Cassette replacements

06/10/24 16:06 Filed in: Gear

It seemed (when I worked in a shop) that the average bike shop customer rode their bike until the shifting was problematic, and then took it to their bike shop for adjustment. Often that adjustment involved a new chain and cassette (sometimes chainrings too). Which is expensive.
On the flip side are the multi-chain users. These people seem to run 3 chains at a time, swapping the one on the bike frequently with one of the other two. This way one can be on the bike, one ready to go and one getting ready to go at all time.
My own approach is closer to the first than the second. I've never had great luck with multiple chains over a single cassette. As the cassette's edges wear, even if the chain-pitch isn't wearing, performance degrades. Sloppier, slower shifts. Noisy driveline.
53/16 is a favourite gear for racing. On the race bike I spend a ton of time in the 16T sprocket. So much so that it might take 40-50% of the use. Even if it doesn't end up too worn to mesh with a brand new chain, the shifting "ports" end up worn enough that shifting suffers and it gets noisy. I had one cassette that after 28000 km, it would still take a fresh chain for pitch, but it refused to actually shift it well (sometimes at all).

Thus, my approach is to use one and only one chain, but replace it before wear gets carried away and ruins the chainrings too. And then replace the cassette at the same time. I try to take care of the whole drivetrain at the maintenance/lubrication stage rather than through the rotation of chains. Ultimately it might be a bit more expensive, but everything works as expected through its life. Taken care of they last thousands of kilometres and I don't see the point in putting up with one noisy gear, one gear that doesn't quite work right or the issues of a partially worn cassette when I can have close to perfection all the time.

And in this era of excellent lubricants that double (or quadruple) chain life, the chances of wearing out the shifting ramps on the cassette before the pitch goes "bad" seems that much higher than in the past. On my commuter bike with Record I was over 12000 km with everything still shifting nicely when I sold the Record gear. That seems just fine with me.

Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

Cassette replacements