What's the sweet spot for 11s cassettes and chains?

[djg21]

Originally Posted by josephr

chain-rings are wear items too....last time I had to change chain-rings, it was about 10-12k miles...and 105 chain-rings run just fine that long...just taking a stab at the math, cassette is $50, chain is $25, and chainrings are another $125 for a total of $350 for 12k miles? Maybe extend your chain-ring life for another 5k miles by switching out a chain sooner, but its not like we're talking mortgage payment sized money here. Just ride.

What ever works for you. Chainrings do not wear as fast so long as you don’t use a worn chain. I get far more that 10-12k miles out of mine. I can get that much life out of my cassettes. And chainrings on my bike cost more that $125 to replace. In fact, that’s about the cost for a single chainring. I’ll leave the math to you.

[flying]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

The side plates don't actually 'stretch', the rollers wear out which means on a new chain, not as many cogs are engaged=skip. I'd bet a 'new ' chain would skip but not with an old chain and old cogset

That seems logical to my mind.
Still though if accurate then Campagnolo's way of measuring chain
wear/stretch may be faulty (pic below)
Which is what I use with my dial caliper & my old chain measures 5.19" or 131.82mm?


But as to your bet...I did run the new chain today on my same cogset, no skips at all & perfect function. I will say it was a wee bit quieter & perhaps shifted a hair better than the old chain...mostly noticed on small to big ring front changes.

Lastly I had my mileage on the last chain wrong. I forgot I spent two months out of country on a different bike so subtracting those miles this Campy Chain had 9,552 miles on it

[Smitty2k1]

Thanks for the advice everyone - went with a 105 level cassette ($45) and chain ($25) from REI along with a super casual REI brand jersey for $30 (https://www.rei.com/product/147792/r...ng-jersey-mens)

[dziekiel]

Hmmmmm...methinks I should be checking tolerances more frequently, based on the discussions here...

[philhan89]

buy a chain checker, great tool and wont break the bank.with the first mis step in shifting, i get home check chain, if its lutside the tolerance, i trash and replace. the cleaner your chain the better life to everything. +1 on the frequent wipe off and lube. once a month i totally degrease. i like pedros cleaning products for drivetrain. eco friendly and dont suck.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by flying

That seems logical to my mind.
Still though if accurate then Campagnolo's way of measuring chain
wear/stretch may be faulty (pic below)
Which is what I use with my dial caliper & my old chain measures 5.19" or 131.82mm?

No, if you look closely, it is measuring roller wear as the distance measured is from one roller to another, not pin to pin..

[flying]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

No, if you look closely, it is measuring roller wear as the distance measured is from one roller to another, not pin to pin..

Yes sure I realize my dial calipers are on the rollers
But,
If it is just roller wear I wonder why they don't just instruct to measure a few random rollers

In any case they have been around long enough & probably have their reasons