chain wear

Most people do not replace their chain often enough and this leads to the gears not shifting correctly and excessive wear on the chainrings and cassette. Chain wear is affected by a few things, riding conditions, riding style(masher vs spinner) and shifting technique. When the conditions are wet the chain is going to wear out faster due to the dirt that gets in the rollers of the chain, wet weather also tends to wash the lube off of the chain much faster. If you are the type of rider that tends to ride at a low cadence then you are going to wear the chain faster than someone who rides at a higher cadence. The last major thing that affects wear is shifting technique. If you tend to crosschain a lot(riding in big ring, big cassette cog or small ring, small cassette cog) then you will put more wear on the chain and also the chainrings. The easiest way to check for chain wear at home is to measure 12 links of your chain. A new chain measures 12 inches and anything over 12 1/16 is too long. There is a tool that measures it quickly and costs less than 10 dollars, but a ruler works just fine. You should expect to get anywhere from 1500 to 2500 miles out of a 10speed chain and about 500 more out of a 9 speed chain. If you take very good care of it and keep it clean and make sure to shift correctly and try to ride at a higher cadence you can help the chain to last a lot longer.

chain wear