Sunday, March 01, 2020

Chain Wear

It has been a rough old winter, and the more exposed components of the bike will have taken a bit of a beating.  I've been checking mine over this morning, and have remembered a handy trick for measuring chain wear.


Take a 12" ruler and place it against the chain, measuring the centre of a rivet to the centre of a rivet.  With a new chain, this will be exactly 12".  Acceptable wear on this length of chain is 1/16th";  the chain should be replaced if the wear is 1/8th" or more.  This works with 9, 10 and 11 speed chains. It's quite easy to see, and no special tools are needed.

If a new chain is needed, pop on a new cassette at the same time and your world will be a better place.

Mark



1 comment:

Ged Lawrenson said...

With my eyesight I'd struggle to spot 1/16inch!
I've used a Park Tool for years - measuring % wear. This enables chains to swapped, and circulated, before excessive wear - saving cassette replacement. However endless threads on the CTC blog indicates no one method fits.