Your Mileage May Vary

[verbs4us]

In the bike shop the other day for some minor drivetrain issues and the mechanic shook his head. “1300 miles is pretty much what you can expect for the life of a freehub, chainring and chain…”

Really? I don’t ride in sand or dirt. I wipe the chain after each ride; use NFS judiciously; ride in the rain only when caught.

The chain doesn’t skip—but it does sometimes unship from the big chain ring on washboard roads, so the rings are probably worn.

Sure, if I want ideal performance, the whole drivetrain gets a refresh. But it seems excessive, to my Crash of ’29 mentality. What’s your rule of thumb?

[dave thompson]

I’d say the chain could be done within 1300 miles, depending on conditions, but a freehub and chainring? I suspect the mechanic is inexperienced, trying to sell you something, doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. Pick two.

[NYCfixie]

Go see Justin@Signature and I am sure he will help you out.

In the bike shop the other day for some minor drivetrain issues and the mechanic shook his head. “1300 miles is pretty much what you can expect for the life of a freehub, chainring and chain…”

Really? I don’t ride in sand or dirt. I wipe the chain after each ride; use NFS judiciously; ride in the rain only when caught.

The chain doesn’t skip—but it does sometimes unship from the big chain ring on washboard roads, so the rings are probably worn.

Sure, if I want ideal performance, the whole drivetrain gets a refresh. But it seems excessive, to my Crash of ’29 mentality. What’s your rule of thumb?

[Seramount]

ride in the same conditions as you, wipe and lube religiously...

my current DA 7800 chain rings have 28K miles, the KMC chain currently has 5500 miles, and the DA cassette has 11K.

shifting is flawless.

your mechanic sounds like more of a salesman...

[verbs4us]

Go see Justin@Signature and I am sure he will help you out.


Justin is no longer at Signature.

[stien]

I thought chain slipping off big ring was more of a fd setup thing.

[Big Dan]

Crazy talk.

[NYCfixie]

Justin is no longer at Signature.

Then go to his new place after 7/1 (assuming you can wait that long).

[oldpotatoe]

In the bike shop the other day for some minor drivetrain issues and the mechanic shook his head. “1300 miles is pretty much what you can expect for the life of a freehub, chainring and chain…”

Really? I don’t ride in sand or dirt. I wipe the chain after each ride; use NFS judiciously; ride in the rain only when caught.

The chain doesn’t skip—but it does sometimes unship from the big chain ring on washboard roads, so the rings are probably worn.

Sure, if I want ideal performance, the whole drivetrain gets a refresh. But it seems excessive, to my Crash of ’29 mentality. What’s your rule of thumb?

Use a ruler or chain checker(rohloff) for chain wear. No way CRs and freehub toasted after only 1300 miles. Chain coming off on bumpy roads? Sorry, nothing you can do about that except a clutch rear der. It sure isn’t because the CRs are worn out. LBS fail.

[zzy]

NYC wrenches are (heavily) pressured to upsell parts to you, so they often assume that if you'll pay $200 for a tuneup, maybe you'll pay another $250 for parts. All part of the game.

[Bob Ross]

Justin is no longer at Signature.

Wait, what?

Someone's got some 'splainin to do! Beanspill, anybody!

[Matthew]

Yeah that dude is nuts. If stuff wore out that fast I couldn't afford to ride.

[verbs4us]

I’d say the chain could be done within 1300 miles, depending on conditions, but a freehub and chainring? I suspect the mechanic is inexperienced, trying to sell you something, doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. Pick two.

Dave, back in the day (and I mean when high-end meant Regina Oro five-speed cluster with a Regina chain) chain skip could usually be fixed with a new chain, but the worn cogs would accelerate the wear of the new chain. Where the first chain could go 10k miles, the second one went maybe 7k miles. At $9/chain, this was lawn-mowing money, so within reach. Front shifting got messier as the chain rings wore. But I never threw a chain on washboard until the modern generation stuff. Doe free hubs today wear faster than old clusters, which weighed the same as my dad's Oldsmobile?

[m4rk540]

I

Sure, if I want ideal performance, the whole drivetrain gets a refresh. But it seems excessive, to my Crash of ’29 mentality. What’s your rule of thumb?

Crash of '29 frugality but you're rocking a WI crankset?

[chris8382]

As others have said, seems like a sell, not a repair. My solution to this is to do all the work myself; then you don't have to put up with being a marketing target.

[charliedid]

Wait, what?

Someone's got some 'splainin to do! Beanspill, anybody!

Here ya go

https://www.instagram.com/blackoakvelo/

[Red Tornado]

.

[palincss]

No way CRs and freehub toasted after only 1300 miles. Chain coming off on bumpy roads? Sorry, nothing you can do about that except a clutch rear der. It sure isn’t because the CRs are worn out. LBS fail.

Actually, I was in a bike shop one time when a mechanic said that to their customer. My initial reaction was "No way!" too' but yes, the chain rings were worn out, and so was the cassette. This was a severe case of zero maintenance and bad environmental conditions: rust, crud, dirt, bike parked outside in the rain all the time, never cleaned: everything bad you could think of was present here.

I don't know about the freehub, though. I guess maybe down at the bottom end there may be some hubs that are so poorly made they're worn out in that amount of mileage, given severe neglect etc. -- the sort of parts you'll find on those "bicycle shaped objects" sold in big box stores.

But certainly nothing anyone here would ever experience!

[dddd]

Did the guy who said "freehub" perhaps mean "cassette"?

Did "1300 miles" really mean 13k miles?

I'm looking at the photo and wondering how a bike with 1300 miles on it has an already-worn aftermarket chainring, so I am thinking there is much I am missing here.

That big chainring looked to have about 10k miles on it to my eye.

[rain dogs]

I always thought washboard roads were dirt roads/gravel roads.

Where I'm from they sure are. The only place I've ridden asphalt roads that have patterned ridges was in poorer parts of Central America, and even it wasn't so bad to call them washboard.

Oh, and 1300miles... that's crazy unless you're on a pro tour team. Also, I agree with above, rings look to have more than 1300miles.

[adrien]

And chance there's a bent tooth on the chainring?

[verbs4us]

Possibly a bent tooth. I need to look more carefully. Yes--washboard on the bike path in NYC along the Hudson, which in places is a developing country judging from the path condition. Yes, I bought WI thinking it would live long and prosper. And so far, the old Campy rings wore better.