What is the life expectancy of a D-A10 chain?

[SpaceOdyssey]

I dropped my Concours off for a pre-PMC tune-up and the LBS wrench told me the chain is stretched and should be replaced.

The chain has between 800 and 1000 miles on it. Everything works fine, shifts OK, etc.

Is this BS or do these chains really wear out that fast?

Bruce

[tomwd3]

Less than 1000 miles seems short. I swapped out mine after about 1700, but had recently gone through a stretch of crummy weather and multipe rain race/rides. I just went by the fact that it's alot cheaper to swap out the chain, then to wear out a DA-10 cassette.
Tom

[znfdl]

Chain life is a function of how clean you keep your chain. Too Tall has been after me for years to keep my chain clean, as I would go through a Campy chain every 800-1200 miles. I now clean my chain religiously and even have an ultrasonic cleaner that the I use once or twice a month.

My current Campy has over 2000 miles on and still not streteched to the point that it needs to be replaced.

Also, you should get a chain checker tool, which will tell you when the chain has stretched and needs to be replaced. I use the Rohloff tool which is great.

[SpaceOdyssey]

Up until now, I have trusted the LBS wrench and probably still will. I agree chains are cheaper than cassettes, but the mileage seemed light to me.

Chain gets cleaned about every 300-400 miles and lubed about every 100-150 with Pedro's Extra dry or Ice Wax.

After picking up a rider on Wednesday's TT who broke a chain and ended up going over the bars as a result, I am going to replace it, I just was curious.

Bruce

[Fondrider]

First of all, chains don't stretch. The pins wear, causing elongation of the chain. The only real measure of when a chan needs to be replaced is when this wear reaches a certain point. The Park chain measuring tool has two calibrations, 0.75% and 1%. When the chain reaches the 1% point, it should be replaced. If you are real anal, then replace at 0.75%.

Replacing a chain at 1,000 miles seems absurd, particularly if it's kept reasonable clean and lubed.

I just replaced my Ultegra chain after about 6,500 miles becuase I hit the 1% level. I cleaned and lubed the chain about every 200-300 miles using a Park on-bike chain cleaner. I replaced the chain with a new one and it shifts beautifully, no skipping ect. Obviously, I didn't do damage to the cassette by going 6,500 miles before replacement.

[victoryfactory]

I have approx. 3000 miles on my first DA-10 chain
I clean it once a week with a finish line "fill it up
with degreaser, crank, get black spots all over your arm, shoes and
legs" device.
I then dry it and lube with Pro Link.

So far the chain shifts well, and is quiet.

VF

[Too Tall]

Dewd. Get a whipperman chain checking device. Your local wrench might be nearsighted. :rolleyes:

[Sandy]

I have been getting approximartely 5,000 miles or more per Dura-Ace 10 chain.


Sandy

[Skrawny]

Chain is equivalent to an air filter on a car.
Can't take the darn thing in for a tune-up without getting a new one!

Of course it is a lot cheaper than a campy cassette...
-s

[Marcusaurelius]

I dropped my Concours off for a pre-PMC tune-up and the LBS wrench told me the chain is stretched and should be replaced.

The chain has between 800 and 1000 miles on it. Everything works fine, shifts OK, etc.

Is this BS or do these chains really wear out that fast?

Bruce

If you ride in sunny, dry weather you can expect long chain life with regular maintenance; winter weather with moonsoon rain will cut your chain life in half even with regular cleaning.

[Dave]

The problem with the Park tool and most others that bear against a roller at each end is that (1) they measure over a short length and (2) they add roller displacement (wear) to the reading.

I've used a campy 10 chain for 6000 miles and only had 1/4 of the allowable 1/16" per foot elongation. At this point, the rollers were very worn, with the distance between rollers increasing from the original .210 to .240 inch.

A tool that measure over only 5.7 inches is trying to measure a .030 inch elongation. My measurements have proven that the roller displacement may be larger than the elongation over this short length, making the reading quite incorrect.

I've personally decided that once the rollers measure .240 apart, I'm pitching the chain, even if the elongation is minimal. If yu disassemble a chain wiht his much roller wear, you'll find the OD of the roller worn around .005 inch and the inside diameter worn perhaps twice as much, with some seriously deep grooves worn into it.

[Fondrider]

Dave-

Good points. However, how would the average person measure the distance between rollers?

If I'm interpreting what you are saying correctly, the Park tool overestimates wear and may indicate the need for replacement before it's really needed?

It seems to me that using the Park tool is a reasonable and easy quantitiative way of determining when chain replacement is warrented, albeit perhaps not the perfect way.

Bottom line, it's likely that most riders replace chains way too often based on erroneous information they've read or heard from their bike mechanic. Particularly road riders who are likely much less abusive to their chains than mountain bike riders.

[sg8357]

Dave-

Good points. However, how would the average person measure the distance between rollers?snip.

As in all things cycling try St. Sheldon Brown.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

scroll to the bottom, explains how to use a ruler to check chain wear.

Scott G.

[Dave]

As in all things cycling try St. Sheldon Brown.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

scroll to the bottom, explains how to use a ruler to check chain wear.

Scott G.

Using a 12" scale, all you do is lay the end of the scale on the edge of a pin. When the chain is new, the opposite end of the scale will cover a pin completely. As wear increases, the pin that was covered will begin to show from under the scale. The elongation is at the maximum just before the 1/2 of this pin is exposed, since the pins are about .140 inch in diameter.

Checking roller displacement is tougher. Calipers may do an adequate if the tips for measuring IDs are shaped so they're small enough to get to the center of the roller. Many are not. Perhaps a better way would be to constuct you own gage from a 15/64" or 6mm drill bit. The end that goes into the drill is soft enough to file down. File two flats opposite one another until the width is narrow enough to fit between inner plates (about.080 inch). If that pin will slip between the rollers, they are shot, IMO.

[Keith Lewis]

Rather than a function of dirt the wear on most chains comes from a poor lubricant. Some of the wax type of lubes do not perform any better than tap water on my friction and wear test equipment. Get a quality petroleum or petroleum based synthetic lubricant and the wear will be considerably less. Just because a chain lubricant looks clean on the chain does not mean that it is protecting it from wear.

[saab2000]

You people change chains?

When disassembling my Strong for sale (in the classifieds..... :D ) I removed the Campagnolo chain. I will ultimately replace it with a new Record chain.

I put on the new Record on my Serotta and the shifting is better and it runs quieter and smoother than before. The chain is some microscopic amount narrower and is now nearly D/A smooth. There is no vibration at all from the drivetrain.

Anyway, I keep mine clean and don't' change them at a regular interval. Just when it seems prudent. But high level chains and cassettes are spendy.

FWIW, I once new a guy who did all his riding on Campagnolo aluminum freewheels. Talk about spendy. Couple hundred bucks, even back then 20 years ago I think.

[RPS]

Chain life is also affected by load and alignment, so quantifying wear strictly by mileage can be misleading. A strong rider doing hills will wear a chain out way faster than a recreational rider who mainly rides on the flats at a fraction of the power input. Chain misalignment also affects chain life due to the extra stress on the pins, so riding with the chain crossed most of the time as is so typical with compact cranks will wear it out much faster than if perfectly straight. I have just over 10,000 miles on an Ultegra chain and it is fine, but I mostly ride in a flat-as-a-pancake area with my chain mostly in the 42-15 ratio (Ultegra triple with an 11-21 cassette) which is right down the middle. A quick cleaning and lube before every ride hasn't hurt either.

[gone]

Chain life is also affected by load and alignment, so quantifying wear strictly by mileage can be misleading.
I definitely agree with this. My maintenance routine is always the same: wipe the chain after every ride and clean/lube every 3rd ride. During a month with 1400 miles including 5-10k of climbing per day, all at a pretty hard pace the chain is worn out (100% wear as indicated by the Park chain checker) at the end of the month. During an easy period where I'm not going that hard and not doing a lot of climbing I've had them last 5000 miles. This is definitely a case of YMMV.