remember correctly. Current chain from March is a KMC DLC which so far is showing no wear but my summer this year didn't happen due to injury, and I want to see what it looks like after winter before making a final conclusion. Suitability of KMC DLC chains
 
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