EBB same position for life

[UKTony]

I find one chain ring does two sprockets, each can be reversed. I use a chain for each side of a sprocket. Perhaps 5000 miles per chain, 10,000 per sprocket, 20,000 per chain ring. Everyone is different though depending on use.

This is pretty much the same as my experience with a Mk2 Nomad running a 40/17 T setup using the KMC X1 chain. I also clean the chain regularly roughly, monthly depending on amount of use, using one of these gadgets,

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-maintenance/bike-cleaning/bikehut-chain-cleaning-kit-164289.html

I would add that this is not riding on heavily loaded touring/expeditions. I don’t know if the cleaning extends the life of the components but it feels good afterwards and the chain looks sparkly 🙂

I’ve recently fitted the successor to the KMC X1 - the KMC e1 EPT which has KMC durability rating if 4 out of 5 stars. Don’t know what that means but we shall see. I keep it simple. I don’t go in for all the wear saving wheezes I’ve read on the forum, like rotating chains etc because I cba.

[ourclarioncall]

Brilliant, that’s was all really good info and detail

It all makes sense to me now and I’ve got a good grasp of what to anticipate as far as eccentrics, chains /sprockets and chainrings go and a rough timeframe for longevity of parts.

One thought I had was , what are these parts made of and do they effects longevity? Example , I’m guessing a stainless steel part being harder would last longer , but wear out other parts quicker ?

[geocycle]

Brilliant, that’s was all really good info and detail

It all makes sense to me now and I’ve got a good grasp of what to anticipate as far as eccentrics, chains /sprockets and chainrings go and a rough timeframe for longevity of parts.

One thought I had was , what are these parts made of and do they effects longevity? Example , I’m guessing a stainless steel part being harder would last longer , but wear out other parts quicker ?

My estimates were based on a rohloff sprocket which I think is steel and a thorn aluminium chain ring. You can use Surly steel chain rings. The surly should last longer but I wasn’t impressed with the QC on the one I bought as it wasn’t vey round and led to tight spots in the chain.

[UKTony]

My estimates were based on a rohloff sprocket which I think is steel and a thorn aluminium chain ring. You can use Surly steel chain rings. The surly should last longer but I wasn’t impressed with the QC on the one I bought as it wasn’t vey round and led to tight spots in the chain.

Snap! And no chain glider for me!

[Matt2matt2002]

My estimates were based on a rohloff sprocket which I think is steel and a thorn aluminium chain ring. You can use Surly steel chain rings. The surly should last longer but I wasn’t impressed with the QC on the one I bought as it wasn’t vey round and led to tight spots in the chain.

Snap! And no chain glider for me!

Any reason for no Chainglider? I know they don't fit all sprocket/ cog combinations.

[WorldTourer]

Any reason for no Chainglider?

The Chainglider has certain flaws that many people find intolerable (discussed on this forum on various occasions). Even SJS Cycles has warned against them when you say you want to order one.

The surly should last longer but I wasn’t impressed with the QC on the one I bought as it wasn’t vey round and led to tight spots in the chain.

Could it have been that your Surly ring was never supposed to be round? After all, oval chainrings are a thing.

[ourclarioncall]

Matt

Glad you brought it up as I wanted to revisit this topic 👍

[Matt2matt2002]

Matt

Glad you brought it up as I wanted to revisit this topic 👍

Nice to find out I've been doing it wrong for 6 years and extending my chain life by X%.
Always something new to learn in life.

[UKTony]

My estimates were based on a rohloff sprocket which I think is steel and a thorn aluminium chain ring. You can use Surly steel chain rings. The surly should last longer but I wasn’t impressed with the QC on the one I bought as it wasn’t vey round and led to tight spots in the chain.

Snap! And no chain glider for me!

Any reason for no Chainglider? I know they don't fit all sprocket/ cog combinations.

I,ve never investigated chaingliders and don’t have a view on them. I mentioned it simply to point out in answer to our larioncall’s original question about mileage from transmission components, that the mileage I obtain is without a chain glider. My initial thought about them is that I don’t particularly want another piece of kit on the bike to fiddle about with eg if I have to remove a wheel for any reason, and it could just be just something else to go wrong.

[Matt2matt2002]

My estimates were based on a rohloff sprocket which I think is steel and a thorn aluminium chain ring. You can use Surly steel chain rings. The surly should last longer but I wasn’t impressed with the QC on the one I bought as it wasn’t vey round and led to tight spots in the chain.

Snap! And no chain glider for me!

Any reason for no Chainglider? I know they don't fit all sprocket/ cog combinations.

I,ve never investigated chaingliders and don’t have a view on them. I mentioned it simply to point out in answer to our larioncall’s original question about mileage from transmission components, that the mileage I obtain is without a chain glider. My initial thought about them is that I don’t particularly want another piece of kit on the bike to fiddle about with eg if I have to remove a wheel for any reason, and it could just be just something else to go wrong.

Fairy Nuff.
My Chainglider pops on and off within 5 mins.
I don't really notice it, other than to see all of the crud on it, rather than my chain.
In 6+ years, it's never gone 'wrong'.
Yes, it's not 100% water tight. But I'll take 90% .

[mickeg]

...
You can use Surly steel chain rings. The surly should last longer but I wasn’t impressed with the QC on the one I bought as it wasn’t vey round and led to tight spots in the chain.

I have not used the Surly chainring, can't comment on that as a brand.  But I can say that crank arm bolt holes and chainring bolt holes often give a bit more room than absolutely necessary.  Thus, often the chainring might not be perfectly concentric with the bottom bracket when you tighten up the bolts.  In my case I have found that the extra slop in the holes makes the difference.  It only takes a slight deviation of perfectly concentric spacing to give you a noticeable tight spot on the chain. 

I change chainrings more often than most because I tour with a smaller chainring than I use for riding around home.  And I have found that it works best if I put in the bolts and only slightly tighten them so that I can shift the chainring slightly by hand and check to make sure that the chain is reasonably evenly tight for the complete revolution of the crankset, I backpedal by hand for several crank revolutions to try to get the chain as evenly tight as possible before a final tightening of the chainring bolts.
 
My parts may be more imprecise than most, I bought very low budget crankset and chainrings, more expensive ones might have better precision.

[geocycle]

Re the Surly chain ring. Mick is correct about the spacing and play in the mounting holes. Whereas the replacement thorn rings are counter sunk and just slot into place first time, no end of faffing with the Surly would do it. It did work but with noticeable tight parts in the chain rotation. So either the ring was not round, the mounting holes not perfect or just too much play in the holes. I would have put up with it to keep the chain glider but when I switched frames to a raven sport the glider wouldn’t fit as neatly as on the raven tour.