Road Cycling

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It really doesn't seem worth spending more than £15-20 on a chain unless you hardly ride your bike, because by the time it rusts you'll have worn it out anyway. It's also really not worth spending money to save 10g on an "Extra light" chain unless you're mental.
 
Vonhelmet said:
It really doesn't seem worth spending more than £15-20 on a chain unless you hardly ride your bike, because by the time it rusts you'll have worn it out anyway. It's also really not worth spending money to save 10g on an "Extra light" chain unless you're mental.
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Couldn't agree more.
 
Vonhelmet said:
It really doesn't seem worth spending more than £15-20 on a chain unless you hardly ride your bike, because by the time it rusts you'll have worn it out anyway. It's also really not worth spending money to save 10g on an "Extra light" chain unless you're mental.
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This. I spend a bit more on my TT bike, but for my day to day bikes just use a nice cheap thing that'll be replaced, Riding like 6000 miles a year between my two main bikes. I've never split a chain before, and don't see the point in losing 10g. Picked up my SRAM chains for £14.35 this time around and have a spare now in place. Slowly working my way to being 11sp everything!
 
I broke a series of chains in quick succession a few years ago. Until I finally noticed that there was a screw that had got lodged in my casette, and I didn't see it earlier because it was covered in black drivetrain gunk. Expensive mistake.
 
My experience of chain checkers is they tell you to replace a chain way before its time. Provided you keep the chain reasonably clean I'd happily run it until the shifting quality noticeably degrades or it becomes noisy. I know this will allegedly eat your cassette but I probably replace my main bike's chain every 12 months and cassette less often than that.

I regularly swap rear wheels among my bikes and don't have any shifting issues there either.
 
True /re chain checkers. I do tend to replace my chains a little quicker than I need to at the 1500-2000 mile mark but I've been burnt in the past by being lazy about it I guess :)

I can't say I've noticed any difference between all the major brands. I tend to get whatever 11 speed is cheapest out of KMC/SRAM/Shimano/etc.
 
Saytan said:
Do you lubricate your chains with grinding paste? 900 miles is absurdly low.
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I just use the tears of other riders combined with black road gravy which accumulates for free! :p

Finish line, currently the wet weather ceramic as the green was out of stock when I last ordered any.
Vonhelmet said:
Yep, KMC chains are fine. I'd expect Shimano chains to be similarly fine, given they're just rebadged KMC ones without the decent split links.
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The Shimano HG701 didn't come with any split links, just a pin... I used a spare SRAM QL.
Saytan said:
KMC here too. I get circa 2500-3000 on my commuter/winter bike, which I seldom lubricate or maintain at all.
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Madness, I'll admit I ride all weathers, have dirty gritty roads and don't usually wipe my chain down more than once a week (& relube). But should I really be getting more than half the miles you guys are?! I hardly use my little ring when commuting (no real hills) and can be quite bad at running Big/Big when stuck in traffic... But that is 2.5X the wear?!
Vonhelmet said:
It really doesn't seem worth spending more than £15-20 on a chain
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Exactly why I got this Shimano to try... Basically £16 chain for ~900 miles or a ~£30 SRAM chain for ~1200 miles. :rolleyes:
SoliD said:
Picked up my SRAM chains for £14.35 this time around and have a spare now in place. Slowly working my way to being 11sp everything!
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Which SRAM are they? After the silky smooth X1 11 I really wanna try some of the 'lesser' SRAM!

And that Felt sounds like an ok deal, it's a great frame and I think one some of the smaller riders use? Think mentioned it fits smaller wheels? Although they brand it as a Triathlon frame, any real difference? :cool:
 
Seriously, everyone is telling you this, you are doing something very badly wrong if you are only getting 900 miles out of a chain. My guess is you're just changing them way before they need changing, for some reason. I doubt they're actually worn out at that point.
 
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Vonhelmet said:
Seriously, everyone is telling you this, you are doing something very badly wrong if you are only getting 900 miles out of a chain. My guess is you're just changing them way before they need changing, for some reason. I doubt they're actually worn out at that point.
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I guess I am, but that does mean the park tool chain checker I purchased is very wrong... Worth getting another? :o

My front chainring is what I would call fairly 'worn' but my cassettes don't show much wear, is that normal for 4000 miles?

I'll take a pic over the weekend :p
 
I doubt your chainring is "worn" in any meaningful sense of the word. Those things can last tens of thousands of miles. Just because the anodised finish has come off doesn't mean it's actually appreciably worn.
 
As for that Planet X seat post, I think "branded" is a stretch. I think Selcof is one of Planet X's pet brands that they've bought up cheap and resurrected to get some cred, much like the Holdsworth frames they sell. So yes, it probably is Chinese carbon, just with what was probably once a fancy name written on the side.
 
Vonhelmet said:
As for that Planet X seat post, I think "branded" is a stretch. I think Selcof is one of Planet X's pet brands that they've bought up cheap and resurrected to get some cred, much like the Holdsworth frames they sell. So yes, it probably is Chinese carbon, just with what was probably once a fancy name written on the side.
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It's 'branded' in that it is sold by a legitimate seller and if it breaks you have some comeback. The actual brand name doesn't mean anything, it's the backing of the seller which makes it a good deal.
 
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