Component lifetime?

Are you sure they didn’t suggest you overhaul the bottom bracket (i.e. open it up, clean it out, and regrease the thing, replacing any worn parts)? If the teeth aren’t worn on the crank or the cassette (and the cassette spins fine), I wouldn’t change it. Is the chain stretched? Are there any symptom of impending doom? If not, I would think about changing my LBS.

You can measure the chain yourself with a measuring tape:
http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html#wear
Scroll down to the section on “Measuring Chain Wear”.

@jrenaut 19132 wrote:

So, I bought my bike the end of May 2011. I started off putting maybe 30 miles a week on it, and worked up to 50-75 miles a week. I do almost all of my riding in the city, and ride in all but the worst weather.

Today I brought my bike in to my LBS for warranty adjustments, and they said I need to replace the chain, cassette, crankset, and bottom bracket. I know I don’t clean my chain and gears much, but does this seem excessive? Aside from cleaning, which I know I have to do better, are there other things to do to get a bit more life out of the drivetrain?

Chain & cassette – probably. Its possibly your chain has worn to significantly beyond the “replace at this wear level” level, which helps to grind down the cassette.

What crankset do you have? It’s unusual to have to replace that entirely but you may have also worn your most heavily used chainring(s) significantly and one or two rings might need replacement. Perhaps that what they mean by crankset?

Is the bottom bracket creaking and/or loose? Is it loose due to misadjustment or wear?

Since approximately the same time (spring 2011), I’ve replaced the Big Dummy’s chain twice, cassette twice, outer chain rings approximately twice and outboard/external bottom bracket components twice. The “crankset” itself aside from the chain rings (a mr. whirly) remains in good, if scuffed, condition. Granted, I think there has been > 8500 miles on the bike since then.

Had I been more on top of replacing the chain as it wears, it’s possible I may not have had to replace the cassette and/or chain rings as often. The last chain was around 3x to 4x the stretch length where they recommend you replace the chain, and the immense slack allowed the derailleur pulley to lay way up against the chainstay. Needless to say, shifting and power-transfer was horrid before replacements. And rather embarrassing for me, really.

Brendan

Now the facts are coming out. To answer your question, YES. Since you’re pulling weight, you’re accelerating chain wear plus other components in the drive train. Brake wear is also a factor since it requires more power to stop a vehicle with more weight. Especially descending.

@jrenaut 19148 wrote:

Would towing a trailer full of children regularly make a difference? Of my 50 or so miles a week, probably 10-15 are pulling the trailer.

To echo what others have said, it makes sense that after a year of hard use you’d need a new cassette, chain, and chainrings (NOT crankset – short of a nuclear explosion the cranks will last forever). The bottom bracket should last a lot longer.

The only way I could see needing to replace the entire crankset is if its 1)one of the cheap ones with permanently attached rings, and 2)the rings are worn out.

The FSA Tempo shows up on Google shopper for $40 shipped. Also saw it mentioned that it was a square taper on the FSA site. Maybe your high torque damaged the taper of the crank, and that’s why it needs to be replaced?

http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/43/Tempo

Gotta admit i’m a bit out of my element when we start talking about bottom brackets, I’m mostly familiar with Shimano’s Hollowtech cranks, which don’t use a cartridge bearing.