Newbie with steel parts... Is it worn out ?

[Nakiri]

Ok, silly question. I'm used to have aluminium cassete and chainrings... Now that I'm using steel parts, I'm a little lost here.
My lbs says that I should buy new cassete/chainring/chain. IMO it seems to be kinda ok... but I'm not sure.

What do you say about them ?
What I should be looking at to know it's time to change ?
Chain it pretty obvious, but are there differences to be looking at the cassete and chainring ? Thanks !!!!

 

[steve_sordy]

The ring has some slight burring, but the cassette looks fine to me. What you should be looking for are changes to the tooth profile, not how many scratches there are down the sides. Also look for burring on the sides of the tooth, which is tooth profile material displaced by the chain. It is a sign that the tooth profile has changed and before long the burrs will snag on the chain and interrupt smooth shifting.

I only have a few pics of worn teeth. This one is of the new and old ring on an mtb. For the avoidance of doubt, the old one is at the front! I continue to be astonished that this ring worked at all right up until all of a sudden it refused to work on a new chain. (I hang my head in shame!)

The one below clearly shows the typical "shark tooth" profile that comes from a well-worn ring, also note the burring. (Old at the front!) More head-hanging!

And don't forget the jockey wheels! Old one on the left! (Yet more head hanging!)
These jockey wheels are resin so they don't burr, they just wear away to Ninja throwing stars. The old ones still worked, but shifting was noticeably crisper with the new ones.

 

[Nakiri]

Yeah !!!
The first pic is what I'm used to see, even that missing tooth (lol). And the jockey wheels too !
Rounded borders, leaning to an arrow-ish shape.
But now I know what to be looking for in the steel gears... Thanks a lot !


By the way... The chain just got on 0.75... I was wondering about changing it.
Is it better to leave it until all is gone, or maybe the cassete accepts a new chain ?


Cheers !

 

[Nakiri]

Are the LBS busy ?

Looks fine to me
Do you have a chain wear tool ? there cheap and a nice indication of wear .

Probably not... lol

Yes, I do have a chain wear tool. Just got 0.75
I was thinking about just change the chain... but once the LBS said that I should replace all, I decided to wait until be sure on what is happening.

So, by the way it looks, there's no issue to replace only the chain ? Maybe also the chainring ?


Cheers !

 

[Mikerb]

A couple of additional points:-
1. If you just change the chain you may well experience some chain slip..........new chain on worn cassette syndrome. If you have worn the chain to 0.75% that is likely. So if all is working OK then I would leave it and wait until there are problems with slipping and then change cassette chain and chainring.

2. Yours is not..........but if you have a bike using SRAM Eagle Xsynch2 you will have some hooked shaped teeth on the cassette and chainring from new!! That is how it is designed so not a guide to wear and tear!!

 

[MrSimmo]

As others have said, if its shifting and riding ok, I’d leave it.

But it may be worth buying the parts and keeping them in storage as prices seem to still be rising rapidly. (A pg1150 cassette I paid £60 last year is now £120 new and still going up).