Your latest bike purchase?

[hozn]

@dkel 109863 wrote:

Why so early? Also, do you think it’s worth the effort taking the cassette off and thoroughly degreasing it?

I found that stuff (middle cogs) were already skipping when I waited ’till 0.75. So I took Leonard Zinn’s advice and tried 0.50 (or between 0.50 and 0.75, anyway).

Honestly, I don’t think changing chains saves money. But I still do it.

As for cleaning, I would just use a rag and slide it / run it in between the cogs. I like having clean cassettes too, but don’t think it is worth removing the cassette.

[dkel]

@hozn 109864 wrote:

As for cleaning, I would just use a rag and slide it / run it in between the cogs. I like having clean cassettes too, but don’t think it is worth removing the cassette.

I may do the rag thing. I went ahead and ordered the $7 cassette removal tool, and I already have a chain whip; I may take it off anyway, just because. (I get the impression from you, Hozn, that you–like me–can’t just leave well-enough alone, and end up doing all this stuff yourself “just because.”)

[GB]

@dkel 109863 wrote:

Why so early? Also, do you think it’s worth the effort taking the cassette off and thoroughly degreasing it?

Why so early – because Honz respects the bike (that’s a nice way of saying kind of OCD about bike maintenance). I didn’t change mine until 7k miles, but then I changed the cassette and chain rings at the same time.

Is it worth it – yes at a least the first time, right of passage and all. Plus you’ll really see how much gunk is in there and will be better able to assess if you should take the cassette off next time.

I also have the chain whip tool if you want to borrow it. There are some funny, but I’d say unadvisable, YouTube videos on how to to it without the chain whip.

[hozn]

@dkel 109867 wrote:

I may do the rag thing. I went ahead and ordered the $7 cassette removal tool, and I already have a chain whip; I may take it off anyway, just because. (I get the impression from you, Hozn, that you–like me–can’t just leave well-enough alone, and end up doing all this stuff yourself “just because.”)

Yes, there is s lot of “hobby” going on here

I definitely think the tools are important ones to have, so good idea ordering them. Bear in mind the torque recommendations when you put the cassette lockring back on; they are a lot higher than I would have thought.

[dkel]

@hozn 109877 wrote:

Bear in mind the torque recommendations when you put the cassette lockring back on; they are a lot higher than I would have thought.

I’ll consult Zinn on that. Thanks for the advice.

Aren’t bikes fun?

[ctankcycles]

Try to contain yourselves, orange cable end caps arrived…

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7982[/ATTACH]

[ShawnoftheDread]

@hozn 109877 wrote:

Yes, there is s lot of “hobby” going on here

I definitely think the tools are important ones to have, so good idea ordering them. Bear in mind the torque recommendations when you put the cassette lockring back on; they are a lot higher than I would have thought.

Hmmm… I don’t use a torque wrench for this. How tight is too tight?

[peterw_diy]

@ShawnoftheDread 109897 wrote:

I don’t use a torque wrench for this. How tight is too tight?

No, the question for torque wrenches is how uptight is too uptight?

[hozn]

@ShawnoftheDread 109897 wrote:

Hmmm… I don’t use a torque wrench for this. How tight is too tight?

For me it was just realizing that I had been under-torquing them. So I tighten them quite a bit tighter now than I used to. Of course, I never had problems with cassettes falling off (unlike under-torqued SRAM NDS cranks).

[kwarkentien]

Hmmm, I always replace the cassette when I replace the chain.

[hozn]

@kwarkentien 109919 wrote:

Hmmm, I always replace the cassette when I replace the chain.

In that case, hopefully you are getting at least 6k out of the chains! i.e. you only need to replace the cassette if you have worn the chain out (“stretched” it) such that it has ruined the teeth of the cassette. In this paradigm, keep riding the chain/cassette combination until it starts skipping. You probably need to replace the rings too, though at this point? I think @seunpu gets 12k miles out of his drivetrains (single chain). I think he tolerates a little more skipping than I would. The first time my chain slips/skips, I replace the cassette.

This is why I suggested that I don’t think it’s actually cheaper to change out the chains. I go through 3 or 4 chains per cassette, but that’s still only ~6-8k miles on a cassette. And I’ve spent ~$90 extra in chains by that point. But I do swap between wheelsets, so I convince myself that more frequent chain swapping is helping things wear more evenly between the wheels. I don’t know. Something about how/when I ride seems to wear chains faster for me than many others.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@hozn 109934 wrote:

Something about how/when I ride seems to wear chains faster for me than many others.

Too many watts!

[vvill]

@hozn 109934 wrote:

Something about how/when I ride

Power/speed!

I have sometimes wondered if I used a strict chain rotation policy (2 or 3 chains per cassette, and rotate between the chains every 50-100 miles) could I get a lot of life out of a cassette AND the chains – as it would all wear together. But it’s far too much bother. (This is one big reason I enjoy SS/FG – less maintenance!)

I no longer monitor chain/cassette mileage, but I do have a chain stretch measurement tool. On the CX bike I will put on a new chain once a year regardless just because of the riding conditions, and because I’ve had a chain break in a race before – that’s about 1200mi / chain. Road bike is about every 2-3k miles, so about once a year too.

[hozn]

I guess I left myself open for that. It’s definitely not my power, but I probably do mash more than spin; maybe that wears chains faster. :noidea:

Those mileage numbers, vvill, sound about the same for me. I change my commuter/cx chains every 1500 miles or so (that is when they are stretched past 0.50) and the road bike can run for 2500+ miles before the chain is similarly worn since, being fender-free, it generally gets ridden on nicer days.

[Jason B]

I just picked up a set of 11 speed ultegra shifters that came with the new dura ace cables (both unused). Do they require any special housing? The shimano sites says they do, but I cannot find a place you can buy it without the cables. Anybody using them. They feel like budder.

[Author]

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