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Observation and Perspective
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| Ride Stats |
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Distance:
7.70 miles
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Time: 00:42:00
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Max Speed:
0.00 mph
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Avg Speed:
0.00 mph
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Temp:
Avg: 67
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Category: general: errand -
solo
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Route:
Adams Basin Post office
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Weight:
234
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Altitude Gain:
0 ft
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Avg Power: 0 W
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Calories Burned: 450
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Avg HR: 0 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Flat
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Bike: Specialized 40lb-Globe 700c Hybrid
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Club: USA Towpath and Trail Riders association |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny and pleasant; |
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Distance:
7.78 miles
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Time: 00:44:00
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Max Speed:
0.00 mph
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Avg Speed:
0.00 mph
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Temp:
Avg: 78
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Category: general: testing -
solo
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Route:
on the Canal
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Weight:
234
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Altitude Gain:
0 ft
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Avg Power: 0 W
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Calories Burned: 450
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Avg HR: 0 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Flat
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Bike: Specialized 40lb-Globe 700c Hybrid
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Club: USA Towpath and Trail Riders association |
| Weather Conditions: Weather has been gorgeous |
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Distance:
7.20 miles
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Time: 00:36:00
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Max Speed:
0.00 mph
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Avg Speed:
0.00 mph
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Category: general: testing -
solo
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Route:
on the Canal
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Weight:
234
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Altitude Gain:
0 ft
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Avg Power: 0 W
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Calories Burned: 400
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Avg HR: 0 bpm
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Terrain: Road: Flat
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Bike: Specialized 40lb-Globe 700c Hybrid
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Club: USA Towpath and Trail Riders association |
| Weather Conditions: NICE, nice! |
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Chains do not break from streching due to excessive mileage. The proof is anecdotal but definitive all the same. Fact is some riders have been able to get more than 24,000 miles of use from a bike chain and cassette. Cassettes do not wear out due to chain stretch either. However, the profile of the teeth will cause a new chain to skip when paired with the old cassette. So it seems to me an old Cassette and Chain can be used as a "matched set" for thousands and thousands of miles with careful maintenence(cleaning and lubrication).
Why are so many avid cyclists changing their chains so often? Evidently breakage is not the reason. Is it preventative maintenence? I'd say it's "overkill" and uneccessary to replace a chain if it is performing satisfactorily!
So why do chains break? Not from the stresses of pedaling along, rest assured! No, it takes something more -or I should say less. Chain failure not due to manufacturing defects is probably due to EXCESSIVE WEAR, caused by INADEQUATE LUBRICATION. Any drive component will wear-out if it is inadequately maintained!
Today I changed the chain on my 2005 Specialized Globe. It's the first time I have ever changed/replaced a chain on any bike. The bike's drive components including the chain have more than 8,200 miles of year round,all weather including Winter, use. By most bike "experts" that chain, cassette, and chain gear must be "trashed". You all have heard it said by those experts: "if the chain has stretched more that 3/32" (.093"), it's time to replace it. The insinuation is that the chain will eventually stretch too far, break, leaving you stranded. My chain with 8,250 miles had stretched well past the recommended point in fact the chain stretch was nearly doubled the recommendation.
So what actually happens when an adequately lubed chain stretches to .150"? Where is the wear apparent? Mostly the pins wear where the rollers ride on them, between the individual links of chain. Actually that happens by design! Those rollers between the links of the chain are a softer metal than the other parts of a bicycle drive system.
Just back from a test ride...The Globe shifting skipped a bit in my high gears with the new chain and the old cassette. So, I installed a new cassette to match the new chain. The old chain and old cassette will be re-used as a "matched set". They will be re-installed on a bike to serve as the useful drive components they are, in a future service interval.
I think the point is well made that an adequately lubed drive train will serve you well, perhaps for the life of a bike. A chain will not stretch to the breaking point under normal use, regardless of the number of miles. And at some point of wear a cassette and chain become a "matched set".
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